The Last Theory

Can you hold in your mind two different threads of experience?In this five-minute excerpt from my conversation with Stephen Wolfram, he introduces the strange idea of a multiway mind.Most of the time, we as observers succeed in weaving multiple different paths through the multiway graph into a single thread of experience.In some circumstances, however, we’re unable to do this. If we’re unfortunate enough to find ourselves on the surface of a black hole – at the event horizon in physical space, at the entanglement horizon in branchial space – we might find ourselves frozen, unable to form a classical thought.In just five minutes, Stephen not only introduces the possibility of multiple threads of experience in a single mind, he also succeeds in weaving in diverse topics from quantum computing to societal decision-making.—Stephen WolframStephen WolframThe Wolfram Physics ProjectWolfram InstituteWolfram Institute Community DiscordConcepts mentioned by StephenQuantum computingDistributed computingEvent horizons and entanglement horizonsBranchial space—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery founder of Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

In the previous excerpt from my conversation with Stephen Wolfram, I asked him how I can remain a single, coherent, persistent consciousness in a branching universe.In this excerpt, we went deeper into this question. As a conscious observer, I have a single thread of experience. So if the universe branches into many timelines, why don’t I branch into many versions of me?Stephen’s answer touched on many profound aspects of the Wolfram model.He started with the failure of the Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics to consider the possibility that different branches of history can merge, in other words, come back together again. This failure is rooted in assumption that the universe is continuous; as soon as we start thinking of the universe as discrete, such merging seems not only possible, but inevitable.He went on to consider the concept of causal invariance, the idea that it doesn’t matter which of countless similar paths you take through the multiway graph, you end up in the same place. In the Ruliad, he said, causal invariance is inevitable.Then we got to the core of the concept of the observer. According to Stephen Wolfram, an observer equivalences many different states and experiences the aggregate of these states.I did not expect Stephen’s next move, to apply the concept of aggregation not just to observers, but to the universe itself.He made the profound proposal that in the Wolfram model of physics, in addition to the computation of the hypergraph through the application of rules, there’s a process of aggregation of possible paths through the multiway graph to weave the future.—Stephen WolframStephen WolframThe Wolfram Physics ProjectWolfram InstituteWolfram Institute Community DiscordConcepts mentioned by StephenMany Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanicsComputational irreducibilityCausal invarianceThe RuliadSequentializationEquivalencing—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery founder of Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

The causal graph is at the core of Wolfram Physics.It’s crucial to the derivations of Special Relativity, General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.And if that’s not enough to convince you that you need to know about the causal graph, how about this:The causal graph is a reflection of the nature of causality, the nature of objectivity, the nature of reality itself.—Einstein’s train thought experimentWhat is the multiway graph? video ⋅ podcast ⋅ articleWhat precisely is causal invariance? video ⋅ podcast ⋅ articleCausality ain’t what you think it is video ⋅ podcast ⋅ article—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.The full article is here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

Hypergraphs can have any number of dimensions. They can be 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, 4.81-dimensional or, in the limit, ∞-dimensional.So how does the three-dimensional space we observe emerge from the hypergraph-based Wolfram model?Why is space three-dimensional?Stephen Wolfram’s surprising answer to this questions goes deep into space, time, computation and, crucially, our nature as observers.—Stephen WolframStephen WolframThe Wolfram Physics ProjectWolfram InstituteWolfram Institute Community DiscordPeople mentioned by StephenEuclidHermann Minkowski—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

It feels like everyone has their pet Theory of Everything these days.So why should you take my preferred Theory of Everything seriously?Well, give me 5 minutes, and I’ll give you 5 reasons why I find Wolfram Physics more compelling than anything else that’s happened in physics in my lifetime......and maybe you’ll want to take it seriously too.—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.The full article is here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

Do you know what causality is?If you do, let me know, because I’m not sure.I’ve never come across a conception of causality that makes sense to me.After all, our universe seems to follow simple equations like Einstein’s equations, and there’s no mention of causality in these equations.It makes me think that there’s no such thing as causality.Unless...Well, here’s the thing.I’m no longer sure that our universe does follow these continuous equations.I’m beginning to think that at the smallest scale, our universe might evolve through discrete computations.If that turns out to be true, it allows for a limited conception of causalityafter all.It’s causality, Jim, but not as we know it.—References:Even the Catholic Church now concedes that the Earth orbits the Sun.Einstein’s equations tell you everything you need to know about how the Sun, the Earth and the various other conglomerations of matter in the vicinity warp space and time in such a way that the Earth follows its slightly wobbly elliptical orbit around the Sun.I tend to think that history is just one thing after another.—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.The full article is here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

I’ve heard from many of you that you’d like the whole of my conversation with Jonathan Gorard in a single podcast.So here it is, the complete first interview.These three hours are a brilliant exposition of Wolfram Physics from a figure whose contributions to the project are second to none.—Jonathan GorardJonathan Gorard at The Wolfram Physics ProjectJonathan Gorard on TwitterThe Centre for Applied CompositionalityThe Wolfram Physics ProjectJonathan’s seminal papersSome Relativistic and Gravitational Properties of the Wolfram Model; also published in Complex SystemsSome Quantum Mechanical Properties of the Wolfram ModelStephen Wolfram’s writingsAnnouncement of the Wolfram Physics ProjectA New Kind of ScienceA project to find the Fundamental Theory of PhysicsA complete list of links to the research, concepts and people mentioned by Jonathan is hereImagesCalabi–Yau manifold by Andrew J. Hanson, Indiana University, who allows use with attributionFeynman diagram by Joel Holdsworth, public domainJohn von Neumann – Los Alamos National LaboratoryStanisław Ulam – Los Alamos National LaboratoryWolf-Rayet nebula – Nebula surrounding the Wolf-Rayet star WR124 in the constellation Sagittarius. (Produced with the Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2, Hubble Space Telescope.) – NASA – NSSDCA Photo Gallery – Yves Grosdidier (University of Montreal and Observatoire de Strasbourg), Anthony Moffat (Universitie de Montreal), Gilles Joncas (Universite Laval), Agnes Acker (Observatoire de Strasbourg) – Public domainStele from Retortillo by Emilio Gómez Fernández licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0Spinning and chargend black hole with accretion disk by Simon Tyran, Vienna (Симон Тыран) licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0Альфред Грэй в Греции by AlionaKo licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0Crab Nebula, as seen by Herschel and Hubble – courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech – credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS/MESS Key Programme Supernova Remnant Team; NASA, ESA and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University) – reproduced under JPL Image Use PolicyFor images from the Los Alamos National Laboratory: Unless otherwise indicated, this information has been authored by an employee or employees of the Triad National Security, LLC, operator of the Los Alamos National Laboratory with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government has rights to use, reproduce, and distribute this information. The public may copy and use this information without charge, provided that this Notice and any statement of authorship are reproduced on all copies. Neither the Government nor Triad makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any liability or responsibility for the use of this information.—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.