How different observers think differently with Stephen Wolfram
From The Last Theory by Mark Jeffery
March 5, 2026 · 10 min · Episode 80
About this episode
Stephen Wolfram discusses how different scales of observation can lead to different ways of thinking.
Do different observers think differently? Or does the principle of computational equivalence mean that all observers think the same way? Stephen Wolfram takes this question and runs with it. If we had brains the size of planets, he suggests, the finite speed of light would force us to think of space and time differently, and abandon the fiction of an instantaneous state of space. If we had brains the size of molecules, he says, we’d no longer think of the motion of molecules as random, and we’d find the heat death of the universe a far more interesting prospect. And if we were able to hold multiple paths through the multiway graph in our minds at the same time, we’d have multiple threads of experience... and some complicated conversations! We think the way we think because we are the way we are... if we were much larger-scale, much smaller-scale or if we had multiway minds, then we’d think very differently. And this has some serious consequences, Stephen suggests, in fields as diverse as molecular biology and parallel computing. — Stephen Wolfram Stephen Wolfram The Wolfram Physics Project Wolfram Institute Wolfram Institute Community Discord Credits Fullerene by YassineMrabet…
People in this episode
Host: Mark Jeffery
Guest: Stephen Wolfram
Topics covered
- observers
- computational equivalence
- space and time
- molecular biology
- parallel computing
Keywords
- observers
- computational equivalence
- space
- time
- molecular biology
- parallel computing
- thought processes
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Wolfram Physics Project, Wolfram Institute, Wolfram Institute Community Discord
Books & works: Fullerene
More episodes of The Last Theory
- Stephen Wolfram's 10 ways to have big ideas · May 28, 2026 · 12 min
- Why are we in the universe we're in? · April 30, 2026 · 17 min
- Wolfram on philosophy · March 22, 2026 · 7 min
- What is time in Wolfram Physics? · February 5, 2026 · 18 min
- Think like an alien with Stephen Wolfram · January 2, 2026 · 9 min
- Ruliad + observer = physics ... also aliens · December 18, 2025 · 13 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Last Theory podcast page.