New 'theory of everything'?

[Outrider]

Anyone heard of this Stephen Wolfram?  Is he the new Hawking or the new Sheldrake?

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/new-theory-of-everything-unites-quantum-mechanics-with-relativity-and-much?utm_source=dscfb&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dscfb&fbclid=IwAR0MFHFMPSbUO02JPm7cfIkpG5vSzbKvoiqRPzZb5sP8uXs-h3f69UkEbA8

O.

[Nearly Sane]

I've come across A New Kind of Science in a few articles since it was published - more in relation to stuff about Wolfram Alpha, the answer engine that he's behind. My impression had always been that he was aiming more to being a Steve Jobs than anything else but that may be because contextually it was in a business context.

[SusanDoris]

Anyone heard of this Stephen Wolfram?  Is he the new Hawking or the new Sheldrake?

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/new-theory-of-everything-unites-quantum-mechanics-with-relativity-and-much?utm_source=dscfb&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dscfb&fbclid=IwAR0MFHFMPSbUO02JPm7cfIkpG5vSzbKvoiqRPzZb5sP8uXs-h3f69UkEbA8

O.

Yes, the name rings a bell and it is probably from the IS forum, or possibly those on the GH forum who will grasp at any straw in the scientific world to try to back up their paranormal claims! 

I listened through the whole article and my sceptical antennae immediately were on the alert!  I will see if I can find out any more on the IS forum, but I find searching for specific things within forums quite tricky. I'm fairly sure that you can search for things on the IS forum without being a registered member.

[SusanDoris]

Outrider

If you look for #19 on the following link, you will find an answer to a question I put on this very subject!!

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=313442&highlight=Stephen+Wolfram

[Udayana]

Anyone heard of this Stephen Wolfram?  Is he the new Hawking or the new Sheldrake?

Link

O.

Mathematica and Wolfram-Alpha are great tools.

In overview the project sounds quite plausible: The laws of physics could emerge from a few simple computational or algorithmic elements, similar to the relationship between the conservation laws and symmetries (Noether), or the standard model and group theory.

You can't really judge his proposal without investing the time and money in reading the publications. That they have not been peer-reviewed does not inspire confidence - but they have only really got going on this in the last couple of years.   

They seem to have been able to generate some interesting universes from minimal rules, but then they need to make testable predictions for any that they think map to the universe as understood by current physics. And then verify or fail them.

Or you could treat the work as another exercise in abstract maths?