How to Think Computationally about AI, the Universe and Everything
Its harsh to say it, but Wolfram tried his best at a computational theory of everything and failed.<p>We didn&#x27;t know this is in the eighties, when the first cellular automata ideas were conceived. So it was a worthy thing to explore in earnest. But it did not work. There is nothing to show for it. It did not strike a vein. These things happen. All the time. You have a great startup idea but no market fit. In this case the market is the Universe. And you cant fake it till you make it with the Universe.<p>The universe most certainly has a mysterious affinity with mathematics. And computation is a mathematical concept. So its a decent hypothesis. But there are a lot of mathematical concepts that dont manifest in any shape or form in physical reality.<p>From the simple geometric thinking of ancient cultures to Newton&#x27;s and Leibnitz&#x27;s calculus and then all the subsequent glories of 19th and 20th century physical theory, when new mathematical concepts &quot;fit&quot; the way the universe works there is just an avalanche of prediction, verification, learning, refinement, further prediction etc.<p>Its wrong to think we have reached the end of &quot;mathematical physics&quot;. So new ideas are needed, and computation is as good an inspiration as a falling apple. But prunning dead-end ideas is a faster way to get closer to the truth.