The Last Theory cover art

The Last Theory

By: Mark Jeffery
Listen for free

  • Summary

  • The Last Theory is an easy-to-follow exploration of what might be the last theory of physics. In 2020, Stephen Wolfram launched the Wolfram Physics Project to find the elusive fundamental theory that explains everything. On The Last Theory podcast, I investigate the implications of Wolfram's ideas and dig into the details of how his universe works. Join me for fresh insights into Wolfram Physics every other week.
    © Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. 2022
    Show More Show Less
Episodes
  • In defence of Stephen Wolfram

    In defence of Stephen Wolfram
    Apr 9 2024
    You like Stephen Wolfram, right?I mean, if he’s to be believed, he has reinvented physics, not to mention philosophy.How could you not like such a thinker?Well... it turns out that there are plenty of people who don’t like Stephen Wolfram... or his physics... or his philosophy.Here are four criticisms of Stephen Wolfram I regularly hear......and here’s why these criticisms, though they hint at uncomfortable truths, nonetheless miss the mark.—Stephen Wolfram:Stephen WolframStephen Wolfram’s web siteTimelineTED talksList of podcast appearancesList of video appearancesStephen Wolfram’s claims:He has a path to the fundamental theory of physicsHe has an answer to the question: what is an observer?He has an answer to the question: what is consciousness?He has an answer to the question: why does the universe exist?He seems surprised at how little discussion there has been of his answer to the question: why does the universe exist?Some of the things Stephen Wolfram created:1987 Wolfram Research1988 Mathematica2009 Wolfram Alpha2014 Wolfram Language2020 Wolfram PhysicsOther people involved in the Wolfram Physics Project:Jonathan GorardMax PiskunovOther people mentioned in this episode:Freeman Dyson – quoteSean Carroll – quote – Mindscape podcast – episode #155 with Stephen WolframKatie Mack – quoteAdam Mastroianni – The rise and fall of peer reviewFather Strickland – quoteBrilliant people of the past:Leonardo da VinciGregor MendelNikola TeslaAristotleGalileo GalileiIsaac NewtonAlbert EinsteinMax BornPaul DiracWerner HeisenbergErwin SchrödingerWolfgang PauliOther episodes of The Last Theory mentioned:Why has there been no progress in physics since 1973? – article ⋅ podcast ⋅ videoPeer review is suffocating science – article ⋅ podcast ⋅ videoReference:Wolfram Research now has over 800 employeesImages:Freeman Dyson 2005 by ioerror licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0—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.
    Show More Show Less
    17 mins
  • Beyond physics: applying the Wolfram model in biology, chemistry, mathematics with Jonathan Gorard

    Beyond physics: applying the Wolfram model in biology, chemistry, mathematics with Jonathan Gorard
    Mar 9 2024

    In this final excerpt from our conversation in October 2022, Jonathan Gorard explains how ideas from Wolfram Physics can be applied in fields beyond physics, including biology, chemistry and mathematics.

    He describes the concept of compositionality, and digs deeper into why the hypergraph is able to model so much of our universe.

    —

    Jonathan Gorard

    • Jonathan Gorard at The Wolfram Physics Project
    • Jonathan Gorard on Twitter
    • The Centre for Applied Compositionality
    • The Wolfram Physics Project

    Concepts mentioned by Jonathan:

    • General Relativity
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Causal graphs
    • Space-like separation
    • Multiway system
    • Phase space
    • Schrödinger equation
    • Hilbert space
    • Kronecker product
    • Multicomputation
    • Compositionality
    • Applied category theory
    • Symmetric monoidal category
    • Partial differential equations
    • Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory
    • Universal Turing machine
    • Computational universality
    • Cellular automaton
    • Ontology

    People mentioned by Jonathan:

    • Rudolph Carnap
    • Vienna Circle

    —

    The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind

    I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.

    Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.
    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
  • Who is Stephen Wolfram?

    Who is Stephen Wolfram?
    Feb 11 2024

    You know who Stephen Wolfram is, right?

    Whether you love him or, you know, don’t love him, there’s no denying that Stephen Wolfram has founded a host of fascinating projects... most of them named Wolfram-something-or-other.

    What are all these Wolfram-branded projects?

    Who is Stephen Wolfram?

    —

    Some of the things Stephen Wolfram created:

    • 1987 Wolfram Research
    • 1988 Mathematica
    • 2009 Wolfram Alpha
    • 2014 Wolfram Language
    • 2020 Wolfram Physics

    not to mention:

    • Wolfram Cloud
    • Wolfram One
    • Wolfram Notebooks
    • Wolfram Player
    • Wolfram Script
    • Wolfram Engine
    • Wolfram Foundation

    More about Stephen Wolfram:

    • Stephen Wolfram’s web site
    • Timeline

    Stephen Wolfram’s education:

    • University of Oxford
    • California Institute of Technology

    Some of Stephen Wolfram’s special subjects:

    • particle physics
    • cellular automata

    Some of Stephen Wolfram’s books:

    • A New Kind Of Science
    • A project to find the Fundamental Theory of Physics

    Other people involved in the Wolfram Physics Project:

    • Jonathan Gorard
    • Max Piskunov

    Reference:

    • Wolfram Research now has over 800 employees

    Image:

    • Animation. 1200 iterations of the ‘Rule 110’ Automata by Mr. Heretic licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0

    Some of my own projects:

    • things made thinkable – visualization of nuclides – tap the binding energy button bottom right to show the binding energy per nucleon
    • Open Web Mind – subscribe to the newsletter or YouTube channel for more on shared human intelligence

    —

    The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind

    I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.

    The full article is here.

    Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.
    Show More Show Less
    10 mins
Physics
Show More Show Less

More from the same

Author

What listeners say about The Last Theory

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.