Stephen Wolfram: Computing a theory of everything

http://www.ted.com Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica, talks about his quest to make all knowledge computational -- able to be searched, processed and manipulated. His new search engine, Wolfram Alpha, has no lesser goal than to model and explain the physics underlying the universe.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Max Treblinka]

A brilliant man, but he needs to compute a new hand gesture.

[mystrdat]

Quickly checking your comment history leads me to believe you're nothing more than a cunt. It is insulting that an opinion as primitive as yours is the highest rated comment here.

[ezumach]

I love mathematica

[Nam Chung]

What a passion.

[MagnesiumEnterprise]

Procedure one, discover the reason for your inability to understand.

Procedure two, commence doing the exact opposite.

If procedure two succeeds, then problem has been solved. If it fails, then consult again procedure one. If procedure one fails entirely, then seek counsel from those with experience in health, behavior, and linguistics, until procedure two has been accomplished. You may also message me for any further assistance.

May all benefit.

[Dirk Broenink]

I wish I could understand even a tiny fraction of what he is talking about.

[salasvalor01]

I've noticed as I've researched stuff online, thinking I'm ahead of the game, there are patterns I find through comments where others have followed a similar trail I have. Perhaps this is the work of social engineering and it has been pre-determined what we will search. Somewhere up the hierarchy it's as if super-intelligence is dictating our lives. I went from Aubrey de Grey to Ray Kurzweil to this, these past couple weeks. de Grey inspired me, but Kurzweil revolutionized my worldview...

[salasvalor01]

Yeppers, I got through my calculus courses because of his program. Calculus!

[salasvalor01]

People with these arguments "it doesn't do this, so ha" really are the ones who should feel anxious, because technology improves at a rapid exponential pace and as long as work is still being done, the pressure these arguments face is appropriately exponential. Wait another year and see what happens. If it's still not up to 'snuff,' then there's another year where that came from. There are a lot of years left in the universe.

[milsumla]

hey wolfram, thanks for doing my homework!

[Harley Borgais]

The Equation he is looking for (the one that explains 'How We Exist' has resided in my mind since 2009, but until someone who knows calculus and 3D animation helps me render it, it will remain only there. My attempt took too long for every tiny step. 'The Genesis of Relativity' Theory actually explains EVERYTHING (no exaggeration), a list too long to post here.

How long will YOU have to wait to see this?

harleyborgais at gmail dat com

on facebook and freeornottobe dat org

[gurpreet gosal]

great respect for wolfram and kurzweil....architects of Superintelligent machines