Just realized why Wolfram’s stuff leaves me very doubtful though I understand very little of it. It’s got a whole “Bitcoin solves this” messianic vibe around a totalizing lens.
“1d cellular automata solve this”
“hypergraphs solve this”
Fox over hedgehog bias I suppose.
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Is the universe hedgehoggy internally strictly consistent?
I suspect, yes.
Can our mental models of it ever be?
I suspect, no.
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Here’s a more competent critique than my vague ad hominem vibing.
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Oh didn’t realize Shalizi had done a takedown of ANKoS, nice twitter.com/MattAlhonte/st…
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Umm the fact that prodigal acquisition of credentials is a line of defense is itself confidence shaking. When people talk about Hawking or Penrose they talk about more specific things like black hole entropy etc.
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In a way Newton, Einstein, Turing, et al, used the same approach until someone challenged their views.
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He has so much stuff. His company’s products are state of art. His scientific biographies with actual sources are incredible. His quant self stuff the best. Then his science. I don’t think even he understands it yet but it feels like he’s barking up the right tree.
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It's similar to the nagging feeling I've had reading his books too.
The broader question I've grappled with is how to be ok with my ethereal suspicions vs someone who's clearly an expert, and decide who's likely to be right.
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Wolfram is like a gurubro who had a spiritual awakening and is now desperate for everyone to know he is god.
One can merely pity him or just pass over him in silence.





