Q&A with Stephen Wolfram

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<button class="hamburger">&equiv;</button> <h1 id="logo"> <a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com">Stephen Wolfram <svg viewBox="6.252 51.944 1031.673 96.468"> <g id="logoSVG"> <path d="M643.657,60.162c1.429-0.357,2.501-0.714,3.572-0.714h0.536V53.91h-34.121v5.538h0.536 c4.287,0.357,7.503,1.072,9.468,1.965c1.787,0.894,2.68,1.965,2.68,3.216c0,1.072-0.179,2.322-0.357,3.751 s-0.893,4.288-1.965,8.218c-1.429,5.716-3.395,12.505-5.538,20.544c-2.144,7.682-4.645,16.436-7.503,26.439L588.456,55.16h-6.968 l-22.33,66.812c-4.823-16.971-8.218-29.297-10.719-37.693c-2.501-8.575-4.287-15.006-5.181-18.758c0-0.357-0.179-1.072-0.357-1.786 c-0.179-0.715-0.179-1.251-0.179-1.608c0-1.072,1.607-1.608,3.037-1.965c2.322-0.536,5.002-0.714,8.218-0.893h0.536V53.91h-38.23 v5.538h0.536c1.071,0,2.322,0.357,3.751,0.714c1.43,0.357,2.502,0.894,3.573,1.608c1.251,0.893,2.144,1.787,2.858,2.68 s1.251,2.144,1.607,3.394c1.608,5.538,4.646,16.257,9.111,32.514c4.466,16.078,8.933,31.799,13.22,46.805l0.179,0.357h6.432 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$('.hamburger').click(function(e){ e.stopPropagation(); $('.links').toggleClass('show'); $('#header > .inner').toggleClass('open'); if($('.overlay').length < 1 && !$('.links').hasClass('hide')) { $('#header').append('<div class="overlay">'); } else { $('.overlay').remove(); } }); $('body').click(function(){ $('.links').removeClass('show'); $('.overlay').remove(); $('#header > .inner').removeClass('open'); }); </script> <main class="main"> <header class="main-header"> <div class="inner"> <div class="medium-col-width"> <h1 class="heading"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions">Stephen Wolfram Q&A</a></h1> <a href="/questions/submit-a-question" class="button float-r submit-a-question"> <svg width="23.812px" height="19px" viewBox="0 0 23.812 19"> <g> <path fill="#fff" d="M23.812,5.812L19.062,5.812L19.062,10.312L23.812,5.812Z" /> <path fill="#fff" d="M19.591,2.654C19.591,1.189 18.402,0 16.937,0L2.654,0C1.189,0 0,1.189 0,2.654L0,14.596C0,16.061 1.189,17.25 2.654,17.25L16.937,17.25C18.402,17.25 19.591,16.061 19.591,14.596L19.591,2.654Z" /> </g> <rect x="2.906" y="4.031" fill="#F37929" width="13.938" height="1.938"/> <rect x="2.906" y="7.875" fill="#F37929" width="13.938" height="1.938"/> <rect x="2.906" y="11.281" fill="#F37929" width="6.764" height="1.938"/> </svg> Submit a question </a> <p class="tagline">Some collected questions and answers by Stephen Wolfram</p> <div class='tagbuttons'> <a class="tag" data-tag="all" href="?c=all">All</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="advice" href="?c=advice">Advice</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="artificial-intelligence" href="?c=artificial-intelligence">Artificial Intelligence</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="business" href="?c=business">Business</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="current-events" href="?c=current-events">Current Events</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="education" href="?c=education">Education</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="future-perspectives" href="?c=future-perspectives">Future Perspectives</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="historical-perspectives" href="?c=historical-perspectives">Historical Perspectives</a> <a class="tag on" data-tag="just-curious" href="?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="mathematics" href="?c=mathematics">Mathematics</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="people" href="?c=people">People</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-history" href="?c=personal-history">Personal History</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-productivity" href="?c=personal-productivity">Personal Productivity</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="science" href="?c=science">Science</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="software-technology" href="?c=software-technology">Software Technology</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="wolfram-language" href="?c=wolfram-language">Wolfram Language</a> </div> <p><em>Questions may be edited for brevity; see links for full questions.</em></p> </div> </div> </header> <section> <div class="inner"> <div><h1 id="category">Just Curious...</h1><span id="count">(42)</span></div> <div id="posts" class="grid heirs-width-1-2 heirs-width-full__600"> <div class="project just-curious personal-history" data-position="normal" data-date="1998-02-06 20:42:26"> <p class="date">February 6, 1998</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.stephenwolfram.com/media/computers-science-extraterrestrials-interview-stephen-wolfram/'>Interview by David Stork, <em>Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/1998/02/06/if-i-calculated-correctly-2001-a-space-odyssey-must-have-come-out-when-you-were-nine-years-old-did-you-see-it-then/">If I calculated correctly, <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em> must have come out when you were nine years old. Did you see it then?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Definitely. In fact, it was my favorite movie, and I ended up seeing it quite a few times.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Definitely. In fact, it was my favorite movie, and I ended up seeing it quite a few times."> Definitely. In fact, it was my favorite movie, and I ended up seeing it quite a few times. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-history" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=personal-history">Personal History</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious personal-history" data-position="normal" data-date="1998-02-06 20:46:16"> <p class="date">February 6, 1998</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.stephenwolfram.com/media/computers-science-extraterrestrials-interview-stephen-wolfram/'>Interview by David Stork, <em>Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/1998/02/06/what-was-it-that-you-liked-about-2001-a-space-odyssey/">What was it that you liked about <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em>?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>All the technology. It had such a rich rendering of technology. So bright and attractive. I followed the US space program quite a bit in those days, but I was always disappointed when I realized that the inside of a spacecraft was just the size of a closet. In <em>2001</em> there were masses of technology, and I really liked it.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="All the technology. It had such a rich rendering of technology. So bright and attractive. I followed the US space program quite a bit in those days, but I was always disappointed when I realized that the inside of a spacecraft was just the size of a closet. In <em>2001</em> there were masses of technology, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> All the technology. It had such a rich rendering of technology. So bright and attractive. I followed the US space program quite a bit in those days, but I was always disappointed when I realized that the inside of a spacecraft was just the size of a closet. In <em>2001</em> there were masses of technology, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-history" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=personal-history">Personal History</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious personal-history" data-position="normal" data-date="1998-02-06 20:48:01"> <p class="date">February 6, 1998</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.stephenwolfram.com/media/computers-science-extraterrestrials-interview-stephen-wolfram/'>Interview by David Stork, <em>Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/1998/02/06/did-you-identify-with-any-of-the-characters-in-2001/">Did you identify with any of the characters in <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em>?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Not really. At the time, I was young, and they all seemed quite old, and very American. Growing up in England, all that &#8220;Roger your plan to go EVA&#8221; stuff seemed pretty foreign to me. I guess I didn&#8217;t ever imagine talking jargon like that. One thing, though, was that I definitely was very interested in one day being able to interact with the kind of technology that was in the movie. At that time, though, I thought that meant that I&#8217;d have to join NASA or something. I&#8217;m sure I didn&#8217;t think about it in those terms, but I certainly didn&#8217;t imagine the kind of flattening of who has access to technology that&#8217;s actually happened.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Not really. At the time, I was young, and they all seemed quite old, and very American. Growing up in England, all that &#8220;Roger your plan to go EVA&#8221; stuff seemed pretty foreign to me. I guess I didn&#8217;t ever imagine talking jargon like that. One thing, though, was that I definitely was very interested in one day being able to interact with the kind of technology that was in the movie. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Not really. At the time, I was young, and they all seemed quite old, and very American. Growing up in England, all that “Roger your plan to go EVA” stuff seemed pretty foreign to me. I guess I didn’t ever imagine talking jargon like that. One thing, though, was that I definitely was very interested in one day being able to interact with the kind of technology that was in the movie. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-history" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=personal-history">Personal History</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious personal-history" data-position="normal" data-date="1998-02-06 20:50:30"> <p class="date">February 6, 1998</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.stephenwolfram.com/media/computers-science-extraterrestrials-interview-stephen-wolfram/'>Interview by David Stork, <em>Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/1998/02/06/what-struck-you-most-about-2001-a-space-odyssey-watching-it-now-in-your-adulthood/">What struck you most about <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em> watching it now, in your adulthood?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Well, it seemed a lot shorter than when I was a kid. It also seemed to make a lot more sense. I guess I now at least think I understand how all the pieces are supposed to fit together. And they really raise some very interesting questions. But let&#8217;s talk about that later.</p> <p>Another thing that struck me a lot watching <em>2001</em> this evening was how emotionally cold it is. I don&#8217;t think I noticed that at all when I was a kid. But seeing the movie now I was just amazed at how little human emotion there is in it. I think HAL was the most emotive of the bunch in the end.</p> <p>When I was a kid I guess I had this vague idea that scientists were the kind of emotionless characters that are portrayed in the movie. They never seemed to get excited about anything. Maybe that&#8217;s a bit of what&#8217;s wrong with science, actually. For most people there&#8217;s so little passion in it. Just get the data, analyze it from 9 to 5, and so on. Kubrick may have had that exactly right.</p> <p>Anyway, you ask what struck me about the movie. Another thing is how rich almost every scene is. There were so many details. So many things that someone must have really thought about. It&#8217;s a damned good piece of work. And I suppose what&#8217;s nice about it is that enough people think that every scene has really been studied carefully. And people are even writing books about what happened in the movie. Like this one, I guess!</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Well, it seemed a lot shorter than when I was a kid. It also seemed to make a lot more sense. I guess I now at least think I understand how all the pieces are supposed to fit together. And they really raise some very interesting questions. But let&#8217;s talk about that later. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Well, it seemed a lot shorter than when I was a kid. It also seemed to make a lot more sense. I guess I now at least think I understand how all the pieces are supposed to fit together. And they really raise some very interesting questions. But let’s talk about that later. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-history" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=personal-history">Personal History</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious software-technology" data-position="normal" data-date="1998-02-06 20:58:03"> <p class="date">February 6, 1998</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.stephenwolfram.com/media/computers-science-extraterrestrials-interview-stephen-wolfram/'>Interview by David Stork, <em>Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/1998/02/06/what-did-you-think-about-the-computers-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/">What did you think about the computers in <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em>?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Well, let&#8217;s talk about the ordinary ones&mdash;not HAL&mdash;for now. It&#8217;s really fascinating what was predicted correctly there, and what wasn&#8217;t. There was one definite major conceptual mistake, I think, that had to do with misassessing the power of software, and that pervaded a lot of the things that weren&#8217;t got right.</p> <p>One thing that was got very right is that computers would be important, and that there would be computers&mdash;or at least computer screens&mdash;everywhere. But the thing that was got wrong was how much stuff would have to be done with different special-purpose devices, and how much could be done just with software. There were fine in-flight TV screens on the shuttle. But they had rows of separate buttons underneath, not software menus. There were lots of separate computer screens showing different things. Not just software-controlled windows. People were looking at physical photographs of the monolith on the Moon, not computer renderings. And there was a click for the camera shutter. Not digital. And of course there were clipboards being used on <em>Discovery</em>.</p> <p>Now, one can argue that airplane cockpits still have rows of buttons, and that the clipboard thing was just about not predicting portable computers. But I think there was more to it. I think Kubrick and Clarke didn&#8217;t have the idea that once you&#8217;re dealing with a general-purpose computer, you can do things purely in software, without having to have different special-purpose hardware.</p> <p>I certainly don&#8217;t blame Kubrick and Clarke for making the mistake. In fact, people often still make the same mistake today. But if one looks at the history of computing there&#8217;s an extremely clear trend: special-purpose hardware gets replaced by software running on general-purpose machines. One doesn&#8217;t need physical teletypes anymore, because the forms of letters can be made in software. Soon one won&#8217;t need video hardware, because all the signal processing will be able to be done in software. People often don&#8217;t see it, but universal computers really are universal. And it&#8217;s only a matter of time before pure software can do more and more things. Without needing special hardware stuff.</p> <p>It&#8217;s funny. Watching <em>2001</em> really makes me think about the significance of universal computing and software. <em>2001</em> in a sense makes the case that it was the invention of tools that really got humans started on the path to where they are today. Well, I guess in the last few years I&#8217;ve come to think that the invention of software is something of about the same magnitude as the invention of tools. You see, before you have tools, the only device for getting things done is your own body. But with tools, you can go beyond that. Still, once you&#8217;ve built a tool, you&#8217;re stuck with that particular tool. The idea of a universal computer is that you can make a universal tool&mdash;a general-purpose object&mdash;that you can program to do absolutely anything. And I think now that we&#8217;ve only just started down the path that&#8217;s opened up by the idea of software. There&#8217;s probably as much development to come as in the sequence in <em>2001</em> that cuts from a bone as bashing tool to an orbiting spacecraft.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Well, let&#8217;s talk about the ordinary ones&mdash;not HAL&mdash;for now. It&#8217;s really fascinating what was predicted correctly there, and what wasn&#8217;t. There was one definite major conceptual mistake, I think, that had to do with misassessing the power of software, and that pervaded a lot of the things that weren&#8217;t got right. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Well, let’s talk about the ordinary ones—not HAL—for now. It’s really fascinating what was predicted correctly there, and what wasn’t. There was one definite major conceptual mistake, I think, that had to do with misassessing the power of software, and that pervaded a lot of the things that weren’t got right. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="software-technology" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=software-technology">Software Technology</a> </div> </div> <div class="project future-perspectives just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="1998-02-06 21:06:31"> <p class="date">February 6, 1998</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.stephenwolfram.com/media/computers-science-extraterrestrials-interview-stephen-wolfram/'>Interview by David Stork, <em>Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/1998/02/06/what-kind-of-thing-would-make-us-sure-we-had-detected-extraterrestrial-intelligence-what-about-receiving-the-digits-of-pi/">What kind of thing would make us sure we had detected extraterrestrial intelligence? What about receiving the digits of pi?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Well, that&#8217;s a tough one, for two reasons. First, how would we know that there was a complicated intentional intelligence generating those digits? You see, I&#8217;ve found some very simple systems that generate things like the digits of pi. Systems so simple that we could easily imagine they&#8217;d occur naturally, without intentional intelligence. So even if we found the digits of pi, we&#8217;d have a hard time being sure that the thing that produced them was something like us&mdash;a really complicated, evolved, learning thing&mdash;rather than just something like a piece of fluid.</p> <p>Then there&#8217;s a whole other problem: how would we know that we were receiving the digits of pi? You see, the digits of pi seem effectively random for essentially all purposes. And we certainly don&#8217;t have any idea how to build some kind of analyzer that would systematically detect the digits as nonrandom. Well, the obvious question is: are there in fact radio signals that could be the digits of pi coming from around the galaxy? The answer is definitely yes. If you point a radio telescope in almost any direction, you&#8217;ll hear &#8220;radio noise&#8221;. Maybe it&#8217;s all thermal emission from hot gas, but maybe&mdash;just maybe&mdash;there are the digits of pi out there. We don&#8217;t right now have any way to know for sure.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Well, that&#8217;s a tough one, for two reasons. First, how would we know that there was a complicated intentional intelligence generating those digits? You see, I&#8217;ve found some very simple systems that generate things like the digits of pi. Systems so simple that we could easily imagine they&#8217;d occur naturally, without intentional intelligence. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Well, that’s a tough one, for two reasons. First, how would we know that there was a complicated intentional intelligence generating those digits? You see, I’ve found some very simple systems that generate things like the digits of pi. Systems so simple that we could easily imagine they’d occur naturally, without intentional intelligence. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="future-perspectives" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=future-perspectives">Future Perspectives</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="1998-02-06 21:08:46"> <p class="date">February 6, 1998</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.stephenwolfram.com/media/computers-science-extraterrestrials-interview-stephen-wolfram/'>Interview by David Stork, <em>Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/1998/02/06/do-you-think-there-is-extraterrestrial-intelligence-out-there/">Do you think there is extraterrestrial intelligence out there?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Oh, I&#8217;m sure there are lots and lots of systems that can do computations as sophisticated as working out the digits of pi. We&#8217;ve got lots right here on Earth. But we don&#8217;t call them intelligent. Even though some of them seem to &#8220;have a mind of their own&#8221;&mdash;like the weather. But I also think there are probably lots of extraterrestrials out there of the kind you&#8217;re talking about&mdash;with lots of history, evolution stuff and so on.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Oh, I&#8217;m sure there are lots and lots of systems that can do computations as sophisticated as working out the digits of pi. We&#8217;ve got lots right here on Earth. But we don&#8217;t call them intelligent. Even though some of them seem to &#8220;have a mind of their own&#8221;&mdash;like the weather. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Oh, I’m sure there are lots and lots of systems that can do computations as sophisticated as working out the digits of pi. We’ve got lots right here on Earth. But we don’t call them intelligent. Even though some of them seem to “have a mind of their own”—like the weather. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2003-04-07 18:10:12"> <p class="date">April 7, 2003</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.the-scientist.com/first-person/stephen-wolfram-51807' target='_blank'>Interview by <em>The Scientist Magazine</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2003/04/07/why-havent-you-read-all-the-reviews-of-a-new-kind-of-science/">Why haven’t you read all the reviews of <em>A New Kind of Science</em>?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>There are a lot of them, and they&#8217;re not all that interesting.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="There are a lot of them, and they&#8217;re not all that interesting."> There are a lot of them, and they’re not all that interesting. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious personal-productivity" data-position="normal" data-date="2003-04-07 21:54:09"> <p class="date">April 7, 2003</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.the-scientist.com/first-person/stephen-wolfram-51807' target='_blank'>Interview by <em>The Scientist Magazine</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2003/04/07/do-you-get-bored-easily/">Do you get bored easily?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I tend not to do things I find boring&#8230; If I think the things I&#8217;m doing are pointless, I try to stop doing them as quickly as possible. Figuring out new things is what I like doing most.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I tend not to do things I find boring&#8230; If I think the things I&#8217;m doing are pointless, I try to stop doing them as quickly as possible. Figuring out new things is what I like doing most."> I tend not to do things I find boring… If I think the things I’m doing are pointless, I try to stop doing them as quickly as possible. Figuring out new things is what I like doing most. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-productivity" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=personal-productivity">Personal Productivity</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2003-04-07 21:59:28"> <p class="date">April 7, 2003</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.the-scientist.com/first-person/stephen-wolfram-51807' target='_blank'>Interview by <em>The Scientist Magazine</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2003/04/07/are-you-modest/">Are you modest?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Different people have different opinions on that. It&#8217;s hard to see from the inside. Certainly I am a person who values truth over modesty. For example, in my book I chose to talk quite explicitly about the importance of some of my ideas and discoveries, because without that, it would be much more difficult for people to get a correct handle on where these fit in. My situation in life has let me really be an independent scientist. And that means I can optimize communicating ideas, rather than having my colleagues applaud my humility.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Different people have different opinions on that. It&#8217;s hard to see from the inside. Certainly I am a person who values truth over modesty. For example, in my book I chose to talk quite explicitly about the importance of some of my ideas and discoveries, because without that, it would be much more difficult for people to get a correct handle on where these fit in. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Different people have different opinions on that. It’s hard to see from the inside. Certainly I am a person who values truth over modesty. For example, in my book I chose to talk quite explicitly about the importance of some of my ideas and discoveries, because without that, it would be much more difficult for people to get a correct handle on where these fit in. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2009-05-29 21:29:13"> <p class="date">May 29, 2009</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/sundayprofile/stephen-wolfram-computer-whiz/3133308' target='_blank'>Interview by Monica Attard, ABC Local</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2009/05/29/what-do-your-children-make-of-what-you-do/">What do your children make of what you do?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Well, at least three of them are quite avid users [of the Wolfram Language], and in the development of Wolfram|Alpha they&#8217;ve been mightily amused by many of the bugs. One of them was particularly taken with the moment where if you typed in &#8220;elephant&#8221;, it wasn&#8217;t talking about the species, it somehow got confused about a thing called Elephant Island that&#8217;s somewhere near Antarctica. They have been harsh critics of some of the things that haven&#8217;t worked right as the site has been being developed.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Well, at least three of them are quite avid users [of the Wolfram Language], and in the development of Wolfram|Alpha they&#8217;ve been mightily amused by many of the bugs. One of them was particularly taken with the moment where if you typed in &#8220;elephant&#8221;, it wasn&#8217;t talking about the species, it somehow got confused about a thing called Elephant Island that&#8217;s somewhere near Antarctica. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Well, at least three of them are quite avid users [of the Wolfram Language], and in the development of Wolfram|Alpha they’ve been mightily amused by many of the bugs. One of them was particularly taken with the moment where if you typed in “elephant”, it wasn’t talking about the species, it somehow got confused about a thing called Elephant Island that’s somewhere near Antarctica. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2012-05-14 14:56:51"> <p class="date">May 14, 2012</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/tmutz/stephen_wolfram_nks_10th_anniversary/c4o0czd/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2012/05/14/what-is-your-favorite-fruit/">What is your favorite fruit?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>You really want to know? 馃檪</p> <p>Actually, right at this moment I have a little tub of raspberries that I am consuming.</p> <p>I happen to be quite a fruit enthusiast&#8230; in fact, every day I end up eating some raspberries, pineapple, strawberries, grapes and usually an apple. (OK, that&#8217;s surely more than you wanted to know 馃檪 )</p> <p>And one more thing: I don&#8217;t end up going into grocery stores very often (modern times; assistants; etc.) But when I do, I have this little running amusement going with my children: we always try to pick up one bizarre or rare fruit or vegetable. We&#8217;ve ended up with some weird stuff&#8230; that tasted really weird&#8230;.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="You really want to know? 馃檪 Actually, right at this moment I have a little tub of raspberries that I am consuming. I happen to be quite a fruit enthusiast&#8230; in fact, every day I end up eating some raspberries, pineapple, strawberries, grapes and usually an apple. (OK, that&#8217;s surely more than you wanted to know 馃檪 ) And one more thing: I don&#8217;t end up going into grocery stores very often (modern times; <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> You really want to know? 馃檪 Actually, right at this moment I have a little tub of raspberries that I am consuming. I happen to be quite a fruit enthusiast… in fact, every day I end up eating some raspberries, pineapple, strawberries, grapes and usually an apple. (OK, that’s surely more than you wanted to know 馃檪 ) And one more thing: I don’t end up going into grocery stores very often (modern times; <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2012-05-14 14:57:51"> <p class="date">May 14, 2012</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/tmutz/stephen_wolfram_nks_10th_anniversary/c4nyt3g/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2012/05/14/can-you-list-some-of-your-favorite-books/">Can you list some of your favorite books?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I have altogether about 4000 physical books, though I pretty much stopped buying new ones a decade ago. (There&#8217;s actually a list of many of my books, as &#8220;NKS references&#8221; at <a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/reference/books/'>https://www.wolframscience.com/reference/books/</a>.)</p> <p>On my desk I have to say I have only one book: <em>A New Kind of Science</em>. And I refer to the paper version with some regularity. (I used to have a physical Mathematica book too, but that&#8217;s now been completely superseded by what&#8217;s online.)</p> <p>But within reach&#8230; I have a bunch of reference books that I&#8217;ve been using as benchmarks for Wolfram|Alpha&#8230; as well as a few &#8220;classics&#8221; that I just feel I should have nearby.</p> <p>Let&#8217;s see&#8230; there&#8217;s Newton, Darwin, Euclid, Galileo, Boole, D&#8217;Arcy Thompson, Linnaeus. (I used to have Turing&#8217;s collected works, but they seem to have gone missing.) (In addition to the famous books by these folk, I see I also have e.g. Darwin&#8217;s autobiography, D&#8217;Arcy Thompson&#8217;s book on Greek fishes, Darwin on barnacles, and Newton&#8217;s chronology of ancient kingdoms&#8230;)</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I have altogether about 4000 physical books, though I pretty much stopped buying new ones a decade ago. (There&#8217;s actually a list of many of my books, as &#8220;NKS references&#8221; at <a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/reference/books/'>https://www.wolframscience.com/reference/books/</a>.) On my desk I have to say I have only one book: <em>A New Kind of Science</em>. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> I have altogether about 4000 physical books, though I pretty much stopped buying new ones a decade ago. (There’s actually a list of many of my books, as “NKS references” at <a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/reference/books/'>https://www.wolframscience.com/reference/books/</a>.) On my desk I have to say I have only one book: <em>A New Kind of Science</em>. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2012-05-14 16:34:25"> <p class="date">May 14, 2012</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/tmutz/stephen_wolfram_nks_10th_anniversary/c4nyrj5/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2012/05/14/if-you-had-to-fight-a-dinosaur-to-the-death-in-a-dinosaur-death-match-using-only-primitive-weapons-and-not-allowed-to-set-traps-whats-the-biggest-dinosaur-you-think-you-win-against-you-dont-have/">If you had to fight a dinosaur to the death in a Dinosaur Death Match using only primitive weapons and not allowed to set traps, what’s the biggest dinosaur you think you win against? You don’t have to name a specific dinosaur, just give us a size reference.</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Sadly, I think I would probably lose against anything with serious teeth&#8230;</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Sadly, I think I would probably lose against anything with serious teeth&#8230;"> Sadly, I think I would probably lose against anything with serious teeth… </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2012-05-14 16:46:52"> <p class="date">May 14, 2012</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/tmutz/stephen_wolfram_nks_10th_anniversary/c4nzl2m/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2012/05/14/if-you-were-forced-to-pick-a-five-year-period-from-history-to-be-sent-back-to-what-period-would-you-pick-your-arrival-date-will-be-randomly-picked-from-the-five-year-period-meaning-that-you-will-ar/">If you were forced to pick a five-year period from history to be sent back to, what period would you pick? Your arrival date will be randomly picked from the five-year period, meaning that you will arrive somewhere in the five-year period. Also this is a one-way trip, and there will be no return to the present. You can only bring with you what you can carry and already have access to, meaning anything you already own or can buy within one hour (budget limited to your current holdings) that you can carry.</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Well&#8230; I&#8217;m not sure how well I&#8217;d do before modern candy and other comforts 馃檪</p> <p>I guess I&#8217;d want to bring a computer and everything needed to repair it. Not sure I could fit a generator. So it&#8217;d have to be some time after electricity&#8230;</p> <p>Heck&#8230; this is a weird hypothetical question. It would surely be fun to be telling people all the stuff we know now. But too far back and they really wouldn&#8217;t comprehend it.</p> <p>I think the late 1800s might have been intellectually interesting&mdash;that was a time when the formalization of lots of things was happening, and with a different push it might have gone &#8220;all the way&#8221; to ideas of computing, but didn&#8217;t.</p> <p>Where do I get to go in the world in your setup? Victorian England might have been amusing in some ways.</p> <p>Oh&#8230; perhaps I should go after 1959, so I could influence &#8220;myself&#8221;&#8230; and change my answer to this question.</p> <p>Heck&#8230; I give up&#8230;</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Well&#8230; I&#8217;m not sure how well I&#8217;d do before modern candy and other comforts 馃檪 I guess I&#8217;d want to bring a computer and everything needed to repair it. Not sure I could fit a generator. So it&#8217;d have to be some time after electricity&#8230; Heck&#8230; this is a weird hypothetical question. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Well… I’m not sure how well I’d do before modern candy and other comforts 馃檪 I guess I’d want to bring a computer and everything needed to repair it. Not sure I could fit a generator. So it’d have to be some time after electricity… Heck… this is a weird hypothetical question. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project future-perspectives just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2013-04-26 16:21:27"> <p class="date">April 26, 2013</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/more/7542' target='_blank'>Interview by Patrick Tucker, IEET</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2013/04/26/where-do-you-see-yourself-in-10-years-and-what-do-you-see-yourself-having-accomplished-10-years-from-now/">Where do you see yourself in 10 years? And what do you see yourself having accomplished 10 years from now?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Well, that&#8217;s an interesting question. My gosh. That&#8217;s the kind of question one&#8217;s supposed to ask at a job interview. I never ask those, because I always figure that they&#8217;re silly questions. I&#8217;m hoping I&#8217;ll do a few new things. We&#8217;ll see. For the last decade, Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha were my main activities. I felt pretty good about those. I hope for a few more in the decade to come.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Well, that&#8217;s an interesting question. My gosh. That&#8217;s the kind of question one&#8217;s supposed to ask at a job interview. I never ask those, because I always figure that they&#8217;re silly questions. I&#8217;m hoping I&#8217;ll do a few new things. We&#8217;ll see. For the last decade, Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha were my main activities. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Well, that’s an interesting question. My gosh. That’s the kind of question one’s supposed to ask at a job interview. I never ask those, because I always figure that they’re silly questions. I’m hoping I’ll do a few new things. We’ll see. For the last decade, Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha were my main activities. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="future-perspectives" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=future-perspectives">Future Perspectives</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 14:38:18"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b97x8/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/what-is-your-favorite-flavor-of-ice-cream/">What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Currently: banana if available. Otherwise chocolate.</p> <p>(That was easy&#8230;)</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Currently: banana if available. Otherwise chocolate. (That was easy&#8230;) <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Currently: banana if available. Otherwise chocolate. (That was easy…) <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 14:40:37"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b5i3j/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/what-kind-of-games-do-you-play-digital-or-analog/">What kind of games do you play, digital or analog?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I&#8217;m not really into games at all, and never have been.</p> <p>Somehow whenever I&#8217;m exposed to games I end up thinking &#8220;in the time I spend playing this game, I could be building something or doing something that isn&#8217;t a game&#8221;. I guess the point for me is that I really like building and doing things, so that&#8217;s the fun &#8220;recreation&#8221; for me&#8230;</p> <p>That&#8217;s not to say that I don&#8217;t think there are very interesting ideas and achievements represented by games (and our technology gets used quite a bit in developing games, etc.). Games are just something I&#8217;ve never been into. Actually, I try to collect such things&#8230; I like &#8220;reserving them for later in life&#8221;. Somehow I&#8217;m charmed by the idea of learning videogames at a very advanced age&#8230;.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I&#8217;m not really into games at all, and never have been. Somehow whenever I&#8217;m exposed to games I end up thinking &#8220;in the time I spend playing this game, I could be building something or doing something that isn&#8217;t a game&#8221;. I guess the point for me is that I really like building and doing things, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> I’m not really into games at all, and never have been. Somehow whenever I’m exposed to games I end up thinking “in the time I spend playing this game, I could be building something or doing something that isn’t a game”. I guess the point for me is that I really like building and doing things, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 14:41:02"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b2qyx/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/when-are-you-going-back-to-hollywood-with-a-show-like-numb3rs/">When are you going back to Hollywood with a show like <em>Numb3rs</em>?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>We certainly didn&#8217;t create the <em>Numb3rs</em> TV show, but some people at our company had a lot of fun providing math for each episode and the website about all that is still up: <a href='http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/'>http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/</a> I personally haven&#8217;t done as much with Hollywood as I might because I find the high noise-to-signal ratio that tends to exist there very difficult to deal with. However, I had a nice experience helping a little (with one of my kids) recently on a movie project that hopefully will come out this year. (Of course, our technology gets used a lot in Hollywood: a nice recent example which takes us back to your gravitational wave question is <a href='https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/customer-stories/academy-award-visuals-mathematica-wolfram-language.en.html'>https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/customer-stories/academy-award-visuals-mathematica-wolfram-language.en.html</a>)</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="We certainly didn&#8217;t create the <em>Numb3rs</em> TV show, but some people at our company had a lot of fun providing math for each episode and the website about all that is still up: <a href='http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/'>http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/</a> I personally haven&#8217;t done as much with Hollywood as I might because I find the high noise-to-signal ratio that tends to exist there very difficult to deal with. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> We certainly didn’t create the <em>Numb3rs</em> TV show, but some people at our company had a lot of fun providing math for each episode and the website about all that is still up: <a href='http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/'>http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/</a> I personally haven’t done as much with Hollywood as I might because I find the high noise-to-signal ratio that tends to exist there very difficult to deal with. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 15:47:56"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b4p30/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/which-superhero-from-marvel-do-you-find-most-scientifically-realistic/">Which superhero from Marvel do you find most scientifically realistic?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I have seen a bunch of Marvel movies&#8230; but I&#8217;m no expert on the whole array of superheroes&#8230;.</p> <p>What&#8217;s ultimately possible is always an interesting question. There are plenty of things that get done even though they supposedly &#8220;violate the laws of physics&#8221;. (I remember when people said that data would never be transmitted on copper wires faster than 1200 baud&#8230; because they didn&#8217;t understand error correction/compression etc.) It takes a lot of thought to understand what might be possible, and one still often gets it wrong, because one didn&#8217;t think of some engineering trick or another&#8230;.</p> <p>I wrote an essay about a few of these things [not superheroes, just what&#8217;s ultimately possible in physics] a few years ago: <a href='https://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/what-ultimately-possible-physics/'>https://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/what-ultimately-possible-physics/</a></p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I have seen a bunch of Marvel movies&#8230; but I&#8217;m no expert on the whole array of superheroes&#8230;. What&#8217;s ultimately possible is always an interesting question. There are plenty of things that get done even though they supposedly &#8220;violate the laws of physics&#8221;. (I remember when people said that data would never be transmitted on copper wires faster than 1200 baud&#8230; <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> I have seen a bunch of Marvel movies… but I’m no expert on the whole array of superheroes…. What’s ultimately possible is always an interesting question. There are plenty of things that get done even though they supposedly “violate the laws of physics”. (I remember when people said that data would never be transmitted on copper wires faster than 1200 baud… <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious personal-history" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 16:27:14"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b2bt1/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/what-do-you-miss-about-england-that-america-doesnt-immediately-offer/">What do you miss about England that America doesn’t immediately offer?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>The candy 馃檪 And now there&#8217;s even a ban on the import of some British candy to the US.</p> <p>When I was growing up in England I was always frustrated by what seemed like an irrational level of respect for older people there. And I often said that England would be a good place to be older in, but wasn&#8217;t a good place to be young in. Unfortunately in the intervening decades I think the attitude in England has changed, so this wasn&#8217;t a good thing to look forward to 馃檪</p> <p>I always enjoy visiting England, and it&#8217;s fun to contrast attitudes in the US and UK. And I think I can at least still imitate the most British &#8220;jolly good show&#8221; kinds of things&#8230;.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="The candy 馃檪 And now there&#8217;s even a ban on the import of some British candy to the US. When I was growing up in England I was always frustrated by what seemed like an irrational level of respect for older people there. And I often said that England would be a good place to be older in, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> The candy 馃檪 And now there’s even a ban on the import of some British candy to the US. When I was growing up in England I was always frustrated by what seemed like an irrational level of respect for older people there. And I often said that England would be a good place to be older in, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-history" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=personal-history">Personal History</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 16:31:52"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b2wes/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/when-will-skynet-be-ready/">When will Skynet be ready?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Wolfram|Alpha seems to have at least something to say: <a href='https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=are+you+skynet'>https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=are+you+skynet</a></p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Wolfram|Alpha seems to have at least something to say: <a href='https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=are+you+skynet'>https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=are+you+skynet</a>"> Wolfram|Alpha seems to have at least something to say: <a href='https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=are+you+skynet'>https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=are+you+skynet</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 20:52:22"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b3ka1/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/hello-stephen-i-have-a-very-important-question-that-many-of-my-colleagues-wish-to-have-answered-would-you-rather-fight-100-duck-sized-horses-or-1-horse-sized-duck-how-might-you-use-mathematica-to/">I have a very important question that many of my colleagues wish to have answered: Would you rather fight 100 duck sized horses, or 1 horse sized duck? How might you use Mathematica to answer this intelligently?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I&#8217;m certainly no expert on fighting &#8230; but here&#8217;s how I might approach the problem. Basically I would want to make models of these creatures&#8212;their mechanics, and if possible their behaviors. I know Mathematica has been used a bunch to model quadruped mechanics (e.g. for dinosaurs in movies, and real things). I&#8217;d probably start from models of the biomechanics of ducks and horses. We recently added detailed human anatomy data to the Wolfram Language and Wolfram|Alpha (see e.g. <a href='https://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/HumanAnatomy.html'>https://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/HumanAnatomy.html</a>), and I know from that project (which took a long time) that there isn&#8217;t readily available comparable data for other species. So one would have to wing it a bit (and, yes, I have no idea about models for the wings&#8230;)</p> <p>So &#8230; after one has a biomechanics model, then there&#8217;s the question of how these critters would fight. Oh, by the way, there&#8217;s another issue: how would the anatomies of horses and ducks scale? There are empirical scaling laws for anatomy (how much stronger is a leg if it&#8217;s x times bigger, etc.), which perhaps one could use. But to be &#8220;realistic&#8221; one would have to think about how an actual duck the size of a horse would grow. Maybe one could use synthetic biology to fabricate such a thing, but that&#8217;s out of range for now. We don&#8217;t even know what genes govern human height &#8230; let alone knowing what to modify to change the size of a duck.</p> <p>OK &#8230; but let&#8217;s assume we&#8217;ve got a plausible biomechanics model. Then we&#8217;ve got to model the brains of the critters. In modern times, perhaps we could simply capture training data for a neural network by watching the actual behaviors of ducks and horses when presented with different sensory inputs and situations. At least on short timescales I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if some simple recurrent neural network or some such wouldn&#8217;t be able to reproduce the behavior pretty well.</p> <p>So let&#8217;s imagine that we have models for these critters. Now we&#8217;d have to work out a strategy for how to fight them. Actually, my tendency might be to try to avoid fighting them, but I&#8217;m not sure how it would work negotiating with a horse-sized duck. Maybe by the time we&#8217;ve got a good neural net model for the critter, we&#8217;d be able to communicate with it, and have some kind of existential discussion &#8230; with the conclusion that we didn&#8217;t want to fight anyway. But still, if we did have to fight, then we&#8217;d want to develop some algorithm for deciding what to do, and responding to the various actions of the &#8220;other side&#8221;. What I&#8217;d tend to do is to search a large space of possible algorithms, looking for ones that perform well in simulations of the fight. Most likely those algorithms will involve a certain amount of apparent randomness (&#8220;doing unexpected things&#8221;).</p> <p>After all of this, I&#8217;d pick the best algorithms, then run simulations of the duck-horse and horse-duck cases. With luck there&#8217;d be a definitive separation in the distribution of outcomes for the two cases &#8230; in which case, I&#8217;d have an answer! Or it could be that the distributions would overlap a lot &#8230; in which case I guess I&#8217;d use some statistical criterion or another (&#8220;mean worst-case outcome&#8221; or &#8220;90% probability of victory&#8221; etc.) and pick the answer.</p> <p>Oh my &#8230; that was long and nerdy &#8230; but it was fun for me &#8230; thanks&#8230;</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I&#8217;m certainly no expert on fighting &#8230; but here&#8217;s how I might approach the problem. Basically I would want to make models of these creatures&#8212;their mechanics, and if possible their behaviors. I know Mathematica has been used a bunch to model quadruped mechanics (e.g. for dinosaurs in movies, and real things). <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> I’m certainly no expert on fighting … but here’s how I might approach the problem. Basically I would want to make models of these creatures—their mechanics, and if possible their behaviors. I know Mathematica has been used a bunch to model quadruped mechanics (e.g. for dinosaurs in movies, and real things). <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious personal-productivity" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 20:56:53"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b25r4/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/what-are-your-plans-and-goals-for-the-future/">What are your plans and goals for the future?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Oh, so many. Right now a lot of things that make use of the Wolfram Language technology stack. Understanding how to use it to teach computational thinking, to do software development, etc. Then using it (as I have for nearly 30 years now) to develop more technology (AI-related things, etc. etc.) I always maintain a stack of projects that I&#8217;m interested in. Sometimes it takes decades before the technology I can use gets to the point where it&#8217;s actually realistic to do the project (the record so far is Wolfram|Alpha, which had a nearly 40-year span from first conception to actual release). One project I really want to do is seeing whether my way of finding the fundamental theory of physics is correct; hopefully I&#8217;ll get to that one fairly soon. And then I have a few hobbies &#8230; like studying history of science and technology. Which I occasionally get to indulge: e.g. <a href='http://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2015/12/untangling-the-tale-of-ada-lovelace/'>http://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2015/12/untangling-the-tale-of-ada-lovelace/</a></p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Oh, so many. Right now a lot of things that make use of the Wolfram Language technology stack. Understanding how to use it to teach computational thinking, to do software development, etc. Then using it (as I have for nearly 30 years now) to develop more technology (AI-related things, etc. etc.) I always maintain a stack of projects that I&#8217;m interested in. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Oh, so many. Right now a lot of things that make use of the Wolfram Language technology stack. Understanding how to use it to teach computational thinking, to do software development, etc. Then using it (as I have for nearly 30 years now) to develop more technology (AI-related things, etc. etc.) I always maintain a stack of projects that I’m interested in. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-productivity" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=personal-productivity">Personal Productivity</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 20:58:49"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0b1ct4/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/what-is-your-go-to-dinner-when-you-are-too-tired-to-make-anything-else/">What is your go-to dinner when you are too tired to make anything else?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Hmmm&#8230; I&#8217;m not really one for food construction; it&#8217;s perhaps embarrassing how few times in my life I&#8217;ve made any nontrivial foodform. My default thing to eat tends to be chocolate or fruit&#8230;</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Hmmm&#8230; I&#8217;m not really one for food construction; it&#8217;s perhaps embarrassing how few times in my life I&#8217;ve made any nontrivial foodform. My default thing to eat tends to be chocolate or fruit&#8230;"> Hmmm… I’m not really one for food construction; it’s perhaps embarrassing how few times in my life I’ve made any nontrivial foodform. My default thing to eat tends to be chocolate or fruit… </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious personal-productivity" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-02-23 21:01:56"> <p class="date">February 23, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d0batqg/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/02/23/do-you-feel-you-have-slowed-down-at-all-over-the-years-how-do-you-feel-about-nootropics-or-other-potential-solutions-for-maintaining-or-even-improving-cognitive-function/">Do you feel you have “slowed down” at all over the years? How do you feel about nootropics or other potential solutions for maintaining or even improving cognitive function?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>So far, I&#8217;m happy to say that I feel like I&#8217;m speeding up rather than slowing down. I&#8217;ve progressively learned more and more over the years about how to figure things out, and how to get things done. It probably helps that I have a pretty good memory, so in a first approximation I remember everything I&#8217;ve ever learned. (I was pretty pleased in the last few days writing a blog post about General Relativity etc. <a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2016/02/black-hole-tech/'>https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2016/02/black-hole-tech</a> that I could actually remember all those details that I hadn&#8217;t thought about in 30 years&#8230;) It also helps that over the years I&#8217;ve ended up learning lots of different fields. It gets easier to learn a new field after you&#8217;ve learned lots of others, and many of the good ways I have of thinking about things come from taking methods from one field and applying them to others.</p> <p>As far as physiological ways to affect cognitive function: well, in my 40s I finally realized that it&#8217;s actually useful to take exercise &#8230; and so I started doing my work for the first two hours of each day walking on a treadmill with a computer. (It&#8217;s always good to schedule meetings that might be frustrating then, because if I get frustrated, I just have to speed up on the treadmill 馃檪 ) I think the closest I get to anything nootropic is eating chocolate.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="So far, I&#8217;m happy to say that I feel like I&#8217;m speeding up rather than slowing down. I&#8217;ve progressively learned more and more over the years about how to figure things out, and how to get things done. It probably helps that I have a pretty good memory, so in a first approximation I remember everything I&#8217;ve ever learned. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> So far, I’m happy to say that I feel like I’m speeding up rather than slowing down. I’ve progressively learned more and more over the years about how to figure things out, and how to get things done. It probably helps that I have a pretty good memory, so in a first approximation I remember everything I’ve ever learned. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="personal-productivity" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=personal-productivity">Personal Productivity</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious people" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-07-20 16:52:19"> <p class="date">July 20, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4tspts/im_stephen_wolframask_me_anything/d5k0ekb/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/07/20/everyone-likes-to-point-out-the-scientific-inconsistencies-in-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-e-g-completely-ignoring-the-laws-of-physics-but-what-do-filmmakers-miss-when-they-portray-scientists-and-inn/">Everyone likes to point out the scientific inconsistencies in sci-fi movies & TV shows (e.g., completely ignoring the laws of physics). But what do filmmakers miss when they portray scientists and innovators themselves?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I&#8217;m often quite shocked at how bad the portrayals of science are even in high-budget movies. Sometimes I can see that getting the science wrong is necessary in order to have the story work. But often the bad science seems to be quite gratuitous. And I have to believe that for extremely little extra effort there&#8217;d be an extra market for these movies etc. if they got the science right.</p> <p>A few years back, my company made the math content for a TV show called <em>Numb3rs</em>&mdash;and people really seemed to appreciate the &#8220;real math&#8221; (see <a href="http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/">http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/</a>). The Wolfram Language and Mathematica get used a lot to create effects and sometimes displays for movies (e.g. by Kip Thorne et al. for <em>Interstellar</em>: <a href="https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/customer-stories/academy-award-visuals-mathematica-wolfram-language.en.html">https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/customer-stories/academy-award-visuals-mathematica-wolfram-language.en.html</a>).</p> <p>About a year ago I happened to get involved in doing science consulting for a fairly big-budget movie that&#8217;s now called <em>Arrival</em> that&#8217;s supposed to be released this fall. It was an interesting experience; I&#8217;m very curious how the actual movie will come out. Who knows, perhaps some of my mannerisms will even wind up portrayed by the actor who&#8217;s a physicist in the movie&#8230; (Oliver Sacks once told me what an uncanny experience he&#8217;d had watching Robin Williams portray him in a movie and interpret his various mannerisms so well&#8230;)</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I&#8217;m often quite shocked at how bad the portrayals of science are even in high-budget movies. Sometimes I can see that getting the science wrong is necessary in order to have the story work. But often the bad science seems to be quite gratuitous. And I have to believe that for extremely little extra effort there&#8217;d be an extra market for these movies etc. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> I’m often quite shocked at how bad the portrayals of science are even in high-budget movies. Sometimes I can see that getting the science wrong is necessary in order to have the story work. But often the bad science seems to be quite gratuitous. And I have to believe that for extremely little extra effort there’d be an extra market for these movies etc. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="people" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=people">People</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious mathematics science" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-11-07 21:23:16"> <p class="date">November 7, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by Dingyu Chen, <em>Eton Magazine</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/11/07/hypothetically-if-you-could-choose-two-fields-of-math-physics-or-computing-to-be-magically-fully-researched-which-ones-would-you-choose-and-why/">Hypothetically, if you could choose two fields of math, physics or computing to be magically fully researched, which ones would you choose, and why?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I&#8217;d like to know the fundamental theory of physics: what&#8217;s underneath space and time and quantum mechanics and all the other things we know in physics today.</p> <p>I&#8217;m not sure if you&#8217;d quite call it &#8220;computing&#8221;, but I&#8217;d like to know how to capture human concepts in a precise symbolic way that one can compute with. I&#8217;ve got quite a long way with the Wolfram Language already. But there&#8217;s more to do to capture all the things we humans care about.</p> <p>Some other things:<br /> I&#8217;d like to know just how general my Principle of Computational Equivalence is. Among other things, I&#8217;d like to know the boundary of undecidability in mathematics (e.g. how complicated a math problem is needed before one hits Gödel&#8217;s Theorem).</p> <p>I&#8217;d like to know whether there&#8217;s a unique, inexorable structure to mathematics, or whether the particular constructs that have been defined in the history of human mathematical research are just historical accidents.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I&#8217;d like to know the fundamental theory of physics: what&#8217;s underneath space and time and quantum mechanics and all the other things we know in physics today. I&#8217;m not sure if you&#8217;d quite call it &#8220;computing&#8221;, but I&#8217;d like to know how to capture human concepts in a precise symbolic way that one can compute with. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> I’d like to know the fundamental theory of physics: what’s underneath space and time and quantum mechanics and all the other things we know in physics today. I’m not sure if you’d quite call it “computing”, but I’d like to know how to capture human concepts in a precise symbolic way that one can compute with. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="mathematics" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=mathematics">Mathematics</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="science" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=science">Science</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2016-11-21 17:30:12"> <p class="date">November 21, 2016</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.space.com/34783-stephen-wolfram-arrival-interview.html' target='_blank'>Interview by Sarah Lewin, Space.com</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2016/11/21/how-were-you-approached-to-work-on-the-movie-arrival/">How were you approached to work on the movie <em>Arrival</em>?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Because a lot of scientists use our software systems and we produce a lot of interesting graphics, we have a pretty regular stream of requests from moviemakers of various kinds saying, &#8220;Can we show this graphic in our movie&#8221;. This one was kind of amusing, because it was like&mdash;we&#8217;re about to start shooting this fairly big-budget movie, and we need these screens that should look realistic and can you help us do this? We&#8217;re starting to shoot in two weeks.</p> <p>The only way one can do that is to say &#8220;show us the script&#8221;, because otherwise you don&#8217;t know what on Earth you&#8217;re trying to dress [the set] for. I don&#8217;t think the people who approached us for the movie were particularly expecting that I was going to look at them. It&#8217;s just that in a company like ours, if the request is sufficiently bizarre it eventually winds up at me.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Because a lot of scientists use our software systems and we produce a lot of interesting graphics, we have a pretty regular stream of requests from moviemakers of various kinds saying, &#8220;Can we show this graphic in our movie&#8221;. This one was kind of amusing, because it was like&mdash;we&#8217;re about to start shooting this fairly big-budget movie, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Because a lot of scientists use our software systems and we produce a lot of interesting graphics, we have a pretty regular stream of requests from moviemakers of various kinds saying, “Can we show this graphic in our movie”. This one was kind of amusing, because it was like—we’re about to start shooting this fairly big-budget movie, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2017-03-08 22:41:26"> <p class="date">March 8, 2017</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by John Horgan, <em>Scientific American</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2017/03/08/what-is-the-most-meaningful-goal-that-any-intelligence-human-or-inhuman-can-pursue/">What is the most meaningful goal that any intelligence, human or inhuman, can pursue?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>The notion of a &#8220;meaningful goal&#8221; is something that relies on a whole cultural context&#8212;so there can&#8217;t be a useful abstract answer to this question. </p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="The notion of a &#8220;meaningful goal&#8221; is something that relies on a whole cultural context&#8212;so there can&#8217;t be a useful abstract answer to this question."> The notion of a “meaningful goal” is something that relies on a whole cultural context—so there can’t be a useful abstract answer to this question. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2017-03-08 22:43:39"> <p class="date">March 8, 2017</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by John Horgan, <em>Scientific American</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2017/03/08/have-you-ever-suspected-that-god-exists-or-that-we-live-in-a-simulation/">Have you ever suspected that God exists, or that we live in a simulation?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>If by &#8220;God&#8221; you just mean something beyond science: well, there&#8217;s always going to be something beyond science until we have a complete theory of the universe, and even then, we may well still be asking, &#8220;Why this universe, and not another?&#8221;</p> <p>What would it mean for us to &#8220;live in a simulation&#8221;? Maybe that down at the Planck scale we&#8217;d find a whole civilization that&#8217;s setting things up so our universe works the way it does. Well, the Principle of Computational Equivalence says that the processes that go on at the Planck scale&#8212;even if they&#8217;re just &#8220;physics&#8221; ones&#8212;are going to be computationally equivalent to lots of other ones, including ones in a &#8220;civilization&#8221;. So for basically the same reason that it makes sense to say &#8220;the weather has a mind of its own&#8221;, it doesn&#8217;t make any sense to imagine our universe as a &#8220;simulation&#8221;.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="If by &#8220;God&#8221; you just mean something beyond science: well, there&#8217;s always going to be something beyond science until we have a complete theory of the universe, and even then, we may well still be asking, &#8220;Why this universe, and not another?&#8221; What would it mean for us to &#8220;live in a simulation&#8221;? <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> If by “God” you just mean something beyond science: well, there’s always going to be something beyond science until we have a complete theory of the universe, and even then, we may well still be asking, “Why this universe, and not another?” What would it mean for us to “live in a simulation”? <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project future-perspectives just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2017-03-08 22:45:58"> <p class="date">March 8, 2017</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by John Horgan, <em>Scientific American</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2017/03/08/whats-your-utopia/">What’s your utopia?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>If you mean: what do I personally want to do all day? Well, I&#8217;ve been fortunate that I&#8217;ve been able to set up my life to let me spend a large fraction of my time doing what I want to be doing, which usually means creating things and figuring things out. I like building large, elegant, useful, intellectual and practical structures&#8212;which is what I hope I&#8217;ve done over a long period of time, for example, with Wolfram Language.</p> <p>If you&#8217;re asking what I see as being the best ultimate outcome for our whole species&#8212;well, that&#8217;s a much more difficult question, though I&#8217;ve certainly thought about it. Yes, there are things we want now&#8212;but how what we want will evolve after we&#8217;ve got those things is, I think, almost impossible for us to understand. Look at what people see as goals today, and think how difficult it would be to explain many of them to someone even a few centuries ago. Human goals will certainly evolve, and the things people will think are the best possible things to do in the future may well be things we don&#8217;t even have words for yet.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="If you mean: what do I personally want to do all day? Well, I&#8217;ve been fortunate that I&#8217;ve been able to set up my life to let me spend a large fraction of my time doing what I want to be doing, which usually means creating things and figuring things out. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> If you mean: what do I personally want to do all day? Well, I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to set up my life to let me spend a large fraction of my time doing what I want to be doing, which usually means creating things and figuring things out. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="future-perspectives" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=future-perspectives">Future Perspectives</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2018-05-29 20:35:45"> <p class="date">May 29, 2018</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://gigaom.com/2018/05/29/voices-in-ai-episode-45-a-conversation-with-stephen-wolfram/' target='_blank'>Interview by Byron Reese, Gigaom.com</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2018/05/29/do-you-still-say-thank-you-to-the-automatic-ticket-thing-when-you-leave-the-parking-garage/">Do you still say thank you to the automatic ticket thing when you leave the parking garage?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Yes, to my children&#8217;s great amusement. I have made a principle of doing that for a long time.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Yes, to my children&#8217;s great amusement. I have made a principle of doing that for a long time."> Yes, to my children’s great amusement. I have made a principle of doing that for a long time. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-03-04 22:40:50"> <p class="date">March 4, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/axf32h/i_am_stephen_wolfram_founder_ceo_of_wolfram/ehtd1zz/' target='_blank'>Reddit AMA</a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/03/04/do-you-ever-use-the-alias-stephen-tungsten/">Do you ever use the alias “Stephen Tungsten”?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>No. But it&#8217;s always nice to have an immediate &#8220;favorite element&#8221;&#8230;</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="No. But it&#8217;s always nice to have an immediate &#8220;favorite element&#8221;&#8230;"> No. But it’s always nice to have an immediate “favorite element”… </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious science" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-07-24 21:48:38"> <p class="date">July 24, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by Will Carey, <em>Creative Chair</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/07/24/more-recently-there-seems-to-have-been-an-increase-in-filmmakers-who-want-their-projects-to-have-a-sound-scientific-foundation-do-you-think-that-this-is-important-and-if-so-why/">More recently there seems to have been an increase in filmmakers who want their projects to have a sound scientific foundation. Do you think that this is important, and if so why?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I always think it&#8217;s nice when a movie lets one engage intellectually as well as emotionally, and having a sound &#8220;science story&#8221; is a way to help achieve this. I think filmmakers often assume that the science will get in the way of the story they want to tell. But for me it&#8217;s just that one has to be creative about the science as well as about everything else in the movie. And, by the way, it&#8217;s surely good for the world to educate people a little more about science&mdash;and wrapping science in the story of a movie is potentially a great way to do that.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I always think it&#8217;s nice when a movie lets one engage intellectually as well as emotionally, and having a sound &#8220;science story&#8221; is a way to help achieve this. I think filmmakers often assume that the science will get in the way of the story they want to tell. But for me it&#8217;s just that one has to be creative about the science as well as about everything else in the movie. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> I always think it’s nice when a movie lets one engage intellectually as well as emotionally, and having a sound “science story” is a way to help achieve this. I think filmmakers often assume that the science will get in the way of the story they want to tell. But for me it’s just that one has to be creative about the science as well as about everything else in the movie. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="science" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=science">Science</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-07-24 21:53:55"> <p class="date">July 24, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by Will Carey, <em>Creative Chair</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/07/24/do-you-think-that-the-logograms-in-the-movie-arrival-were-the-most-appropriate-output-for-the-alien-language-or-if-you-had-been-in-involved-at-an-earlier-stage-would-you-have-suggested-an-alternati/">Do you think that the logograms in the movie <em>Arrival</em> were the most appropriate output for the alien language, or, if you had been in involved at an earlier stage, would you have suggested an alternative design?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I think the logograms looked very nice. If we&#8217;d been involved earlier then, yes, we might have suggested slightly different ways to assemble them from grammatical parts. But I don&#8217;t think people watching the movie (as opposed to picking apart every frame!) would have noticed the difference.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I think the logograms looked very nice. If we&#8217;d been involved earlier then, yes, we might have suggested slightly different ways to assemble them from grammatical parts. But I don&#8217;t think people watching the movie (as opposed to picking apart every frame!) would have noticed the difference."> I think the logograms looked very nice. If we’d been involved earlier then, yes, we might have suggested slightly different ways to assemble them from grammatical parts. But I don’t think people watching the movie (as opposed to picking apart every frame!) would have noticed the difference. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious wolfram-language" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-07-24 22:13:36"> <p class="date">July 24, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by Will Carey, <em>Creative Chair</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/07/24/could-the-wolfram-code-be-used-to-assign-meaning-to-the-arrival-logograms-effectively-be-used-to-assign-meanings-to-any-shapes/">Could the Wolfram code be used to assign meaning to the <em>Arrival</em> logograms effectively be used to assign meanings to any shapes?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>No&#8212;because there can&#8217;t be a general way to do this. Think about the shapes we see in the natural world. What &#8220;meaning&#8221; do they have? Or think about shapes we see in archaeology. We often don&#8217;t know when they were &#8220;ornamental&#8221;, and when they were &#8220;functional&#8221;. There is no abstract way to associate meaning with a shape. One needs a whole cultural context to be able to do that. I happen to have written about these issues recently in connection with us humans sending artifacts into space: <a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2018/01/showing-off-to-the-universe-beacons-for-the-afterlife-of-our-civilization/'>https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2018/01/showing-off-to-the-universe-beacons-for-the-afterlife-of-our-civilization/</a></p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="No&#8212;because there can&#8217;t be a general way to do this. Think about the shapes we see in the natural world. What &#8220;meaning&#8221; do they have? Or think about shapes we see in archaeology. We often don&#8217;t know when they were &#8220;ornamental&#8221;, and when they were &#8220;functional&#8221;. There is no abstract way to associate meaning with a shape. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> No—because there can’t be a general way to do this. Think about the shapes we see in the natural world. What “meaning” do they have? Or think about shapes we see in archaeology. We often don’t know when they were “ornamental”, and when they were “functional”. There is no abstract way to associate meaning with a shape. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="wolfram-language" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=wolfram-language">Wolfram Language</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-07-24 22:19:15"> <p class="date">July 24, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by Will Carey, <em>Creative Chair</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/07/24/if-you-died-and-got-reincarnated-as-a-song-what-would-that-song-be/">If you died and got reincarnated as a song, what would that song be?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Hmmm. I&#8217;m guessing my brain has 100 trillion or so synaptic weights, that encode my memories, etc. And I suppose you could transmit those, even as music, though at least for now they&#8217;d be pretty hard to reconstruct as &#8220;me&#8221;. My scientific work, particularly around my Principle of Computational Equivalence, has led me to believe that a wide range of things, including human brains, are computationally<br /> equivalent, even to programs with simple rules. So perhaps I could just as well be represented by the sequence from my favorite rule 30 cellular automaton, as rendered, for example, on our WolframTones website.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Hmmm. I&#8217;m guessing my brain has 100 trillion or so synaptic weights, that encode my memories, etc. And I suppose you could transmit those, even as music, though at least for now they&#8217;d be pretty hard to reconstruct as &#8220;me&#8221;. My scientific work, particularly around my Principle of Computational Equivalence, has led me to believe that a wide range of things, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> Hmmm. I’m guessing my brain has 100 trillion or so synaptic weights, that encode my memories, etc. And I suppose you could transmit those, even as music, though at least for now they’d be pretty hard to reconstruct as “me”. My scientific work, particularly around my Principle of Computational Equivalence, has led me to believe that a wide range of things, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-12-06 17:21:00"> <p class="date">December 6, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by Jeff D’Alessio, <em>The News-Gazette</em> (unpublished)</p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/12/06/what-cant-you-live-without/">What can’t you live without?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>The technology I&#8217;ve built! The biggest part of that is the Wolfram Language. I originally started building the precursor of what&#8217;s now the Wolfram Language back in 1979&mdash;because I wanted to use it. And for more than three decades I&#8217;ve used it for many many things every day. And it&#8217;s not only been a practical tool for me to create technology, do science, and pursue all sorts of other things; it&#8217;s also been what&#8217;s defined my way of thinking about things. </p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="The technology I&#8217;ve built! The biggest part of that is the Wolfram Language. I originally started building the precursor of what&#8217;s now the Wolfram Language back in 1979&mdash;because I wanted to use it. And for more than three decades I&#8217;ve used it for many many things every day. And it&#8217;s not only been a practical tool for me to create technology, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> The technology I’ve built! The biggest part of that is the Wolfram Language. I originally started building the precursor of what’s now the Wolfram Language back in 1979—because I wanted to use it. And for more than three decades I’ve used it for many many things every day. And it’s not only been a practical tool for me to create technology, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-12-06 17:22:24"> <p class="date">December 6, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: Interview by Jeff D’Alessio, <em>The News-Gazette</em> (unpublished)</p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/12/06/whats-the-last-luxury-you-indulged-in/">What’s the last luxury you indulged in?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I like to maximize my productivity, so I get all kinds of things to help with that. An example is that I have various computers, of different sizes, that I can use in different places or different circumstances. I wrote a long piece about this kind of thing recently: <a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure'>https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure</a></p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I like to maximize my productivity, so I get all kinds of things to help with that. An example is that I have various computers, of different sizes, that I can use in different places or different circumstances. I wrote a long piece about this kind of thing recently: <a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure'>https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure</a>"> I like to maximize my productivity, so I get all kinds of things to help with that. An example is that I have various computers, of different sizes, that I can use in different places or different circumstances. I wrote a long piece about this kind of thing recently: <a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure'>https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-12-16 17:04:26"> <p class="date">December 16, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://www.news-gazette.com/business/entrepreneurs/beyond-the-boardroom-stephen-wolfram/article_3153b61e-0fcb-56d1-9e1d-f375fa100a84.html' target='_blank'>Interview by Jeff D’Alessio, <em>The News-Gazette</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/12/16/in-what-ways-are-you-frugal/">In what ways are you frugal?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>Because I&#8217;m in the tech business, I tend to always get the latest of every tech gadget. But when it comes to other things, I tend to keep them a long time. I just bought a new car, but my last one I had for a decade.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="Because I&#8217;m in the tech business, I tend to always get the latest of every tech gadget. But when it comes to other things, I tend to keep them a long time. I just bought a new car, but my last one I had for a decade."> Because I’m in the tech business, I tend to always get the latest of every tech gadget. But when it comes to other things, I tend to keep them a long time. I just bought a new car, but my last one I had for a decade. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> <div class="project just-curious" data-position="normal" data-date="2019-12-18 21:45:01"> <p class="date">December 18, 2019</p> <p class="asker">From: <a href='https://guykawasaki.com/stephen-wolfram-remarkable-people/' target='_blank'>Interview by Guy Kawasaki, <em>Remarkable People Podcast</em></a></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/2019/12/18/whos-the-smartest-person-you-ever-met/">Who’s the smartest person you ever met?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="<p>I don&#8217;t rank people by smartness. You&#8217;ve got to realize the question of&#8230; if it was the case that everything that came up somebody else could figure out and then that everything you think about, somebody else is there in front of you, able to figure it out. Then you&#8217;d say, &#8220;Okay, that&#8217;s a smarter person than whatever&#8221;. I have to say, in my own life&#8230; Ever since I was in kindergarten&#8230; I happened to go to a kindergarten in Oxford, England, where there were a bunch of smart kids. I&#8217;ve always had this thought, &#8220;Eventually, I&#8217;m going to go to this place where I&#8217;m going to find all these people who are fundamentally smarter than me&#8221;. I went through different kinds of places: the fancy universities, Silicon Valley, this, that, whatever. I never had that moment where I said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve finally found the place where everybody is smarter than me&#8221;.</p> <a class='less' href='#close'>Close answer »</a>" data-truncate="I don&#8217;t rank people by smartness. You&#8217;ve got to realize the question of&#8230; if it was the case that everything that came up somebody else could figure out and then that everything you think about, somebody else is there in front of you, able to figure it out. Then you&#8217;d say, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a>"> I don’t rank people by smartness. You’ve got to realize the question of… if it was the case that everything that came up somebody else could figure out and then that everything you think about, somebody else is there in front of you, able to figure it out. Then you’d say, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="just-curious" href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/main/?c=just-curious">Just Curious...</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <footer id="footer"> <div class="inner"><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/contact/">Contact</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> © Stephen Wolfram, LLC</div> </footer> <script src="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/questions/wp-content/themes/questions/js/scripts.js"></script> </main>  <div id ="IPstripe-wrap"></div> <script src="/common/stripe/stripe.en.js"></script>  </body> </html>

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Q&A with Stephen Wolfram