Closer To Truth

Stephen Wolfram on The Concept of the Ruliad

11 snips
Nov 19, 2025
Stephen Wolfram, a leading computer scientist and the visionary behind the Wolfram Physics Project, delves into the concept of the Ruliad, a comprehensive description of all possible computations. He explains how our perceptions of physical laws, like thermodynamics and quantum mechanics, are shaped by observers. Wolfram connects computational irreducibility to the second law of thermodynamics and contrasts the Ruliad's entangled structure with many-world interpretations. He speculates on the philosophical implications of the Ruliad, raising questions about existence and the nature of spacetime.
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INSIGHT

Ruliad: The Entangled Limit Of Computation

  • The Ruliad is the entangled limit of all possible computations produced by applying all rules in all ways.
  • Different computation threads branch and merge, producing a unique, universal object Stephen Wolfram calls the Ruliad.
INSIGHT

Observers Shape Perceived Physical Laws

  • Observers' characteristics determine which aspects of the Ruliad they perceive.
  • From our observer standpoint, general relativity, quantum mechanics, and the second law inevitably emerge.
INSIGHT

Entropy From Irreducibility And Bounded Minds

  • The second law of thermodynamics follows from computational irreducibility plus our computational boundedness.
  • We see randomness because we cannot run or decrypt the irreducible computation underlying microscopic dynamics.
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