What Ultimately Is There?... And Other Foundational Questions
eBook - ePub

What Ultimately Is There?... And Other Foundational Questions

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

What Ultimately Is There?... And Other Foundational Questions

About this book

What is time?
What is consciousness?
Why does the universe exist?

Decades of foundational work in science and technology have led Stephen Wolfram to tackle some of humanity's oldest philosophical questions—and to argue that it is now possible to arrive at answers long thought beyond the reach of meaningful progress.

These lively and engaging essays cover topics from timeless philosophical questions to artificial intelligence and the future of the human condition. Along the way, Wolfram makes a host of complex ideas understandable while challenging readers to rethink long-held assumptions.

The book takes a fresh look at foundational concepts such as time, motion, free will, the nature of minds, mathematical truth—and what ultimately is there—all from new perspectives opened by recent advances in basic science.

Information

Publisher
Wolfram Media
Year
2026
eBook ISBN
9781579551025
Topic
Philosophy
Subtopic
Philosophical Essays

Table of contents

  1. Preface
  2. What Ultimately Is There? Metaphysics and the Ruliad
  3. The Concept of the Ruliad
  4. Observer Theory
  5. What Is Consciousness?
  6. On the Nature of Time
  7. On the Concept of Motion
  8. Why Does the Universe Exist?
  9. The Phenomenon of Free Will
  10. The Principle of Computational Equivalence
  11. Computational Irreducibility
  12. The Computational Worldview
  13. Mathematics and Physics Have the Same Foundations
  14. What Can Human Mathematics Be Like?
  15. Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?
  16. What Is Mathematics? Some Historical Perspectives
  17. The Notion of Mathematical Truth
  18. How Inevitable Is the Concept of Numbers?
  19. Intelligence in the Universe
  20. The Problem of Universal Communication
  21. Alien Intelligence and the Concept of Technology
  22. AI and the Mental Imagery of Alien Minds
  23. Imagining Minds beyond Ours
  24. AI and the Future of the Human Condition

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