Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A: Stephen Wolfram Livestreams

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (August 3, 2022) »

1 hour 20 minutes

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In science, when is it preferable to self-publish rather than go through academic journals? What place do you see for competitive behavior (especially in respect to the paper/citation system) in science? What do you think would be a good replacement for peer review? Have you ever considered working in finance instead of physics? Many very smart people work for trading companies (such as RenTech/Jane Street) for a couple years. I sometimes think we waste some of our brightest minds on "making money." Could we somehow "shift" the market demand for technology that highly favors intellectual advancement in ideas sufficiently so that these "analytically bright" people are interested in scientific progression? How do you "decide" to direct your behavior when faced with aggression in tense meetings? Is it possible for low-level employees to prove themselves by solving complex problems in an operation despite lacking the typical formal qualifications of education, but nevertheless being promoted? One of the best docs for technical computing comes from Wolfram. Is there any general philosophy in Wolfram on balancing technical and business-oriented documentation that generates leads? What advice would you have for someone who wants to pursue some academic field that's a bit unorthodox—like, say, your kind of physics—as a graduate student? What I've been told is to save that for when you become a tenured professor (if ever). Is there a way to contribute to science without a college degree? Humans were scientists for a long time before there were college degrees (let alone colleges). View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (June 22, 2022) »

1 hour 14 minutes

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Are periodic boom and bust cycles of the economy inevitable, or should we by now be capable of managing national economies better, simultaneously avoiding both recessions and excessive inflation? What modes does Stephen Wolfram have? What are the personality traits of Stephen Wolfram that have made him become an entrepreneur? Have you ever questioned your competence? If you did, what did you do in that situation? What methodology do you use when you have to solve a problem you don't know how to solve but that has to be solved fast? How does Stephen stay organized, in general? And specifically, how does he organize and write his papers and books? Are there specific questions/audits that you routinely run on your business, life or thought process to facilitate innovation? Problem solving with other people requires understanding other people's psychology. How do you go about understanding how to influence others to be efficient at solving problems? Good banter can enhance the conversation. How do you deal with multiple smart people on your teams disagreeing with each other, e.g. team member A proposes doing f() while team member B proposes g()? Did you know Paul Graham between 2002 (NKS) and 2005 (Y Combinator founded)? Was NKS implicitly/explicitly why he ran many different "programs" (startups) to see what happened empirically? It's mind blowing how many of the important points in time of modern innovation Wolfram was in the room for. View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (June 8, 2022) »

1 hour 9 minutes

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What is the value system you follow based on? Have you designed your own value and motivational structure? Do you find exercising your personal thoughts on these livestreams can be a therapeutic experience? Have you ever thought about the role of physical exercise or sports as a companion activity to intellectual pursuits? Exercise has been shown to be the only big booster of neuroplasticity besides being of a developmental age. Curious that campuses have so much of it. Strange that as a university professor, you were not that interested in education—your enthusiasm for these livestreams says otherwise... and unflattering things on formal university education! My capacity to brainstorm and associate ideas while walking is much greater. I highly recommend to approach walking like that. Do you enjoy music? Who is your favorite composer/band? Do you listen to music generated by AI? Oh my gosh, I'm loving the image of Stephen at a Taylor Swift concert. Thoughts on your involvement with the movie Arrival? Do you have any advice (time management, prioritizing) for a first-time parent trying to juggle being present in a kid's life, but also having recently started a business? How did you know you wanted to have children? And did they contribute in any way toward your learning in your field/general lifelong learning? How did you manage at-home office hours? Lock the door and set expectations? On the topic of kids, I'm currently eating a box of Cheerios with my two kiddos while watching this. What do you think about the recent remote-work criticism by Elon Musk regarding innovation not working as well in a distributed/remote manner? View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (May 25, 2022) »

1 hour 14 minutes

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Do you think software innovations are stronger with mathematical research tied to them, even for "non-mathematical software"? Can you say more about your writing process? How much time does it take for you to finish writing a blog post? How do you integrate a bunch of connected ideas into a coherent post? The way I write is writing a rough draft of the most general ideas, then working to clarify them through more precise prose. How do you tell a good story within your writing and also when communicating that story, i.e. when telling it to people in real life? Are you going to publish a collection of open questions in ruliology? Was Steve Jobs a "wave machine," or did he just have the tremendous luck and skill to ride five or six waves during his career? What is your opinion on the usefulness of pure philosophy? Would you separate business ideas and ideas that are curiosity- or discovery-driven, i.e. NKS? View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (May 11, 2022) »

1 hour 2 minutes

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Would you agree that the way you succeed matters a lot in regards to whether you get to enjoy your success or not? How do you mold your environment to create good working habits? What's the best passive way to make money (stock trading, investing, etc.) and how stable is it? It's a matter of time. If you spend a lot of time on investments, you won't have time for research and other projects. Any thoughts on managing people's personalities on a project? What is your approach when exploring a new topic or learning a new technology, e.g. note taking, practice, recall? On the same note, I believe that a great team makes great products, not great individuals. Have you found this to be true in your products? View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (April 27, 2022) »

1 hour 18 minutes

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Do you take work problems home? What are your thoughts about a balanced work life? What is a "shocking" meeting? What do you think of Elon Musk buying Twitter? It's like voting for algorithms in elections! Algorithm personalities or bias will be increasingly important, I think. Now that I think of it, a "master AI" will basically mimic a human—a "well-rounded" human derived from all the info out there. The real world is also highly dynamic, so one AI might be ideal for a while, and then another will be better. When something seems to be a mishmash of complicated spaghetti code, it's often because the obvious and simple solution is being dismissed early on for mistaken reasons. No code is the best code in the case of Twitter ranking algorithms. Just let users do it with sorting/filters! It's pretty funny watching people get excited about Twitter again. How can we avoid the world becoming an electronic panopticon when everything goes digital (currency, ID, AI government...)? [Several comments mentioning the Ministry of Truth] I do think the marketplace approach isn't a bad option, but it seems like the optimal way to do that is just to reopen the Twitter API and let different people create clients. You end up with a social network as good as the people in the network. I don't think you can elevate people by moderating what they are allowed to say. I don't think you can avoid bias; it's just inherent to language and minimally complex knowledge units. Bias should be a feature more than something to avoid. It's more useful to understand bias than to attempt to neutralize it. What tools do you use to get refocused? How do you set yourself up for more creative exploratory activities? View Less »

Stephen Wolfram Livestreams

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A (67 videos)