Staff Writer Aarya Edara discusses the legendary Stephen Wolfram’s work after his recent talk at King’s College London (KCL).
Stephen Wolfram is a revolutionary physicist, businessman and computer scientist, renowned for research and breakthroughs in numerous domains such as computational algebra and his discrete universe theory.
On 15 October 2025, he delivered a talk to an audience full of eager students and science enthusiasts regarding “Computation and the Foundations of Physics, Mathematics and AI”. He delved into various topics such as the link between entropy (disorder) and computational irreducibility.
Computational Irreducibility, Entropy and the Human Condition
Computational irreducibility is the requirement of having to go through every stage of a computational process to derive the final state without being able to skip to it. He continued his explanation outdoors with a substantial audience despite a fire alarm sounding in the midst of his lecture.
Wolfram stated that the human condition – the way our brains comprehend computational processes – is prone to cause entropy in computational irreducibility.
“Even with perfect equations, we have to simulate each step – no shortcut exists,” – Wolfram
This is because we are not capable of predicting all possible future states, which generates an infinite stream of multiple branches linked to each possibility. This resembles the entropy theory, which states that disorder in the universe increases infinitely, never ending.
Disorder in the Human Understanding of the Theory of Evolution
Wolfram linked his analogy on the human condition causing entropy in computational irreducibility to the theory of evolution.
To progress from our roots millennia before to the state and characteristics of the human race today, every minuscule change had to evolve and progress.
Likewise, we – in the twenty-first century – cannot be entirely accurate if we hypothesised the evolution and variations of humankind thousands of years into the future, due to factors we cannot predict like genetic mutations and environmental changes.
There are numerous potential outcomes and probabilities regarding human evolution which will influence whether or not there are changes and, if so, which ones. This is yet another demonstration of the increase in disorder – entropy.
Wolfram’s Discrete Universe Theory
Additionally, Wolfram delved into his theory that the universe is discrete, rather than continuous. A discrete universe is one where matter and dimensions consist of separate, indivisible units; rather than being infinitely divisible, as proposed in the alternate continuous universe theory.
Matter comes in discrete units, such as particles, which can only be divided into subatomic particles (e.g protons, electrons) and nothing further than that. There are also continuous units of dimensions, length, width, time and height, which cannot easily be broken down like discrete units. However, if we simplify them enough, they can be narrowed down into particles to become discrete.
Picture a bag of sugar, usually measured as mass (continuous). Now split the sugar into its individual sugar granules (suddenly it’s discrete).
Wolfram believes in a discrete universe, but some choose to believe the continuous (Steady State) universe theory, because it aligns with our everyday experience of never perceiving evident and discrete gaps in time and space. The theory also asserts that the universe did not have a specific beginning moment like the Big Bang theory.
Dark Matter and its Possible Surprising Properties
Another surprising yet intriguing theory he proposed was that dark matter – invisible matter that interacts with neither light nor sound, as per our current understanding – is equivalent to space-time heat (the spread of energy in the space-time network).
This initially seems counter-intuitive considering that it is known primarily for its exertion of the gravitational pull that holds galaxies together. According to CERN, previous theories propose that dark matter particles are capable of removing energy from and decreasing the velocities of objects, atoms and molecules.
“Dark matter may not be matter at all, but rather… large-scale manifestation of microscopic spacetime dynamics,” – Wolfram
The implications put forward by Stephen Wolfram in his speech at KCL are ample and incredibly thought-provoking, with his theories about computational systems overlapping with multiple branches of science.
