Stephen Wolfram is an extraordinary thinker.

He doesn’t seem to think like other scientists. He doesn’t seem to think like other technologists. And he certainly doesn’t think like an academic.

So I asked him how he thinks. How does he have all the ideas I’ve been exploring at The Last Theory?

Here are 10 ways to have big ideas, derived from Stephen’s answer:

#1 ⋅ Drill down to the foundations

#2 ⋅ Experiment with your ideas

#3 ⋅ Try to understand your findings

#4 ⋅ Have the humility to doubt your expectations

#5 ⋅ Have the confidence to push ahead regardless

#6 ⋅ Explain your ideas to others

#7 ⋅ Discuss your ideas with others

#8 ⋅ Get to know when an idea will take flight

#9 ⋅ Don’t miss a step: imagine, experiment, explain

#10 ⋅ Visualize your ideas

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Stephen Wolfram

• Stephen Wolfram
• The Wolfram Physics Project
• Wolfram Institute
• Wolfram Institute Community Discord

Concept mentioned by Stephen

• Computational irreducibility

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The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery founder of Open Web Mind