"A Bunch of Rocks" Discussion

[Scornic]

Alt Text:I call Rule 34 on Wolfram's Rule 34.


Well, I guess I CAN'T complain.

What happened to my water?

[alchemistique]

It's true, Randall knows us college kids all too well...

[TheHand]

Very satisfying comic! Above and beyond.

[eleniy86]

guess we should be happy that the black hat guy wasn't in this infinite universe lol

[of.hippo]

Genius.

[Eternal Density]

how can such an amazing comic exist?
at least I now know where my last piece of chocolate vanished to the other week.

[GodShapedBullet]

I guess this recontextualizes the phrase "god of the desert".

(Though probably not much because Judaism, Christianity and Islam still have a much bigger readership than xkcd does.)

[gflive]

You won't believe me, but I was playing with this exact idea yesterday, while on a 5 hour bus ride. Although I didn't think of using rocks as a computer.

[person132]

This is the kind of xkcd I've been waiting for, after a few too many political ones. Great comic, although the "turing-complete" note seems like it would be better in the actual text. But that's just part of xkcd reaching a broader audience.

[Joby]

I, For one, Welcome our new stone moving overloads.

[Steve the Pocket]

I guess this recontextualizes the phrase "god of the desert".

(Though probably not much because Judaism, Christianity and Islam still have a much bigger readership than xkcd does.)

We're working on it.

[Frappe051]

This is truly an amazing comic. Bravo!

[Aquila]

I love how Randall can create evocative, Watterson-esque landscapes without the use of color or even lines of different weights.

Well done, sir!

[videogamesizzle]

this is really amazing.

good job, Randall!

[phlip]

I don't know what there is to say besides "Win!".

Perhaps "Epic!", but then it's hard to use that so soon after Secretary...

[includemaliciousintent]

that was...mind blowing...

[glasnt]

So a glitch in the matrix is a misplaced stone?

[AltoidAddict]

So it's that guy's fault that I've been accumulating so much stuff!

Not my fault at all, nope.

[sargeras0000]

Mind is blown

[madhollywood]

So a glitch in the matrix is a misplaced stone?

In this instance, I would say the answer is yes.

[thebeaky]

But did he write the universe in Lisp?

Ostensibly yes, but honestly he just hacked most of it together with perl.

[radia]

Man, I had some stuff I needed to do, but now I'm going to be stuck thinking about how to prove the alt text's assertion of Rule 34 on Wolfram's Rule 34.

Mod[(1 + q) r, 2] isn't a whole lot to go on.

[Eugo]

OK, I see that everyone else has already tried to look up "Wolfram's Rule 34" on Wikipedia, which comes up as "Wolfram Rule 34", which is still just a search and not an article. Now he couldn't possibly mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudotensor, or under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holism as a passing reference on cellular automata.

So... where are the rules? Or is this a wild goose chase. Maybe it's the geese season now.

[radia]

OK, I see that everyone else has already tried to look up "Wolfram's Rule 34" on Wikipedia, which comes up as "Wolfram Rule 34", which is still just a search and not an article. Now he couldn't possibly mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudotensor, or under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holism as a passing reference on cellular automata.

So... where are the rules? Or is this a wild goose chase. Maybe it's the geese season now.

I was under the impression that he was referring to the cellular automata.

[marco]

I truly hope, if there is a 'superior' being, this is his/her story

[Blair]

The infinite space reminded me of Neuromancer

[thornahawk]

Fresh from S. Wolfram...

Frankly, it's boring compared to most of the other CellularAutomaton[] rules...

~ Werner

[freyyr890]

So who wants to be the first to try and calculate how much time he's spent on his universe, and how much space it takes up in the desert? I tried, but with my lack of significant mathematical skill failed.

[Ditocoaf]

This was so epic... now I have my new topic to think about for the next week or two.

[Iluvatar]

I'll bet Rock Man has a special place in his heart for the section of stones simulating the XKCD server.

Edit, this rock-toting diety needs a name. I propose Stone Chomsky.

[anonymousislegion]

I have a truly marvelous rule 34 of this proposition which this post is too narrow to contain.

(also, it's nsfw.)

Spoiler:

The image below fully represents Wolfram's rule 34:


Redraw it, in the following manner:

• The three input cells of each item is drawn as three individuals. Each one is wearing clothes of a color corresponding to their location (say, for example, that the left cell wears green)
• "Input cell" individuals are drawn as guys if the cell is black (a "1"), and girls if the cell is white (a "0").
• If the result cell is black (a "1"), the result is an orgy with all three members.
• If the result cell is white (a "0"), the result is the three standing uncomfortably in close proximity.

(Interestingly, Wolfram's rule 34 guarantees that the result will always have the possibility of remaining heterosexual.)

I lack the sufficient artistic ability to actually implement this. Ergo, I call upon rule 35 and you, dear reader. Go forth and create.

[Catdrake]

So, is this a simulation of the universe minute by minute or is it just meant to run a simulation if the stones were read?

And can he ever, really, be done?

[Flesh_Of_The_Fallen_Angel]

the result is an orgy with all three members

That's what she said!

I was listening to "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by "Green Day" while it was loading . . . it goes so well with this comic . . . Randall, get out of my FoxyTunes!

EDIT: I have dial up, that's why it took so long for it to load (I live just under a kilometre out or range of being able to use dial up because of how crappy the phone lines are )

[Minchandre]

So, is this a simulation of the universe minute by minute or is it just meant to run a simulation if the stones were read?

And can he ever, really, be done?

Can there truly be said to be a difference? I mean, the simulation exists, and it's arguable that it runs merely by "god" creating and/or reading through it.

[Akhilys]

Haha, this applies to me all too well!
Great comic Randall!

[_MC_]

He gave me the power of self-modifying code. I am The One.

[doogly]

So, is this a simulation of the universe minute by minute or is it just meant to run a simulation if the stones were read?

And can he ever, really, be done?

To simulate the universe in real time you'd need a quantum computer. Then again, desert guy seems a lot smarter than I.

[jlintern]

For those who don't remember Rule 34 of the Internet:

http://xkcd.com/305/

[HilbertThm90]

I too was recently thinking about something similar to this. Except it was that the most persuasive argument I've heard for the universe being deterministic has to do with John Conway's Game of Life (in which it is possible to build a Turing machine from extremely simple rules).

[Emperor_Z]

Ah, the things I would do if I were godly. Imitating this world sure as hell wouldn't be one of them.