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Max Tegmark keeps saying interesting things lately. Controversial for sure, but interesting. His book 'Our Mathematical Universe' (related to the article you've linked) is thought-provoking, and I would label it a must read if you're interested in what's going on at the outer edges of fundamental science. The chapters are clearly separated into: fact, hypothesis, and far-out speculation, so there's no need to criticize the whole thing indiscriminately.

There was a series of attempts by Lee Smolin and others to come up with a theory of quantum gravity by assuming that the universe, at the bottom, is essentially simple and discrete (not in the fixed-grid sense, but in the sense of a discrete web of relations). That model also exhibits a remarkable similarity between the structure of the universe, and the structure of the neural networks that understand it.

The future of fundamental science is sure to be fascinating.




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