Smartest people Existive | Alive 2020 (65AE)

[Sadi-Carnot]

The 2020 (65AE) end of year YouTube rankings are here:
https://youtu.be/CLPRqcmndhI

Based on the online list (61-names when video was made):
https://hmolpedia.com/page/Smartest_people_existive

Previously, the 2014 (59AE) end of year YouTube rankings had 25 names:
https://youtu.be/hzSD1CNwIpE

If anyone wants to nominate someone for the 2021 (66AE) rankings, feel free to comment?

[Philoepisteme]

Edward Witten
Stephen Wolfram
Linus Torvalds
Demis Hassabis

[Sadi-Carnot]

Witten (#7) and Wolfram (#18) were in the 2014 rankings:
http://humanthermodynamics.wikifoundry. ... C+existive

I lost interest in them.

Re: “Torvalds”, I’m hesitant about added computers into the rankings, firstly being that this is such a new field, it is hard to discern genius from talent; secondly, I’ve never really seen a top ten list of greatest programmers, of note. The other guy; not so much interested in adding game players to the list.

[Sadi-Carnot]

Re: "Wolfram", while researching and writing this article:
https://hmolpedia.com/page/Information_ ... ental_than

If find that when Wolfram is asked about whether he thinks information, matter, or energy are more fundamental or the primary "thing" of the universe, he gives the following dumb answer:

“My guess as to the question: ‘is information the primary thing or is matter [or energy] the primary thing?’, would probably end up being that they are really the same kind of thing. That there's no difference between them. That matter is merely our way of representing to ourselves things that are in fact some pattern of information, but we can also say that matter is the primary thing and information is just our representation of that. It makes little difference, I don't think there's a big distinction - if one's right that there's an ultimate model for the representation of universe in terms of computation.”
— Stephen Wolfram (2011), Group dialogue; in Randomness Through Computation (pgs. 388-89)

Sure he may have made the Wolfram Alpha engine (which is good for solving math problems):
https://www.wolframalpha.com/

But, believing that 1s and 0s are the primary "things" of the universe, is just mental delusion.

If you ask his engine "What is the meaning of the life?":
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=w ... ng+of+life
it returns "42".

Compare, if we ask the same question to the Thims Alpha engine:
https://hmolpedia.com/page/What_is_the_ ... of_life%3F