Let’s BUILD a COMPUTER in CONWAY's GAME of LIFE ⠠⠵
A short documentary on Conway's Game of Life, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its original publication on the October 1970 issue of Scientific American.
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:39 - Conway's Game of Life
00:05:55 - Logic Gates
00:12:31 - Turing Completeness
00:18:14 - Conclusion
00:20:26 - Credits
●●● Credits ●●●
Script, Voice, Editing: Alan Zucconi
Script Supervision: James Donohue
"Life in Life" segment inspired by @mrphlip
Conway patter by xkcd: xkcd.com/2293/
Music: Jingle Punks - "Back of the Room Hang"
Music: C418 - "Cat" (Minecraft Volume Alpha)
This video was made possible by the support of many patrons on Patreon.
●●● References ●●●
(1) www.scientificamerican.com/ar...
(2) cba.mit.edu/events/03.11.ASE/d...
(3) www.conwaylife.com/w/index.ph...
(4) dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/80...
(5) • [Minecraft Computer En... by @legomasta99
(6) • BABA IS LIFE v1: Conwa... by Devin Danko
(7) doi.org/10.1112/plms/s2-42.1.230
(8) link.springer.com/chapter/10....
(9) www.nicolasloizeau.com/gol-co...
(10) codegolf.stackexchange.com/qu...
(11) www.theguardian.com/science/2...
●●● Social Links ●●●
🐦 Twitter ► / alanzucconi
💰 Patreon ► / alanzucconi
🌐 Website ► www.alanzucconi.com
Conway did what nobody else could do: Trick mathmaticians into doing pixel art.
well what about Mandelbrot
Can a mathematical artist join (me)
He died from Covid.
@@SeanWMODonnell In the UK that means dying of anything 90 days after testing positive from covid
jokes on you, I'm failing math
I find it really crazy that you can essentially replicate the game of life infinitely like a fractal.
You can make fractals in it.
Could it be described as a logic fractal? It’s not a complex geometric pattern, but it would be logical systems imbedded within logical systems, all within an infinity looping pattern based on logics.
@@dakotaneumann1259 idk it just has a recursive nature i guess
@@rensaito9009 y’know, like a fractal
@@Mikeological fractals refer to geometric shapes that repeat infinitely logic isn't a shape, although the principle (recursion) is there
holy shit my jaw dropped when i saw the life simulating life
SAME!
I mean if you really take a close look at the start and end of that clip, you might notice... It's life simulating life simulating life... Does that make your jaw reach jupiter? Because then you might need a doctor lol
Dude, me too. I commented the same thing. Think of the implications that it has!!
Yah, i just busted up seeing that “Wait....ITS THE FLIPPIN PROGRAM ITSELF. THE PROGRAM IS SIMULATING ITSELF” 😂. Jeez. Really cool stuff.
then life simulating life simulating life
Thanos: I use the stones to destroy the stones Human: I use the computer to create the computer.
use a computer to create a computer to create a computer
Thing is though we do now.
Design could be a word used which then could be said has a different different meaning.
Humans use AI to use humans to destroy Humans to create robots to create robots to create robots to create robots...
@@rickh3714 what we do now :(
Life is Turing complete because we can build a Turing complete Computer inside it. Q.E.D.
The universe is Turing complete because we can build a Turing complete Computer in it. Q.E.D.
Q.E.D
Actually that's usually the easiest way to prove something is turing complete
@@snowwsquire a dude made an adder with knex, if you made kne pieces with potatoes you could use his design for logic gates and make a turing machine
@@fezbpu Actually not necessarily, we still don't know if the universe is infinite or can exhibit 100% deterministic dynamics as is required for Turing machines. But mostly yeah
I think we should respect Conways legacy by not saying that the Game of Life was his legacy! Conway at first hated the popularity the game received, and though he did soften up to it by the end, wished he would be remembered by all his other mathematical achievements and not just this one thing. He really did consider the GOL to a be a minor achievement in his life!
He talked about this personally in his appearance on numberphile (or computerphile?) It is almost kind of sad that he felt this way, yet, I cannot really blame him either. He did do some rather important work in the field of mathematics besides GOL.
@@OrdinaryLatvian Ok, that was indeed interesting. It put a story to a name as well. TIL, thank you! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to let someone know that I'm not mad for seasoning my board for certain dishes.
@@OrdinaryLatvian Love Adam Ragusea and he described the phenomena so well! It’s a shame when people get famous for something minor they did and not for what they put their heart and soul into, but it’s also a shame when people are unable to come to terms with it and let it haunt them.
@@ObjectsInMotion It's the course of all people that publish their achievements.
Ehh. You don't get to decide your legacy. We haven't let the greatest people in history decide their legacy, and we haven't let the worst people in our history decide their own legacy. Your legacy isn't yours to choose. And while I certainly respect Conway, I think perhaps he didn't quite grasp just how much of an impact it had outside of mathematics? Because this will be a legacy, and it's a legacy to be proud of, I hope he truly considered just how many people he brought to science, maths, and programming from it.
That final pattern hits hard :'(
But is also beautifully poignant.
It was almost like his soul flying up and I almost cried
From an XKCD comic released after his death. (Idk if that's the original source but that's where I first saw it)
hope he's okay over there on the top right. my life is probably equivalent to a 2x2 square
I got chills all over my body
The cosmic horror in that Life in Life. Like realizing you're inside a simulation, within a simulation. I can feel it.
probably not true
If you ever want to be invisible, take your pants and undies off. Source: Rick Sanchez. (A guy who was living inside a simulation, inside a simulation, inside a simulation, inside another giant simulation. Now, you're saying the outermost simulation is a simulation inside a simulation. So I guess Rick was living in a simulation, within a simulation, inside a simulation, within another simulation, within another simulation. And he probably knows it, like you.
And simulations are created.
what was the book, Permutation City methinks
Maybe we are in a simulation…Who cares
The waving stickman flying off as a glider 😭
It actually made me cry im so hhjgjkhfhkjfgjkhkjfhgjkfjhjgfkjhgk KHKJJKH AAAa
That was cute, sad, and deep all at once.
@@terezip2213 yes
reject humanity return to glider
@@nonsensicalhumanoid
Ah yes, enslaved matrix
Imagine if the robots took over the matrix and made a matrix matrix
@@genericchannelname4110 that’s what the Architect was telling Neo, that Zion which to Neo appears to be outside of the Matrix, is in fact another iteration of the Matrix within itself. To truly be outside the matrix would be like being the observed subject on the slide under a microscope, while also being the observer looking through the microscope at the same time. But even then if you’re looking through a microscope you’re probably still within a matrix a different kind lol
@@genericchannelname4110 You really think the first time you escape the matrix, you actually escaped the matrix and it's not just an infinitely recursive prison designed to test your mind? It knows what you would do if you were to escape. Which is why it can never let you escape.
@@zackdavis7562 Acid is a hell of a drug dude.
That clip of life playing inside of life blew my mind. You could just copy this pattern into life in life and get life in life in life.
if your computer doesn't explode you could technically do it infinitely
I think if they used something like a thread riper cpu and optimised the program to use all the cores and threads it possibly could to it a couple times over
and go get yourself a new life 🙃
This part where the tiny Conway's soul becomes a glider is brilliant.
then gets eaten
yeah that was beautiful.
ohhh shit I love the ending - the man himself turning into a single glider. poetic
A man turned himself into a glider. Funniest shit I've ever seen.
@@ultimaxkom8728 Florida man play too much game of life, try to change himself into a glider and attempt to jump (glide) off a cliff
I need to ask you: did you run Life inside Life? Or did you just use a clip? That concept is very fascinating
I did run Life inside Life! That's an actual video I recorded, frame by frame, in Golly.
@@AlanZucconi now do life inside life inside life >:)
@@catman4184 times infinity 🤣
I don't understand what yall are meaning...if the point of Life is to simulate life, then what do u mean by saying u ran life inside Life? Isn't that no different than simply saying u played Life successfully?
@@RipRoarin what he means is that he was able to replicate a "computer" stepping through the rules of Life (cellular automaton) that was created using the Life (ca). Because Life is touring complete you can use it to code applications that will do anything (given enough cycles)
Perfect! This video has that special "something" that moves people's curiosity. The best feeling in KZhead is clicking a random video and finding an absolute gem. Keep making stuff like this!
Thank you so much! ❤️
KZhead algorithm: Millions of lines of code. GOL: four simple rules.....
"Yeah but can it run DOOM?" *Proceeds to simulate itself* "Nevermind this is way cooler"
I would have preferred Doom
@@Opanker_ you can, but you can’t modify anything after it starts (like moving)
@@thomaswang2223 yeah obiviously but you could make demos couldn't you?
@@thomaswang2223 you can modify things after it started, i made an shooter minigame in it.
@@gamerninjask6746 how?
I've been fascinated with Conway's Game of Life since being briefly exposed to it in college as just a silly game in an astronomy class to show how complexity could evolve through very simple rules. This video was a fantastic tour de force through the most basic blinkers, that anybody could discover, to the unimaginably complicated creation of Life itself and to top it off with an amazingly simple and captivating explanation of how one could begin to build logic gates!! Great video!!! Very touching and sweet ending too :)
Thank you so much!
RIP John Conway. Screw you, COVID, for taking away such a brilliant mind.
Everyone dies of something. What is important isn't how we go, it's what we leave behind. Let's celebrate the gifts that the mind of John Conway gave to us, rather than despair that there will be no more of them from him.
@@sirzorg5728 Just because everyone dies doesn't mean it doesn't matter what point it happens. Death is inevitable in the long term, but avoidable in the short term.
@@sirzorg5728 Yeah, but that message doesn’t work here. He died of something that could’ve been very much avoided. Something like terminal illness or inevitable death from age is where you’d effectively use that message. Also, you can do both at the same time? You can grieve over someone’s loss while appreciating what they were able to do when they lived. That’s what the original comment was doing anyway. They said, “Screw you for taking away such a BRILLIANT MIND”. Grief and gratitude. They’re not mutually exclusive.
If he'd only had 3 dots surrounding him. Such is life.
I will always remember him as hating GOL being his legacy.
Computer in Conways Game of Life in Baba is you in Minecraft? Technically possible but...no
If it's Turing complete, then possible. How long one cycle takes? That's not the question here. But it's possinle
Although a simulation of Baba is You on a Minecraft redstone computer is a bit far fetched, I know someone who has programmed game of life on a Minecraft redstone computer. Saw the game of life in Baba is You, and it's a bit scary, but I'll try to at least emulate some of Baba's mechanics.
@@mayabartolabac someone coded the first gen of pokemon games in minecraft
@@CristianGomez-yu8gp nah that's done in command blocks which is lame in my opinion I prefer to do stuff like this in vanilla & survival-friendly Minecraft redstone which is more fun and challenging
But. Yes
20:00 Beautifully poetic
Jesus how does this video only have 4 thousand views!
Alan is just getting started. Much more where this came from 😌
I KNOW RIGHT? 😜
40.000* 😎😎😎
45k
51k now, and climbing
Got here through Vsauce's retweet today - this video was absolutely fascinating, and it's very clear you know what you're talking about. Hoping to see more content from you soon!
Oh whoa! Didn't know Vsauce retweeted it! Glad you enjoyed the video though! 😊
What an incredible video! I feel solemn and wondrous after that conclusion, and I'm glad to have experienced this.
Thank you! It means a lot!
@@AlanZucconi e not hhe'
Me: Clicking on the gliders until chaos destroys the glider gun Guy on youtube:
20:04 is a beautiful, perhaps homaging depiction of John Conway's soul ascending to the heavens. May he rest in peace.
My brain exploded when it just kept zooming out and I suddenly realized what I was looking at.
Well put it back together and watch this amazing documentary
Is it possible that the known universe is just somebody's computer?
Even if it is, how would you prove it, I don't think we can, for all we know that reality is no more real than ours :)
Yes you just have to build a glider aimed in the right direction. That is how we will escape
@@JesseStarks that funny.. because it mean that we have free will unlike game of life.
@@chamber3593 free will is just a hallucination on top of a random number generator built within game of life. Sorry :)
Maybe, but that'd be a pretty darn big computer.
I didn't know he died this year! that's incredibly tragic.
Holy shit, that ending with the person turning into a glider put the biggest smile on my face, gave me such chilling goosebumps, and made me start to tear up That was so well executed, that was genius.
Thank you so much!
This documentary is a MASTERPIECE everyone on Earth needs to watch. A very noble celebration of Conway's life and his achievements as well as his personality. Also a very poignant conclusion (I cried, literally). Hats off to the creators.
Thank you so much! 🙏
Thank YOU!
When that scene of Life simulating Life started, with that foreboding ominous music, and when I saw pattern appearing, I got goosebumps and started laughing in disbelief. Wow!!
One of the cleanest videos I've seen in a long time, this is the kind of stuff that inspires me to make my own videos like this. Incredible video, enjoyed every second of it :)
Awww! This is so kind!!! And I hope you enjoyed the brief Minecraft cameo! 😏
@@AlanZucconi No video is complete without a minecraft cameo, was very happy about that :)
@@Swifter1243 Please make more videos
@@mrappu2884 I know I really want to, I'm working on a creation right now but it involves VR and my controllers are being repaired so I haven't been able to make progress. I'm aiming for december or january.
I didn't think that until you pointed it out, but indeed, the video and narration are immaculately made, and very aesthetically appealing.
This short doc is nothing short of AMAZING. Really well done, informative and makes you want to implement the Game of Life and/or go put together a couple of logic gates. As a High school teacher, I will definitely be showing this video to a couple of students that like computer science. Please do more!
Thank you so much!
If you are a math/science teacher you should show this to all your students! I didn’t know CS was what I wanted to study until I got to college, really wish I knew earlier. Im sure an inspiring teacher would have helped me greatly :)
@@rigolol7451 Yeah... I'm a History/Geography teacher (go figure), but I love programming as a hobby. Computer science isn't really part of the curriculum where I am so math teachers don't really teach it. I would love to start a computer club with a couple of raspberry pies and the book "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software" or parts of Nand2Tetris as foundations for a couple of courses in the club. It's all in the clouds at the moment, but it will definitely happen one day.
Astounding production quality, presentation, graphics, everything. Zooming out on Life in Life gave me goosebumps. Just brilliant.
Thank you! 🙏
I've always had a hard time understanding what people meant with "we might be living in a simulation" and I must say that this video does such a damn good job at explaining things that it's frightening.
Conway seemed like such a permanent man, I'd watch videos of him talking and it just felt like he would never die, he was so brilliant. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but when you said Conway died I shouted "Holy shit, Conway died?" Crazy world.
I love your graphic design in this. Close enough to real dot-matrix printers to be realistic, yet readable on screen too..... NICE!
Thank you so much! It was a lot of work!!!
What a JOY to watch, thanks so much for making this.
You're welcome!
"each piece next to one or no pieces at all dies from isolation" yea that's relatable
Incredibly well made and underrated video, Glad Vsause's tweet drove some traffic to you.
Thank you!
as an Alan, I appreciate this
Oh wow i just got this video in my recommended and you are amazing! Thank you for creating such great content i look forward to your next video!
Thank you! 🙏 I also worked on another short documentary, in case you are interested! kzhead.info/sun/jJFvdN6BZJ2oiIk/bejne.html
A very neat and clear exposition which deserves more views. Thank you for making it!
Outstanding work! The best research I have seen on the topic, definitely.
A great documentary, thanks for making this!
Amazing vid! I never would have thought LIFE was Turing complete, but it makes sense now. If MtG is Turing complete, I guess anything can be.
One of the best KZhead videos I've ever seen. Great stuff. The part where you showed how life can be used to run life gave me chills. Why does the algorithm take so long to suggest this content to me?
Thank you for making this video!! We really appreciate it !!
This video is excellent - thank you for taking the time to make this.
You're welcome! It was so much fun!
This video is what I call quality content. LOVE IT
Beautiful piece of work / art this, just ordered Conways biography, thank you.
This is so beautiful, so thoughtful, so touching. Thank you ❤
This is one of the best and most humbling youtube videos I’ve ever seen. Best in that it was beautifully put together with graphics and thoughtful explanations, and humbling in that it shows genius not only in humanity but the capacity of the author to understand it. I will watch this many times I am certain.
Thank you so much! 🙏
Straight A+ video, great editing and script. It is by far the best piece of multimedia i have seen in weeks and the attention to detail and hard work that has been put into this video speaks by itself. It feels great to see that grinding meticulous editing pays in views and I am sure that if you follow up with this "short documentary" line of work you could build a solid KZhead career (I can't wait to see "The AI of "Creatures"" video after work myself).
Thank you so much! 🙏 I'm working on a much more ambitious short documentary about Minecraft! I hope you'll enjoy that one as well! 😉
I was so obsessed with building these and programming my own version in basic when I was a kid. Great video, it really brought back the Wonder
Great video, thanks for making it!
Production quality is A+ my guy. Love it ❤️
Thank you! I'm working right now on my next documentary! Hopefully you'll like that one as well!
Been playing with Life for 40 years and still learned a lot from this video!
That was beautiful! Since I first heard of this game I’ve always seen it as a profound piece of art.
This is an amazing piece of work. Very well done!
RIP John Horton Conway. I didn’t even know he passed away.
He was becoming a big reclusive in his old age. I guess he eventually only had one neighbor.
Fantastic, I learned a lot about automata from this. It seems that starting from a simple premise makes all kinds of complexity possible. I wonder if, with enough memory available, a more complex life-form could one day be constructed virtually this way, like fish swimming in a virtual ocean.
Amazing editing! Great work. The Game of Life replicating the Game of Life blew my mind
That was a highly informative, interesting and also well-crafted video! I really enjoyed watching it!
The implications run deep. Material reality and embedded levels of simulacra. 1. Open Emacs 2. M-x life
i legit freaked out at during the zoom out of the life in life computer. that blew my god damn mind.
**happy simulation theory noises**
Fascinating subject and a 10/10 video, this needs way more views
Great video - enjoyed every bit of it - science, art style, style of narration! Thanks a lot for doing this!
You're welcome! ☺️
I've always thought a VHDL to GOL compiler would be fascinating ;) I'm really surprised that someone hasn't made something like that yet.
You could be the first one! 😜
What is a vhdl? I am a programmer lol
@@bowuigi A hardware description language, another one is verilog. You describe gates, and signals and look up tables and those define the logic of the chip. I feel like with the right kind of care you could do this with GOL. It would be hard because you'd have no via's - but instead of via's, since your signals (various, gliders and space ships) cannot be created faster than some minimum amount of seperation, you can interleave signals across each other. But there's probably some upper limit to the amount of wires that can be crossed.
This video was very deep. I've never actually cried watching a math video. Very well done. The ending scene with conway's face reflecting on the screen was just devastating. Thank you.
Thank you so much! 🙏 I wanted to pay homage to a personality that had such a big impact on my life and career!
Youre incredible, the editing, how the script is written, the way you talk. Everything is perfect. I have no idea on how you dont have millions already. Keep going!
Thank you do much, you're too kind! 🙏 The reality is that quality only matters marginally on KZhead. 🥲 If you don't please the algorithm, you'll like have no visibility. And KZhead doesn't like that I post once a year. 🤣
Btw, feel free to share this video with your friend if you want! It does help a lot!
@@AlanZucconi alr, i hope you have/someday will have a good monetary source from these videos, since the work there is on them is amazing.
Absolutely amazing video. Very well done. Thank you.
20:05 could not be a more perfect ending
Love the tractor feed paper!
Watching this just reignited my curiosity for this sort of stuff. This video is lovely.
Nice work, thoroughly enjoyed this.
16:36 is where he shows the Game of Life inside the Game of Life, in case you were wondering :)
Brilliant video! Great presentation, and I am quite amazed at the video style. You put a lot of effort into this mini-documentary and it really shows! Excellent work Alan, if you don't mind me asking, what video editor did you use and how did you make the Logic Gates and Turing Completeness sections?! It just blows my mind what you created here, bravo!
Thank you so much!
Wonderful video. Perfection in all aspects. Thank you for making this masterpiece and sharing your knowledge with us.
Great mini-documentary - Well done for explaining it all so well !!
A highly informative and well delivered video on an interesting topic, with truly exceptional production value. Subscribed and shared!
Thank you so much! I worked on another documentary about the AI of Creatures, in case you're interested!
Had no idea he died. He meant quite a lot to me personally as GoL is what broke me out of creationism as a kid.
creationism can co-exist with evolution and science, in fact, it co-exists with Christianity perfectly; god doesn't want to force us to believe in him, he wants to give us the ability to make mistakes, you cant do that if you can prove he exists, therefore, god must have created a world that could have plausibly existed without his existence, this means evolution and science are things that god must have implemented. you can also look at the bible less as a historical and religious book, and more as a philosophical book, most of what is in there was designed to teach people valuable lessons and to keep society running, for example, you cannot have a functioning free society without the ten commandments, if your society throws out any one of them, it collapses into anarchy and totalitarianism.
@@aidenaune7008 I'm not looking to offend anybody, but I'm going to be honest. Evolution is an established scientific fact. Creation is a pre-scientific myth that has already been discarded by science as completely wrong. They are not compatible. "He wants to gives us the ability to make mistakes, you can't do that if you can prove he exists, therefore, God must have created a world that could have plausibly existed without his existence" Nope, your argument is fallacious. This is the Begging the Question Fallacy, where there is a conclusion built into the premise, in other words, circular reasoning. Breaking your point up into small chunks should be easy: i. God gave us the ability to make mistakes. ii. You can't make mistakes if you can prove he exists. iii. Therefore, God made a world that has Science implemented into it. Not only this argument is very confusing, it's wrong too. This argument assumes God is real, then concluding that God is real. Not only what you said about looking at the Bible as a philosophical book is wrong, it also suggests that God is a philosophical entity, which contradicts creationism. Creationism assumes that there is a God, Philosophical Bible assumes that God is a philosophical entity, which is a hypothetical God that teaches us how to think. Also, since a country can be considered as a society, that means Japan, China, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Australia, Lithuania, Turkey, Korea, and a lot of other countries should've been collapse into anarchy by now, assuming all countries must be built on the ten commandments.
@@Kuumin Oh, thank you. I really didn't want to reply to that, but neither did I care to see it go unchecked. Glad to see someone wielding more patience than myself got to around to it.
@@aidenaune7008 When I said "broke me out" I really meant "it provided the final straw". Actually reading the bible actually did most of the work of waking up from my indoctrination. PadorUmin already said anything else I would've said and more.
@@jesuslovespee No problem. I'm just acting accordingly, since one of my pet peeves is someone spreading something that isn't rooted in facts as the truth. I'm doing this for everyone that stumbles into any comment thread that has someone spreading their beliefs as facts.
Very well made documentary. thank you, enjoyed watching it.
Beautiful, interesting, intricate video. Your content is outstanding! Also, love that you used c418's Minecraft music disk haha.
I know he was 82 and could have died at any time anyway, but it still makes me so angry that such an eminent and prolific mathematician was taken from us prematurely by COVID.
those CLEAN lines on Nicolas Loizeau's implementation??? god DAMN
I think the lines make everything ...less mysterious! It's a shame that I couldn't get the "full" amount of lines (i.e.: all possible paths!).
@@AlanZucconi comparing the different implementations-- the messy, compact designs and the sprawling, geometric layouts-- really highlighted how I experience Game of Life at the boundary of the biological and the synthetic 🤩
This is such a high effort and well-researched and well-made video. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Thank you! 🙏 It was! 🤪
Wow dude, great video. The production looks like a whole lot of work but looks great and well written!
Good afternoon, Alan Zucconi. it is actually gorgeous video. thank. :)
God that final glider clip gave me chills all over my body, this is one of the best-made videos I've ever seen
Thank you so much! 🙏
Awesome video! Really well done and deserves much more attention
it's hard to say what's more beautiful, your paper or the documentary video here, thank you so much
Awww! 🙏
Holy shit I didn’t knew he died... omfg. Game of life was one of the first things I learned when starting coding. RIP
2:00 Felix has really been holding out on us.
Found myself chuckling in awe. Brilliant video
The video is amazing, many thanks for this
I would like to see a loop of the final pattern. So mesmerizing!
Haha, speaking of life.... Conway: I bet you can't invent infinity Everybody: You're right Conway: I bet you can't invent infinity for $50 *2 seconds later...*
This was such a wonderful and engaging documentary! I loved the presentation and how the video finished.
Thank you so much! 🙏
such an amazing video. thank you so much for explaining John Conway's Game of Life so well!