[andsoitis]

what assumptions have to be true for such a universe to exist? did it just appear fully formed with N number of cells and defaulting to a color?

a hypothetical universe is mostly worth discussing seriously if there's a physics that is coherent, not just a mathematical landscape. At least it isn't that interesting in the discussion of universes, but might be in discussing mathematical ideas, but those do not necessarily mean there's a universe represented by it.

[dcow]

Wolfram would disagree.

[andsoitis]

> Wolfram would disagree.

many people believed in, and advocated for, string theory. Don't make it real.

[dcow]

I responded to someone who was having trouble grokking the idea that a relatively simple ruleset could give rise to arbitrarily complex universe-like constructs with coherent physics by pointing out that there is in fact a credible research-backed theory that the universe does emerge from something resembling Conway's game of life.

I don't believe I asserted that pop-science is true just because it's popular. Quite the opposite, in fact.