On the Nature of Time

What is time, really—and why does it seem to flow?

In this short essay, Stephen Wolfram explores time not as a coordinate or backdrop but as something generated by the ongoing computation of the universe itself. Drawing on ideas from his Physics Project, he explains how the passage of time—our experience of one moment giving way to the next—arises from the limits of what observers like us can compute. We can't see the future all at once; we have to compute it step by step.

With clear explanations and real implications for physics and philosophy alike, On the Nature of Time shows how a computational perspective helps make sense of one of the most familiar and puzzling features of our reality.

Information and Media Inquiries

September 23, 2025 Publication
Publicity and Interviews: sw-media@wolfram.com
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Non-Fiction: Physics/Philosophy

Contents

• The Computational View of Time
• The Role of the Observer
• Multiple Threads of Time
• Time in the Ruliad
• So What in the End Is Time?

About the Author

Stephen Wolfram is an award-winning scientist and bestselling author, and the creator of some of the world's most respected software systems—Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha and Wolfram Language. For more than 35 years, he has been CEO of the global technology company Wolfram Research, as well as responsible for a series of groundbreaking advances in basic science, including the recent Wolfram Physics Project.

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