Anyone think Stephen Hawking is a nut?

Question

Why is he always talking about moving into outerspace if the human race is to survive? I mean if we f___ this planet up so much that it becomes unlivable, what business do we have going elsewhere, we don't even deserve to survive.

Alien, youre a weirdo

Answer 1

That's a bit like asking

"What is the difference between genius and insanity?"

A person afflicted with either gift / illness / whatever is going to be hard to understand, no matter what.

In Hawking's case, though, a lot of brilliant, sane physicists and mathematicians have corroborated his work. It's impossible to argue with that kind of success.

He's a bona-fide genius, not insane at all. Even when he says something that seems outrageous, he always prefaces it with "I think that..." or "Theories suggest...", "We may someday find other results..." or something to that effect. His humility is allowing for errors on his part. That's a rare combination of humility and genius. That's sanity.

You won't find a dogmatist saying "My theory is that you'll all go to Hell if you don't believe what I believe."

No, dogmatists say "Think my way or you go to Hell. Please pledge a generous amount to the following toll free number."

Which one sounds more sane?

RE leaving the planet: he may be suggesting that it will be too late to save this one by the time we develop the capability to set up colonies someplace else. Things certainly seem to be heading that way.

Perhaps the hope is that by the time we can move, we'll know better and treat our destinations with more wisdom than we've treated this one.

Wait! Let's go over portions of what I just said:

"He may be suggesting..."

"Perhaps the hope..."

Well, at least I've learned something from him, if only a very small amount of what he knows.

Or maybe not!!!

Best wishes, Dr. Hawking. I hope I (myself, that is) see you (yourself, that is) on the next Brane.

Answer 2

Sure, we should save the planet we are on because it is so uniquely adapted over the millenia to sustain us and the rest of the amazing biosphere. Much more important is our need to survive any catalysm suffered upon us by ourselves or an astronomic disaster. It's obvious over the last few centuries, we have inflicted significant damage to our planet from the perspective of the life in existance today, but really it doesn't make us "undeserving" of the environment we have, just stupid. This trend that we caused is maladaptive for the existance of ourselves and the beings on which we depend, but we are just making new molecules and shifts of climate that might occur without us. So basically we're stupid to keep up our current ways but not undeserving of a new home.

Even if we were a world-wide Greens society tree-hugging hippies, this does not assure our survival. One day, we will reach the point where the resources of the planet (renewable or otherwise) are not sufficient to sustain our population. We must then either exert population control or look for these resources elsewhere...probably both. Then there is the inevitable truth that our sun will end it's main sequence, swell to a red giant and engulf the Earth. Game over man. Finally, there are an estimated 2000 Near Earth Objects (NEOs) - large meteors and asteroids that intersect with Earth orbit, some of them Planet Killer size - that will strike planet and cause another mass extinction. All of these scenarios are not possibilities but inevitabilities.

If we value the persistance of our species (I'm a fan), we must expand our Horizons as far as humanly possible.

Answer 3

It sounds to me that Dr. Hawking is a cautious humanist. What I mean by this is that despite the elevated risk of humankind bringing about its own destruction, he sees an intrinsic goodness in humankind that he feels is worthy of survival.

If you think about it, is everyone contributing to possible species-wide extinction? Most people do not have access to terrible devices such as nuclear weapons or nasty super-viruses. We might each have some impact on climate, but it's mostly because of our form of industrial society, and most of us would prefer not affecting climate if it were practical to do so.

The question pre-supposes a judgment on humankind for our actions. True, there are consequences to our actions, or even our failure to act in some instances, but it's not like there is a cosmic order that judges our morality. If we as a species do not survive, it's because of what we impose on ourselves, not on what is imposed from outside.

We are still in many ways growing and maturing as a species. With maturation come realisation of our actions and the consequences of them. In many ways, we are going through the growing pains as a species, but we must still grow and mature. I take to heart the words of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: "The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one can not live in a cradle forever." Regardless of how the earth fares, wo do have business reaching for the stars, assuming that we survive long enough to reach them. Should we spread out from our birthworld, we improve the odds of keeping what is good in humankind from fading into the darkness.

Answer 4

Well, our daddy (the sun) will not live forever. Someday he will die... or I suppose I should say that someday he will become a red giant and will suck us in then. Despite our ruining this planet, we might be able to find ways to not ruin another planet and therefore deserve the opportunity to go elsewhere in order to survive.

Answer 5

Well he is smarted then most of us put together so maybe he knows something we don't. But I kind of agree with you about maybe not deserving to screw up another planet. I think the focus should be on saving the planet we have now.

Answer 6

He's an extremely intelligent nut, and is entitled to his beliefs just as you are.

Hank Feral

Answer 7

If Stephen hawking is a nut, what does that make you and me!

Answer 8

Hopefully, the people who have enough brains to make it there, will have also had enough sense not to muck it up.

SH knows what he's talking about.

Answer 9

If he is a nut,crack him!