OT: R.I.P. Stephen Hawking

[JavaMan]

Talk about a legend and fighting through adversity. WOW!

World renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76.

[BIO & MORE]

He died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday, his family said.

The British scientist was famed for his work with black holes and relativity, and wrote several popular science books including A Brief History of Time.

At the age of 22 Prof Hawking was given only a few years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease.

 

[eebmg]

His life and achievements under the most trying circumstances will always be symbol of what is possible. I hope he now has all the answers he has been striving for in his lifetime.

 

[cbraarj]

RIP Steve Hawking!

 

[tomcat]

There are many famous people in this world. There are few important ones. Stephen Hawking was one of the important ones.

 

[uconnfan68]

His sense of humor through his obstacles always inspired me.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

His sense of humor through his obstacles always inspired me.

Yes he was funny when he appeared on The Big Bang Theory TV show

 

[meyers7]

He had a very long life considering what he to deal with. RIP.

 

[HGN]

Stephen Hawking was a great man who achieved great things...............Such a deep thinker.

His loss actually frightens me. Because who else does mankind have who looks at things so thoughtfully and thoroughly?
To my best knowledge no one else like him has surfaced.

May he RIP.

 

[bags27]

Stephen Hawking Dies at 76; His Mind Roamed the Cosmos

It has only been in our lifetimes that "handicaps" have been treated as biological conditions rather than as the result of moral failings. Hawking was as stupendously an inspiration as a person as he was a great scientist.

 

[lne001]

I hope he now has all the answers he has been striving for in his lifetime.

His brain is dead, end of story. He was too intelligent to believe in a god or an afterlife or a soul.

"I think the conventional afterlife is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark."
"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

 

[eebmg]

His brain is dead, end of story. He was too intelligent to believe in a god or an afterlife or a soul.

"I think the conventional afterlife is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark."
"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

Oke Dokey.

 

[Scud49]

One of the greatest minds ever...

A quote from him, and IMO we see a lot of this these days: “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge” ~ Stephen Hawking. RIP

 

[Goodgood]

RIP. The world will miss him. I certainly will.

 

[j66kicker]

RIP

 

[OneTrickPony]

Loved the man's accessibility...

 

[Los24]

His brain is dead, end of story. He was too intelligent to believe in a god or an afterlife or a soul.

"I think the conventional afterlife is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark."
"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

I guess if he said so it makes it so... Many "intelligent" people, including scientists, have had an opposing view.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

I had always thought ALS was a death sentence within two years or so after diagnosis.
That he lived with the disease for more than 50 years must be a real medical rarity.

 

[JordyG]

His life and achievements under the most trying circumstances will always be symbol of what is possible. I hope he now has all the answers he has been striving for in his lifetime.

I kinda get the feeling there's just a lot more questions.

 

[JordyG]

His sense of humor through his obstacles always inspired me.

And his willingness to butt heads against the Einstein canon by embracing quantum theories.

 

[lne001]

I guess if he said so it makes it so... Many "intelligent" people, including scientists, have had an opposing view.

Not really. The more intelligent the scientist the less likely to believe in a comfortable delusion.

"In the USA, while around 16% of the general population report no religious affiliation approximately 95% believe in God or some higher power (Gallup & Lindsay 1999); (Lugo et al2008). US scientists, however, are substantially less likely to hold belief in the supernatural (Larson and Witham 1997; Leuba 1916). Interestingly, this difference is far more evident among distinguished scientists: Larson and Witham (1998) found that 92% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences reject a belief in God or higher power. Religiosity in Great Britain is less robust than in the US, with polls reporting only 42% believing in a personal God and 52% believing that God or some higher power had a hand in creating the universe (ICM Research 2005). What about British scientists? One thousand and seventy-four Fellows of the Royal Society of London were invited to participate in a survey of attitudes toward religion; 248 Fellows replied. They were asked about their beliefs in a personal God, the existence of a supernatural entity, consciousness surviving death, and whether religion and science occupy non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA). Overwhelmingly, the majority of Fellows affirmed strong opposition to the belief in a personal god, to the existence of a supernatural entity, and to consciousness after death."

 

[Los24]

Not really. The more intelligent the scientist the less likely to believe in a comfortable delusion.

"In the USA, while around 16% of the general population report no religious affiliation approximately 95% believe in God or some higher power (Gallup & Lindsay 1999); (Lugo et al2008). US scientists, however, are substantially less likely to hold belief in the supernatural (Larson and Witham 1997; Leuba 1916). Interestingly, this difference is far more evident among distinguished scientists: Larson and Witham (1998) found that 92% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences reject a belief in God or higher power. Religiosity in Great Britain is less robust than in the US, with polls reporting only 42% believing in a personal God and 52% believing that God or some higher power had a hand in creating the universe (ICM Research 2005). What about British scientists? One thousand and seventy-four Fellows of the Royal Society of London were invited to participate in a survey of attitudes toward religion; 248 Fellows replied. They were asked about their beliefs in a personal God, the existence of a supernatural entity, consciousness surviving death, and whether religion and science occupy non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA). Overwhelmingly, the majority of Fellows affirmed strong opposition to the belief in a personal god, to the existence of a supernatural entity, and to consciousness after death."

Thus the word some. Not getting into debate but only to say just because your perceived as intelligent in a certain area it does not mean you are all knowing. I can come up with many stats and what the chances are of the earth falling into place at the perfect angles, distance, etc... Also science has said there is a design now and not just random how things are in place.

This board is not the place, but its insulting to state a comment inferring that if someone is more or less intelligent based on having a believe or faith in a higher power.

 

[Bigboote]

Stephen Hawking was a great man who achieved great things.....Such a deep thinker.

His loss actually frightens me. Because who else does mankind have who looks at things so thoughtfully and thoroughly?
To my best knowledge no one else like him has surfaced.

May he RIP.

Yes, RIP Stephen Hawking. He died on Pi Day, which also happens to be Einstein's birthday.

I think you'd be surprised how many people look at things so thoroughly and thoughtfully, they're just not as famous as Hawking. I would say probably a majority of Nobel Prize winners in the sciences would qualify. One who's gotten some press in the last couple of years because of the discovery of gravity waves is Kip Thorne. He's quite a visionary, very charismatic, and was able to sell the government on a billion-dollar program "just" to detect gravity waves. One of my favorite people to hear talk about his work is Dave Wineland, who studies quantum entanglement. His stuff is truly mind-boggling in its coolness; he got the Nobel in physics in 2012.

I tend to be pretty sanguine about humanity. I think guys like Dave and Kip Thorne really do give us hope.

 

[HGN]

Yes, RIP Stephen Hawking. He died on Pi Day, which also happens to be Einstein's birthday.

I think you'd be surprised how many people look at things so thoroughly and thoughtfully, they're just not as famous as Hawking. I would say probably a majority of Nobel Prize winners in the sciences would qualify. One who's gotten some press in the last couple of years because of the discovery of gravity waves is Kip Thorne. He's quite a visionary, very charismatic, and was able to sell the government on a billion-dollar program "just" to detect gravity waves. One of my favorite people to hear talk about his work is Dave Wineland, who studies quantum entanglement. His stuff is truly mind-boggling in its coolness; he got the Nobel in physics in 2012.

I tend to be pretty sanguine about humanity. I think guys like Dave and Kip Thorne really do give us hope.

Bigboote , thanks for the insight and info. I have heard of Kip Thorne , but had forgotten about him. I am not familiar with Wineland. Will have to google him.

 

[Bigboote]

And his willingness to butt heads against the Einstein canon by embracing quantum theories.

As far as I know, Einstein didn't not embrace quantum theory, he didn't like one aspect of some interpretations of quantum theory. In fact, Einstein's Nobel Prize was for the theory of an experiment that was one of the foundations of quantum mechanics. As far as I know, the thing he didn't like was the idea espoused by some that everything is in an unknown (superposition or entangled) state till it's observed/measured. Whence his comment, "I don't think God plays dice with the universe." (or something like that) His view was shared by many of his contemporaries. This divergence of interpretations is the basis of the play "Copenhagen."

David Wineland, whom I mentioned above, experimentally verified that Einstein was wrong, but that wasn't till this century, and he got a Nobel Prize for it.

As I said, this is all as far as I can remember, if there's something that I'm missing, I'm happy to be corrected.

 

[JordyG]

As far as I know, Einstein didn't not embrace quantum theory, he didn't like one aspect of some interpretations of quantum theory. In fact, Einstein's Nobel Prize was for the theory of an experiment that was one of the foundations of quantum mechanics. As far as I know, the thing he didn't like was the idea espoused by some that everything is in an unknown (superposition or entangled) state till it's observed/measured. Whence his comment, "I don't think God plays dice with the universe." (or something like that) His view was shared by many of his contemporaries. This divergence of interpretations is the basis of the play "Copenhagen."

David Wineland, whom I mentioned above, experimentally verified that Einstein was wrong, but that wasn't till this century, and he got a Nobel Prize for it.

As I said, this is all as far as I can remember, if there's something that I'm missing, I'm happy to be corrected.

His sense of humor through his obstacles always inspired me.

And his willingness to butt heads against the Einstein canon by embracing quantum theories.

I think my reply was self-evident. We are talking about Hawking, not Einstein. Einstein indeed never could reconcile the ideas of Planck and Heisenberg with his theories. It was Hawking that sought to join the two in a great TOE. Navigating through that Einstein/Rosen bridge, as it were.