stephen hawking: there is no heaven or afterlife

at the guardian:


click image to source

snip
Q: you had a health scare and spent time in hospital in 2009. what, if anything, do you fear about death?

A: i have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. i'm not afraid of death, but i'm in no hurry to die. i have so much I want to do first. 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.
/snip

via the RDFRS

the big beginning

from the symphony of science:



more science music videos at symphony of science.

10 questions for stephen hawking

on time.

#1

if god doesn't exist, why did the concept of his existence become almost universal? —basanta borah, basel, switzerland.

i don't claim that god doesn't exist. god is the name people give to the reason we are here. but i think that reason is the laws of physics rather than someone with whom one can have a personal relationship. an impersonal god.


#10:

do you think there will ever come a time when mankind understands all there is to understand about physics? —karsten kurze, bad honnef, germany

i hope not. i would be out of a job.



there are 8 more before these, here.

exchanges at the frontier: episode 3

a.c. grayling discusses string theory with physicist brian greene.

i've been listening to the grand design by stephen hawking and leonard mlodinow and even though it's a bit of a struggle, it's fascinating... and this discussion, on the same theme, is helping me to understand the concepts a bit more.

via RDFRS

leonard mlodinow: god is unnecessary

speaking about his collaboration with stephen hawking, the grand design, on keith olbermann:

gods of science: stephen hawking and brian cox discuss mind over matter

click image to source
here's a bit of the conversation:

<quote>

what is the one bit of science from your field that you think everyone should know?

stephen hawking: science can explain the universe without the need for a creator.

brian cox: that's a wonderfully provocative sentence, actually. a beautiful answer. it's interesting, because you have previously used the word god in a similar way, in my view, to einstein. i am thinking of phrases like "knowing the mind of god", which you used in a brief history of time. in my opinion, einstein was using the word god as a shorthand to convey the majesty and beauty of the laws of physics, and did not intend this to be taken as a sign that he subscribed to a particular religious doctrine. is this the sense in which you have used the term before, and are you trying to clear up any misunderstandings caused by your previous use of the word "god", or have i read too much into your answer?

sh: in a brief history of time i used the word "god" like einstein did as a shorthand for the laws of physics. however, this is not what most people mean by god, so i have decided not to use the term. the laws of physics can explain the universe without the need for a god.

</quote>

i can't know what has happened to make hawking want clarify his view of god -- but his recent statements follow this conversation between him and richard dawkins. in this segment, dawkins explained why he believed that hawking's use of the word god allowed others to exploit and quote mine his writing. my speculation: perhaps hawking only recently realized that it would be better to make his views unambiguous.

audio and transcript on the guardian.

god's response to stephen hawking

at macleod cartoons:


click to read at source

via sentient developments

jesus&mo: exist

laplace, darwin, hawking...
je n'ai pas eu besoin de cette hypothèse


click to read at source

a conversation between richard dawkins and stephen hawking

a clip from the channel 4 documentary genius of britain episode 5.



via RDF

stephen hawking: science will win because it works

at abc news with diane sawyer:

if only my suppers were like this

from rational crank:


click image to embiggen and for more information.

the dinner guests:
j. robert oppenheimer
sir isaac newton
louis pasteur
stephen hawking
albert einstein
carl sagan
thomas edison
aristotle
dr. neil degrasse tyson
richard dawkins
charles darwin

via the friendly atheist.

the poetry of reality

yay! another wonderful video from melody sheep and the symphony of science!




lyrics:

[michael shermer]
science is the best tool ever devised
for understanding how the world works

[jacob bronowski]
science is a very human form of knowledge
we are always at the brink of the known

[carl sagan]
science is a collaborative enterprise
spanning the generations
we remember those who prepared the way
seeing for them also

[neil degrasse tyson]
if you're scientifically literate,
the world looks very different to you
and that understanding empowers you

refrain:
[richard dawkins]
there's real poetry in the real world
science is the poetry of reality

[sagan]
we can do science
and with it, we can improve our lives

[jill tarter]
the story of humans is the story of ideas
that shine light into dark corners

[lawrence krauss]
scientists love mysteries
they love not knowing

[richard feynman]
i don't feel frightened by not knowing things
i think it's much more interesting

[brian greene]
there's a larger universal reality
of which we are all apart

[stephen hawking]
the further we probe into the universe
the more remarkable are the discoveries we make

[carolyn porco]
the quest for the truth, in and of itself,
is a story that's filled with insights

(refrain)

[greene]
from our lonely point in the cosmos
we have through the power of thought
been able to peer back to a brief moment
after the beginning of the universe

[pz meyers]
i think that science changes the way your mind works
to think a little more deeply about things

[dawkins]
science replaces private predjudice
with publicly verifiable evidence

(refrain)