Stephen Hawking Dead.

Sad. RIP.

 

One of the greatest scientists of our time. Inspired me to get into science as a youngster. RIP.

 

What an amazing life he achieved against all the odds.

 

As ever, his death is 'scouse-ified' and made maudlin and irrelevant. I'm sure he'd hate it.

I heard some nob on the radio this morning wailing on about how Hawking was a great hero, mainly because "he'd been a wonderful example to disabled people...". Nothing about what he'd achieved from a scientific point of view, which was tremendously impressive and world-leading irrespective of any disability.

But they've got to bring his disability into it. "Wan't he brave? Wasn't he an example to all cripples? Look what you can do if you just try!"

His disability was a mere side note to a brilliant scientific career, not a exemplary parable to sick and disabled people that their condition is no excuse for not working.

 

Dead or has his waveform temporarily collapsed during a transition between different dimensions of space and time?

 

Remarkable individual.

You seems equally forthright in claiming who he is or what he represented

 

He was also forthright in pointing out how utterly absurd religion is, which can only be a good thing.

 

He was one of those people who I thought would just go on forever, because he never seemed to age or look any different, which of course he didn’t because of his condition.

 

Extraordinary human being in so many ways.
When my father was in St Albans City Hospital he said 'this bloke in the next bed,he's a genius'. My dad was prone to hyperbole so we thought nothing of it. It transpired that it was infact Hawking. Dad was correct after all!
A few years later I was driving through the leafy lanes of Cambridge,looking for Fenners to play for Middlesex against the Cambridge University team.
I suddenly saw something in the distance,too small to be a car but speeding towards me nonetheless. It was Hawking in his wheelchair!
I stopped my car and just watched as he hurtled past,on his way to his lecture or tutorial I imagine!
A true great and of course a student of St Albans School.
RIP.

 

In his own words: “It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.”

Wise words.

btw. Did anyone of a non-scientific background here make sense of 'A Brief History Of Time' when it came out? Went straight over my head and I'm 6'5!

 

I didn't exist when it initially came out, however when reading it during my a-levels I was completely flummoxed by some of it. However I reread it several times at university and it did begin to click. I never had my own copy, and don't get much time to read nowadays so have just bought myself the audiobook to listen to when im driving between calls.

 

You may have existed in a parallel universe.

 

I’m certain I do. In fact there are probably many of me, in many parallel universes. There might also be versions of me at different points in time. It’s all fascinating....and highly confusing. The sort of stuff that is great to discuss when slightly drunk or high.

 

I can't say I understood much about his work. But I have no issue with how his death has been covered by the media, including the BBC. His subject matter is not something the everyday person can understand, and no matter who crucial or brilliant his work would be to his peers and other scientists, for most of us it is his illness and his achievements against the odds that makes him stand out from other scientists who have done work in what is an unintelligible field for most of us. We understand more about motor-neurone disease that we do black holes.

Of course his illness and disability is a fundamental part of his achievements and we should be celebrating how he dealt with it. I have said many times, we are not equal, and we shouldn't pretend we are, and we shouldn't be scared of talking about it.

Blimey, he was happy for a film to be made of his life. who are we to suggest that he was wrong and the media now ignore his illness?

RIP Mr Hawking, you have been an inspiration - particularly because what you have overcome.

 

RIP to a great man.

Hawking was an exceptional scientist, but while that required work and effort it's worth noting that he was born with that intellect. What he wasn't born with was a horrible disability, and the fact he realised his natural potential while also coping with debilitating physical affliction is what mades him the greatest scientist alive. There are plenty of highly intelligent, brilliant scientists in the world (albeit far fewer than I 'd like), but Hawking inspired because he was incredible despite suffering something that would likely break most of us.

I don't find the coverage to be tone deaf at all. Hawking was the most famous living scientist because of what he achieved while carrying a horrific burden. That's why people found him inspiring. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging that.

 

Interesting.
He apparently changed his view on God but where did he say religion is utterly absurd?

 

Chap I work with replied "How could they tell?" when told of this news. The office was in uproar.

Hawking would have laughed about it (possibly).

 

That's nothing. Moog exists in plenty of universes all here on this forum

 

“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.”

 

There was a superb little story about the man's sense of humour I heard amongst the tributes yesterday.

Apparently he was at some event or lecture, everybody was fussing around and there was technical problem getting something set up. Someone pulled a plug from the wall, and SH slumped forward in his chair. Everyone looked around in shock and horror thinking the worst for about twenty seconds, when all of a sudden his 'voice machine' started chuckling !!! Brilliant.

 

From P O P B I T C H:

These two are odd as Feynman was fond of strip-bars. It must be a "physics" thing.

I've also heard that he was the target of an exceptionally "select" Gonville and Caius JCR "secret" sorority known as the "Gonville Gobblers"...

 

Richard Feynman used to work (on physics) while he was at the strip bars.

 

The human brain indeed works by electric charge and 1 and 0’s and will fail when we die.
What happens to the ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’?

Hawking could not prove or disprove there is no afterlife, it’s just his opinion.
Many scientists believe in a creator ‘God’ which also cannot be proved or disproved scientifically.
Ergo, for Hawking to say it is all a fairy story is his opinion, but that is all it is.

If scientists/cosmologists believe there was one Big Bang, before which there was nothing, and Christians believe God said ‘Let there be light’ after which all was created, which is right?

Obviously the God theory is right, because in the vacuum of space you can see light but you can’t hear a Big Bang - just ask Sigourney Weaver.
https://goo.gl/images/hnM3ZN

 

The scientists.

 

They can just keep that voice machine going to ease his family's grief. I'm sure it would be a great comfort for them to be able to speak to "Stephen" whenever they want.

What's with the Window's shutting down gag - have people confused him with Bill Gates?

 

This scientist has, personally, a great deal of respect for the Ancient Egyptian creation myth that involves the deity Atum masturbating and ejaculating creation into existence. Part of any scientists job is observation and, as this scientist enters his sixth decade, I seem to observe that more and more of the human population are wn&kers.

 

With my physics degree hat on, there is no concept of time before the big bang, it would be impossible to observe it anyway. Current theories go back to 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 (10^-42) of a second after the big bang, before that there are no distinct energy types and the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) comes in to play but no one yet has been able to mathematically deduce a formula for it. In fact it would be impossible to work out what was going on at 0 seconds just as much as it would be possible to attain a temperature of absolute zero in a laboratory.

 

You all know none of this is real don't you? Our whole existence in this lifetime is just a simulation that takes minutes in whatever the "real" world is, and you're all basically figments of my imagination. As soon as this simulation is finished I'll choose another, (I've always fancied trying life as an eagle).

 

I knew you were a Palace fan.

 

All I can see is Big Bang doesn't disprove a god....