Stephen Hawking Here and There

Update your file about Stephen Hawking with these clips:

(1) Hawking’s list of three things that could destroy human civilization surprisingly does not include Sad Puppies…

Firstly, Hawking is fiercely wary of strong artificial intelligence (AI); ….

Hawking has also issued a stark warning about the potential cataclysmic effects of human aggression. Hawking believes our aggressive nature could result in catastrophic events that could end human civilization, such as a major nuclear war that could end all civilization and extinct the human race. With increasingly violent movies, video games and, in general, more violent behaviors within our current human civilization, sadly backed up by increasingly violent crime statistics, we would have to agree that human aggression is a major cause for concern. Could it only be a matter of time before the horrific trend of bullied teenagers opening fire on their schools escalates when these psychopathic adults decide to go one step further and bomb the whole world?

Last but not least, Hawking has expressed concerns about alien life….

(2) Hawking made a holographic appearance at the Sydney Opera House in April.

Hawking spoke of his life and his work, and he touched on how technology is currently influencing daily life. “In a way the internet connects us all together like neurons in the giant brain,” he said. “With such an IQ, what won’t we be capable of?”

Hawking also received questions from the audience, including a question about how young girls can deal with Zayn Malik leaving the band One Direction.

“Finally, a question about something important,” he joked. “My advice to any heartbroken young girl is to pay close attention to the study of theoretical physics. Because one day there may well be proof of multiple universes.” He said it’s possible there’s another universe where Malik is still in the band.

 

 

(3) Should we blame Stephen Hawking for telling BBC One’s Dara O Briain that “All science fiction is dead”?  He probably heard that fans once voted the Hugo to Who Killed Science Fiction?

Dara talks to Stephen about time travel, reaching the stars and God in bonus material not featured in the programme.

Here is the program website.

Online exclusive: “If you jump in a black hole you will meet an unpleasant fate”

 

2 thoughts on “Stephen Hawking Here and There

  1. Well, for one thing, statistics covering human violence don’t altogether support Hawking’s fears. In North America, at least, violence has been on a stead decline since it’s peak in the 1980s or early ’90s. Sensational as the news headlines has been — church shootings, school massacres, senseless police misconduct — it is safer to walk the streets today than it was 30 years ago. If you are an average, middle class American, anyway. And you get bonus points for being white. Nor do the savage events in far-off places like Syria, the Sudan and Nigeria make the early years of this century particularly more violent than any other comparable span in world history. There’s usually always something like that going on, somewhere. I would be more worried about the trend for more and more powerful weapons, that might be used by a single, deranged individual. Even if the other 6,999,999,999 people of Earth are peaceful and well-adjusted, the one crank with the Doomsday bomb or virus is a cause for concern.

  2. I would recommend _The Better Angels Of Our Nature_ by Steven Pinker to Mr Hawking or anyone else worried that we are in danger of disappearing in a swirl of our own viciousness. While the first part of the book contains some stomach turning examples of how cruel humans have routinely been in the past, it is overall a very hopeful look at how human behavior is, in the long term, becoming more kind and fair.

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