Stephen Hawking will go down in history as a physicist who defied the odds. He defied the odds when he lived to the ripe age of 79 even though he suffered from the disease known as ALS most of his adult life. He is without a doubt one of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century. And within that brilliance was a wonderful sense of humor. He didn’t finish his final book, “Big Answers to Big Questions.” But his daughter, Lucy Hawking was able to put the finishing touches on the book so the public could read some of his final thoughts.
In the book, Hawking said there is a revolt against global experts and that revolt includes scientists. He said Donald Trump is a demagogue, and he didn’t think Brexit was a good idea. Hawking let the world know how divided it is because most people lost their ability to look outward. But Hawking said human will be able to travel to any planet in the solar system within the next 100 years. And he also said time travel may be possible in the future. He also said the world is in transformation mode so humans must be cautious and not jump into the future blindly. Hawking liked to say look up at the stars and don’t look down at your feet.
But the most controversial bit of information Stephen Hawking left behind is there is no God. There isn’t a God directing the universe. The laws of nature direct the universe, according to Mr. Hawking. Not believing there is a God controlling the actions and the decisions of humans or the universe isn’t new in the scientific community. Scientists now believe the entity humans call God is actually a form of consciousness and that invisible form is in all physical things. This form of consciousness is more than the sum of its counterparts so in laymen terms it’s hard to define.
The fact that Hawking believed that God is a human invention doesn’t make him any less regal in the world of scientific research. He was always pushing the scientific envelope, and he never stopped charting other courses in the future development of mankind. Hawking didn’t let religion overpower is work. He let science open the door to a new way of looking at the nature of things and ourselves.
