Not only is the economy bad, but now we have to get off Earth?

[MIB41]

Where do we find fossils like this guy? Okay, here is the fine advice of one 'Stephen Hawking' who suggest we better get off this planet or we may be goners... Of course we have a few hundred years to figure it out...

Stephen Hawking: Abandon the Earth

Please illustrate that premise to paper please...

[sauce]

If you don't read the title of the article and ignore everything except the first paragraph, then it REALLY works.

Hawking's advice: "It's time to get off."

I think we're doing a great job!

[The Toyroom]

Dude's a nut

[toys2cool]

reading that kind of stuff freaks me out

[generic]

reading that kind of stuff freaks me out

I'm right there with you, man. I remember as a kid I watched a movie about nuclear war (it was more of an educational thing than an entertainment thing) and it freaked me out for a couple of weeks. These days, with all of the theories readily available on the internet, I have to be careful what I read because too much of it makes sense! I feel much safer reading about old toys!

[Brazoo]

What's really annoying to me is that Stephen Hawking seems to get a lot of media attention for ANY opinion he has - even subjects outside of his field of study. His opinions on human behavior and predictions about a man-made apocalypse are not important or valid.

He's basing his ideas on psychology and genetics - what does he know about those subjects? It's got as much value as asking a geneticist about string theory.

[Sandman9580]

What's really annoying to me is that Stephen Hawking seems to get a lot of media attention for ANY opinion he has - even subjects outside of his field of study. His opinions on human behavior and predictions about a man-made apocalypse are not important or valid.

He's basing his ideas on psychology and genetics - what does he know about those subjects? It's got as much value as asking a geneticist about string theory.

Well, it's not really Hawking's fault that the media shares information with us after Hawking shares his opinions with them in an interview.

As for what he knows about the subject, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's capable of at least some cross-disciplinary study. But even if he weren't, I think it is his background in mathematics that informs his thinking about apocalypse, existence of aliens, etc. All he's suggesting is that in light of nuclear weapons and viral warfare, there's a much-reduced probability of human survival, so we should have a contingency plan. No, I don't think anyone's going to take the idea seriously, unless we come to the brink and get a really, really good look over the edge. (In which case it would likely be too late anyway.) But what he's saying seems entirely reasonable to me.

*And what's with the OP calling him a fossil? He's afflicted with ALS and is completely paralyzed. Sheesh.

[Zemo]

I dunno, I think he believes what a lot of people believe. That's why the space program is so important. Though he talks of nuclear war and global warming, I think of Asteroids hitting the earth.

[Meule]

Dude's a nut

Anything to be in the spotlight again

[jwyblejr]

I guess Sir Issac Newton was a "nut" too for his idea that the world will end in 2060.

[Brazoo]

Well, it's not really Hawking's fault that the media shares information with us after Hawking shares his opinions with them in an interview.

For sure! I did say the attention annoyed me, not him.

I love Hawking, but he does (as all great scientists tend to) embarrass himself when he starts talking about fields of science he's not an expert in. For example, a few years ago he made statements that kinda supported eugenics. It was a controversial position outside of his field. He may still support his opinion but I do think it was embarrassing enough for him to stop talking about it.

As for what he knows about the subject, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's capable of at least some cross-disciplinary study. But even if he weren't, I think it is his background in mathematics that informs his thinking about apocalypse, existence of aliens, etc. All he's suggesting is that in light of nuclear weapons and viral warfare, there's a much-reduced probability of human survival, so we should have a contingency plan. No, I don't think anyone's going to take the idea seriously, unless we come to the brink and get a really, really good look over the edge. (In which case it would likely be too late anyway.) But what he's saying seems entirely reasonable to me.

This is the thing - there's nothing in this to make me think his opinion is the product of any study he's doing - mathematical or otherwise. I don't disagree with the outcome of his opinion, I think space travel is very important for many reasons, I just dislike the arguments he used because they're outside of his realm of study, and the implication by the media is that his intelligence makes him an authority on every subject.

Other physicists have similar opinions about our survival being dependent on space colonization, but they tend to stick to risks they have authority in discussing - like the probability that the earth is going to get clobbered by a giant meteorite or something.

When Hawking says "[man's genetic code] carries selfish and aggressive instincts" is a simplified and clunky way of putting evolutionary ideas - and it makes me think that people might take that to justify being selfish. In any case, as much as he might know about the subject, he's no expert.

*And what's with the OP calling him a fossil? He's afflicted with ALS and is completely paralyzed. Sheesh.

[Brazoo]

I guess Sir Issac Newton was a "nut" too for his idea that the world will end in 2060.

Well - that was a theological not a scientific prediction - no?

[BOTZWANA]

What I donīt get is the economic crisis and HOW in the heck do people charge huge gobs of money for items on Ebay that should go for FAR less.

[Sandman9580]

Brazoo:

Yes, scientists often seem to get on shaky ground when they venture too far from home - you'd think they'd know better. (Linus Pauling and his assertion that massive doses of Vitamin C will cure whatever ails you springs to mind.) And I agree, we oftentimes fall prey to an implicit acquiescence to authority, even for ideas that are quacky. ("Isaac Newton predicted the end of the world!? Didn't he invent gravity or something? Oh man, we're screwed!") I tried to Google Stephen Hawking and "eugenics" but I couldn't find anything (other than people citing him as an argument against it). I'd be interested to know what he said.

No, he's not an expert in psychology or evolution. But this doesn't seem to me like a case of a scientist foolishly pontificating about stuff he's not an expert in. It just seems like a case of an intelligent, well-read person stating what most of us could probably agree with; though if we say it, our drinking buddies nod politely and go "for sure". When Stephen Hawking says it, the whole world listens.

<--Stephen Hawking

[TEXASFETT]

I'm right there with you, man. I remember as a kid I watched a movie about nuclear war (it was more of an educational thing than an entertainment thing) and it freaked me out for a couple of weeks. These days, with all of the theories readily available on the internet, I have to be careful what I read because too much of it makes sense! I feel much safer reading about old toys!

I'm the same way when I was a kid,and hell that 2012 movie freak the crap out of me.But just get on the mego museum boards and the fear goes away.