Hawking: 'There is no heaven'
Rodger Bosch / AFP - Getty Images file
Physicist Stephen Hawking delivers a lecture in South Africa in 2008. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, he called the notion of heaven a "fairy story."
The physicist, 69, who was diagnosed with A.L.S. at age 21, made the heaven comment in response to a question about his fears of death.
"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," he told the newspaper.
"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven of afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people who are afraid of the dark."
The comments are seen as going beyond those in his 2010 book, "The Grand Design," which stirred up passions with the observation that science can explain the universe's origin without invoking God.
Hawking has far outlived most people who have A.L.S., also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, producing important cosmological research and writing books. His "A Brief History of Time," published in 1988, has sold more than 9 million copies.
The Guardian interview is the latest the scientist has given to news media in recent weeks. It is published the day before he is scheduled to address the question "Why are we here?" at the Google Zeitgeist meeting in London.
In the talk, according to The Guardian, he will argue that the tiny fluctuations in the very early universe became the seeds from which galaxies, stars, and ultimately human life emerged.
"Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in," he said.
More on Stephen Hawking:
- Hawking says God's not needed. So?
- Do we need to get off Earth by 2110?
- Hawking goes zero-G: 'Space, here I come'
- Aliens may pose risk to Earth, Hawking says
- Up close with Dr. Hawking
John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by
23 comments:
And I just spent all day trying to convince my mother to let go of life and go on to heaven. That her momma is waiting for her. Thanks Steven!
Stew, I'd much prefer to have you talking to me than the much esteemed brilliant scientist who looks so bloody bored and unhappy. . .with nothing to look forward to. . .
He has proven everything and as a result has nothing to look forward to. . . .poor man.
I doubt anyone really knows what/where "heaven" might be. . I believe it is a reality far beyond my imaginings because I have an insatiable desire to go on living, going beyond the here and now. . .I call heaven a "state of being". full perfection of our humanity.. .How and when is beyond me. . ;-)
I'll ket it happen. . . .hehe
I, think that if the Steven ruled
this earth, that none of us would
have any Faith or Hope or Love. We
have so much to look Forward to in
our Next Life!!! The saying of "Oh
yea of little Faith", is so true. I think our Suicide rate would be overwhelming to carry on the next generation.
What He made is Awesome, and hard
to explain. With the Scales over
our Eyes, we cannot see what is in
Store for all of us. Stevens may
be a very Bright man, it may have
caused his Dementia!!!
It takes courage to disbelieve in an afterlife, but that is the only logical conclusion we have to embrace. You don't remember anything that happened before your birth, so why should you believe in a conscious existence when you revert to that state?
Looks can be deceiving. The guy probably doesn't have the facial muscles to communicate his true inner feelings.
In any case, JustinO, some months go when I questioned the existence of an afterlife, you said "all dressed up and nowhere to go". I've never forgotten that.
But you know something? I thought it applied to you more than it applied to me. I'm not the one who's all dressed up.
OK, what about the years of study and findings of Dr Elizabeth Kubler Ross on 'the near death experience'. . . . ?
for one example.
Maybe, Gary. . .. maybe. . .. ;-)
This being a subject for which no person has any positive answer, for which there is no proof, either way, does not interest me.
I don't like unresolvable problems, I don't like to waste my time giving and listening to what can only be rehashed opinions on the subject.
Either you believe, have the faith, or you don't, just like me. And being a man of science, that is about as black and white I can make it...ha!
I think I've covered this before.... so I'll leave this one before I upset anyone. I'll treat it with agnosticism ...or should that be with atheism?...if there is such a word....or my spelling is correct, but you get hte picture.... (chuckle)
The brilliant thoughts of Stephen Hawking should not be easily dismissed but put into a perspective with the 'whole' picture in mind.....not one.
I felt as Mr.Hawking does for years until I began to study and learn from others. May I suggest a book by Bishop John Shelby Spong : Eternal Life: A New Vision. It certainly opened me eyes a little......and that is saying something when it comes to this 'topic'. There is more than one way to approach this universal question of 'heaven'.
Just keeping it real guys!
Aye, aye, aye. . . .nothing is black and white. roflmsao !
Sounds very sane to me. . . can't prove any of it either way. ;-)
But. . . . Naaaww, i won't go there.
Lousy weather all over the USA, for the most part. Financially Spring is a diasaster. . .people are getting frantic, it seems. The general malaise in the States is palpable!
One great news: GoldyLocks was never serious about running for Republican prexy. Hallelujah! What a frump that Trump be. . .
Science can explain a lot of things and probably is right for the most part. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a guiding hand in the great chemistry lab in the sky.
To look at my mother right now, she is a scared little girl who is affraid to let go of what she knows. Shannon posted yesterday that we should replace a fear of the unknown with a curiosity for it.
Whatever it is, it's her turn to find out. And I'm ok with that.
Thanks for the reality, JIM. Yes Shelby-Spong has some good approaches to a lot of things.
Is it possible that the examples used to convey religious truths to children -- that is, what we have learned. . .have not grown as we have grown? A belief system cannot remain static. . .if we try to live . . let's say Christianity with the intellectual equipment of a 1st or 2nd grade kid it will not work. Never.
Paul in one of his letters in the Bible: "When I was a child I thought as a child, acted like a child. Now that I have become a man I've put away the things of a child. . . "
Has our "rendering to God our rational service" remained childish?
Insufficient for an intelligent, complicated adult? If our spiritual knowledge has not grown with the rest of us. . .then of course we chuck it. . .we're trying to do an adult job with kiddie tools. As we mature we put away the things of a child. . . .except in religious beliefs? That won't work.
One of the five or six greatest minds that ever existed. I'll put my money on him and not old men in dresses and books written beautifully but full of fantasy.Read "The Grand Design" and you will see why he says this. Losing your favorite fantasy is hard but we are better for it.
That's nice. i do too. There is "no big deal". I posted an article I found interesting and I feel free enough to state, in my own back yard, that i disagree with him. . . even though he may perhaps be "one of the 5 or 6 greatest minds in the entire universe". . . .he does not have the corner on the thought market, does he?
I am not in competition. . .LOL. . I too have some thoughts about a lot of things. . . like you do. ;-) Maybe that is why I agreed to do a blog. . . ;) Who knows?
I agree with GIA about this being a subject with no positive answer.
Kerry Packer, an Aussie billionaire who suffered a heart attack on the polo field, was eventually saved by a defibrillator. He was so impressed, he bought a bunch of the machines and donated them to hospitals.
However, before being 'brought back to life' he had been dead for 8 minutes. When interviewed about it, and asked what's on the 'other side', he said, "Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is there's no hell. The bad news is there's no heaven." And then he smiled and added, "There's nothing."
Kerry Packer was there. He was dead for 8 minutes. If there was anything on the 'other side' he would have witnessed it. Or so you would think.
However, his experience hasn't convinced believers to change their minds. According to them, Packer must have been mistaken... or there was some other explanation as to why he didn't see what he should have seen.
So if Kerry Packer's 'eye witness' account is not enough to convince the believers, nothing will. People will continue to believe what they choose to believe.
And were I to narrate a death-resusitation narrative, many would not believe me either. . . that's OK. .As you tell us, Gary, we believe what we choose to believe. The choice is sometimes based on what we have been taught and other times based on what/Who we have experienced.
C'est la vie: that's the way it is. Franz Werner, filmologist, wrote about a film-story he was working on. . "For those who believe no explanation is necessary. For those who do not no explanation is possible.".
Lol Justin, a nice job of replying/commenting on my post...made me chuckle, I could almost see your eyes rolling as you changed the subject to teh weather...a safe move.....and then to politics, not often a safe move...but then it was about Trump....but in thjis case you are safe, I doubt any right-thinking person would be offended by what you said.
What a buffoon he is.
It's interesting to me that of the smartest minds that have had opportunity to walk the face of the planet, see all the wonders, and scientifically understand far better than me - somehow have a greater 'faith' than I, that we all just 'banged' into existence and go into 'nothing' when this physical body dies! Wow. The road is wide for so many...a great responsibility that the one who knew me before the foundation of all, and has commanded to go forth and share, that all it takes is the faith of a mustard seed, in that which is unseen to know God exists now and forever! ... and with that faith in Him, the promise of preparing a place for me (when this human body dies) my soul, His consciousness with in me - will live together in a place called 'Heaven'.
JCinmeforever
Mah sweet lord. . ..my day is full; my joy is complete. . .WoWzzer. . I cm provoke you into thinking about all sorts of things. . .LOL
CoopstaBabes, yeah I'll keep on "provoking" you! ronflmsao. . .hoots and gales of laughter . ..this struck me so funny. . .just what I need to get out of my funk. . of my own creating. . . .
And besides. . .my world is awash with brilliant sunshine and gorgeous shades of green and dazzling yellow dandelions. . .the flowers of my childhood. . .you need to go a long way to beat the sparkling yellows of the lowly dandelion. . .which some folk think is a weed! and work like crazies to destroy them from their sterile lawns. . .but the dandelions are brilliant. . .they adapt their growth to the level of the mover blades. . .and outwit the Sunday morning lawn mowers. . .
Have you noticed how the High Rituals of Lawn Mowing have replaced Sunday morning worship in a church?
Parson O'Shea of the Church of What's Happening Now. . . .hehee
ho ho ho
Chuckling in my morning coffee..... I LOVE this blog!
+Great to 'hear' you chuckling chuckling. . .over your coffee. . .nice image, Greg.
When you wrote that it was a tad past 10pm last evening. . AND I had been in bed one hour already!
Can you beleive this? LOL School is out, it is Friday Night Live party-time extraordinaire on a May night. . . .and Justin O'Shea, once-upon-a-time-the-Tink, is in bed, sound asleep!
Now it is 2;45 a.m. and I am quasi-awake, looking to see who is alive and able to take nourishment. LOL So I decided to check n see who might be roaming The Dunes. . .
I have - since I was born - lived on someone else's schedule so I really delight when I 'pipe my own tune and dance m'own jig'. . . .
Often enough I find these words in my mind and sometimes on my lips: "Where is it written that I have to do such-n-such?" Because I live with and for and because of "all the others" in my life I find a LOT of "Here". . ."There" thus it is written. . . ". . .the proper order of style for LOVING and BEING LOVED. . .Life, my life, is not all about me, it is about, for and because of others, The Other. . . . and so it is an awesome adventure. . this gift called LIFE. . and I am trying to be open to all that it brings. ;-). . .Never boring, sometimes challenging, my life. . even on the ho-hum days of my life. . is always exciting and filled with great opportunity. . . .just as NOW. .. I realize is Friday morning and I haven't missed a post-term Friday-Night home at The Cape. Huuuuuwaaaaahhhhh ! I remember why I went to bed soearly last night!!!. . .I am going HOME to THE DUNES today for the SUMMER !
WoWzzer-Dowzzer. . .where PETER waits for me!
Huuuuwaaaaaaahhhhh!!!
What on earth was that all about?
Lol!!!!!!!!!!
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