11 August 2010
Stephen Hawking Comments on Life on Earth
The famous physicist Stephen Hawking made some chilling comments about the future of human beings right here on planet Earth, from Space.com:If humanity is to survive long-term, it must find a way to get off planet Earth — and fast, according to famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.In fact, human beings may have less than 200 years to figure out how to, Hawking said in a recent interview with video site Big Think. Otherwise our species could be at risk for extinction, he said."It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million," Hawking said. "Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space."Humans stuck on Earth are at risk from two kinds of catastrophes, Hawking said. First, the kind we bring on ourselves, such as possible devastating impacts from climate change, or nuclear or biological warfare.A number of cosmic phenomena could spell our demise, too. An asteroid could slam into Earth, killing large swaths of the population and rendering the planet uninhabitable. Or a supernova or gamma-ray burst near our spot in the Milky Way could prove ruinous for life on Earth.Life on Earth could even be threatened by an extraterrestrial civilization, Hawking has pointed out on his Discovery Channel television series, "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking."Dangerous aliens may want to take over the planet to use its resources for themselves, he said in the series. It would be safer for the survival of our species if we had people living on other worlds as a backup plan, Hawking proposed."The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet," he told Big Think. "Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load."Maybe I should watch, Stargate in case Ra or any other Goa'uld decides to come and kill us off or enslave us all! Then I need to watch Deep Impact, and the Day After Tomorrow to prepare for any swift climate change that may hit us.
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5 comments:
What's wrong with Stephen Hawking? Is he OK? Was he serious?!!!
Wasn't that a bit odd!? I know the population of Earth is too much to handle but hostile aliens? I hope that doesn't come true :)
Sometime in the 90's, my favorite SF author at the time (Stephen Baxter) wrote a book about a guy who was convinced humanity was doomed because of some mathematical quirk he'd discovered. At the end of his book he mentioned that the concept was based on a real belief a few folks have regarding the fate of our species.
Then, a few years ago I read an article in a pop-science magazine about this mathematician who, after visiting the Berlin Wall in the 60's, predicted its demise based solely on a mathematical model. If I recall correctly his prediction was accurate to within a couple of years to the actual demolition of the wall.
He wasn't basing his model on the workmanship used in constructing the wall, the quality of the materials, or even the political circumstances of the time. He was just trying to determine the odds that he was witnessing something that would have a long future ahead so soon after it was built.
.... Instead of using my memory here I decided to use my friend the internet - few minutes of Google pointed me to more info on the topic than I ever wanted. But searching for "Carter Catastrophe" and "Richard Gott" brought me many interesting results
The formal argument is purely mathematical and has to due with the likelihood (that is, the odds) that we are living in a privileged time in the history of humanity. Long story short. Humanity will no longer exist within 200 years.
As stupid as it sounds, there are a few scientific types, and philosophers, who have latched onto the idea and even though they can't provide us with a real good reason why humanity will perish, the math is convincing enough for them to persuade them we're doomed anyway.
The 200 years Hawking mentions makes me think he is familiar with the concept himself - that seems to be the magical number that gets more or less agreed upon as our doomsdate. If so, I'm not surprised that he comes off sounding a bit crazy. How do you express this concept to the masses and it sound coherent?
Funny stuff.
Thank you, Rusty Webb for taking the time to write seriously interesting information on this topic! I imagine a mathematical explanation for his statement would be too complex for everday folk to comprehend, but regardless, the population issue is approaching critical mass.
I believe humans as a kind are indestructible. The current generation may die, or all humans may be killed as Stephen is suggesting. However, there was an original universe existed with perfect balance condition. In this balance condition, humans also existed. If a meteor hits Earth and everyone dies, there will still be the tiny molecules and parts of human that will carry the information about our gene's code. The information about the gene and chromozomes can never be destroyed. Therefore, tiny micropes will have to reform again and evolve to humans. The reason of this cyclic life for humans and planet is for the universe to sustain its own existence. You can see my theory at www.fruityscience.com and read more in my blog at http://salihramazan.blogspot.com
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