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Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

theguardian.com

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Re: Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

#11

Post by elgabogringo »

He really lost me with the first two paragraphs... Oh, and the title. The Brexit? Really? He's using the Brexit to launch into a soliloquy on the meaning of life?

It's not clear to me that the Brexit had to do with wealth as much as it had to do with sovereignty. It's also not clear that the Brexit will have a negative long run impact on Britain's wealth.

I know this sounds crazy to all the super smart international people out there, but A) the EU's growth sucks and B) it's likely to get worse before it gets better - oh, and C) when it gets worse the Euro could very well go away, making the Brexit crowd look like geniuses.

Look, if you look for fulfillment in money or possessions you are going to be disappointed. This has been a tenet of Western philosophy for millennia. Using this philosophy as a platform to trash the Brexit is disingenuous and beneath somebody as uber super smart as Hawking.

Re: Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

#12

Post by teslaberry »

it's rare for a scientist to have any interesting opinions outside his field of expertise.

it's not rare for scientists who have had success , just like anyone who has had success, to let it get to their head and then confidently pronounce their half assed opinions about matters of which they really have nothing interesting to say.

neil degrasse tyson and michio kaku fit in nicely with hawking.

einstein was perhaps the rare scientist with a subtle appreciation of politics and history and an acceptance of his lack of funcioning ability in fields outside his expertise ( he rejected an offer to become the first president of israel citing his political inexperience) .

hawking has opined about alien life and sounded totally ridiculous, like what you'd expect from a tabloid.

Re: Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

#14

Post by sevenless »

hackaflocka wrote: post #7

I don't understand the reaction to Brexit. It was democracy in action! These things happen, and it's alright when they do! There are so many countries that are not in the EU. Are they all doomed?

Democracy is not a whitewash that makes actions good, sensible or moral.

Re: Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

#15

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

fit2rule wrote: post #6

As an aside, in order to distract myself from my own local decadence, particularly at night when its time to sleep, I have been entertaining myself with an investigation of literature and cultural artifacts pertaining to the lives and living of the 18th Century, or at least: any particular culture beyond the fringe of the last 100 years. Its only a trivial pursuit, nothing in particularly serious, academic, or even p…

Can't imagine why you were downvoted for this. You're spot on to read very old books; my godfather - a historian - insisted on reading books only written by dead people. He may have been a salty old man for the time that I knew him, but he was never unhappy.

I have recently begun listening to a LOT of classical music. Every time I casually new-tab over to YouTube and load up a Tchaikovsky playlist, I think to myself: "Not even the richest kings of Renaissance Europe could instantly summon a complete orchestra and hear a composer's entire repertoire played perfectly every time - yet that can be my reality whenever I wish."

Really reminds me I have so much to be grateful for.

Re: Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

#16

Post by Jtsummers »

hackaflocka wrote: post #7

I don't understand the reaction to Brexit. It was democracy in action! These things happen, and it's alright when they do! There are so many countries that are not in the EU. Are they all doomed?

[NB: Not an opinion on Brexit]

To say that Brexit is democracy in action, you're suggesting that that alone makes it a good thing. Democracy in action has gotten us many terrible things as well. Democracy, in this form, is mob rule. If the mob is well-informed, it can go well. When the mob is not, it can go very badly.

Re: Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

#17

Post by sevenless »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #15
fit2rule wrote: post #6

As an aside, in order to distract myself from my own local decadence, particularly at night when its time to sleep, I have been entertaining myself with an investigation of literature and cultural artifacts pertaining to the lives and living of the 18th Century, or at least: any particular culture beyond the fringe of the last 100 years. Its only a trivial pursuit, nothing in particularly serious, academic, or even p…

Can't imagine why you were downvoted for this. You're spot on to read very old books; my godfather - a historian - insisted on reading books only written by dead people. He may have been a salty old man for the time that I knew him, but he was never unhappy. I have recently begun listening to a LOT of classical music. Every time I casually new-tab over to YouTube and load up a Tchaikovsky playlist, I think to myself:…

Probably because it came across as pretentious.

Recommendations on good history books?

Re: Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

#18

Post by hx87 »

elgabogringo wrote: post #11

He really lost me with the first two paragraphs... Oh, and the title. The Brexit? Really? He's using the Brexit to launch into a soliloquy on the meaning of life? It's not clear to me that the Brexit had to do with wealth as much as it had to do with sovereignty. It's also not clear that the Brexit will have a negative long run impact on Britain's wealth. I know this sounds crazy to all the super smart international…

You seem to be confusing the Eurozone with the EU. The latter has its problems but is a basically sound institution, whereas the former was and remains a terrible idea without a fiscal union.

Re: Hawking: We need to rethink our attitude towards wealth

#19

Post by vkou »

xyzzy4 wrote: post #13

The problem with the EU is it has more regulations than there are atoms in the Milky Way.

And running a business that serves N countries that don't have a common regulatory framework is dealing with N times as many regulations.

Observe the nightmare that are state-regulated industries in the US. (I'm looking at you, health insurance, finance, etc.)

Now, imagine if each state had its own FDA...

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