RIP Stephen Hawking. Thanks for fighting on for so long, even after reaching a stage when most would expect one to give up.
Stephen Hawking has died
161–170 of 468 posts
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#162That man was my hero. If I achieve a fraction of what he accomplished in his life, I will be incredibly proud. Against all odds, he lived a full and amazing life. It somehow feels even more painful to lose a man who cheated death. It just gives you that feeling that they can somehow live forever, until the moment when the illusion is shattered. And underneath it all is that unshakable feeling. Memento mori. Slowly my…
It was both Professor Hawking and Carl Sagan that tought me how brief and unlikely our lives truly are. It was their cosmic perspective that helped me end my fear of death. While we want more time and see the death of others as tragic, I do feel less afraid of that time coming knowing how fortunate I have been to live.
Interesting.
I would like to attribute my desire to live "forever", at least to some extent, to cosmic perspective.
One day the universe might make me bored, but today is not that day, and I suspect tomorrow isn't either.
I don't ever expect that day to come, but if I thought it was near I'd be very afraid indeed.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
Indeed. Black bar, please. He was a living symbol of the promise of science.
How about no bs black bar for anyone, even for a Genius like Hawking? Who decides who's worth it? We've been over this already.
Um, the moderators decide. Cause that's their job.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had the honor of attending one of his lectures at CWRU in undergrad. Two things forever stick out in my memory. #1 - That he told jokes during his lecture. To be wheelchair bound, facing a degenerative condition... and still have humor. Inspiring. #2 - The respectful silence. At least at the lecture I attended, he live keyed his entire speech. This meant the synthesizer would speak, followed by 20 or 30 seconds of…
"At least at the lecture I attended, he live keyed his entire speech. This meant the synthesizer would speak, followed by 20 or 30 seconds of absolute silence as he buffered the next few sentences." He was "typing" one bit at a time? How can he type the entire sentence so quickly?
Yes. Here's some info on his setup. It tracked the motion of his cheek, which he could still control, to stop on a letter. It scanned through the alphabet and he had to pull it up at the right time.
http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-computer.html
I also just started typing that in present tense ('tracks'...) and had to pull myself up. :(
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#165OMG! Neil disGrace Tyson's tweet. What a pompous fucking ass-shat. It should have been him.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#166... on the day of PI, r.i.p S.H.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#167ouch... right in the feels.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#168RIP, he did a lot to popularize science.
Let's look at a different angle: He lived to 76 years old, a man with a disease that once gave you a few years at most. 76 is more or less a full life today. With all the challenges and stresses, we (or a lot of us) do live in great times. Even the greatest King could have died from a cut on his finger a few centuries ago...now penicillin is given for free even in USA.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#169RIP, he did a lot to popularize science. Let's look at a different angle: He lived to 76 years old, a man with a disease that once gave you a few years at most. 76 is more or less a full life today. With all the challenges and stresses, we (or a lot of us) do live in great times. Even the greatest King could have died from a cut on his finger a few centuries ago...now penicillin is given for free even in USA.
I believe his longevity was little to do with any special treatment and more to do with the strain/variety of the disease.
My brother in law contracted Motor Neuron, was given 2 years to live, and died after 2.5 years, the last year of which was not really living.
Up until then I had never understood that Stephen Hawking was actually in one sense amazingly lucky.
RIP, an amazing fellow.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
How about no bs black bar for anyone, even for a Genius like Hawking? Who decides who's worth it? We've been over this already.
Um, the moderators decide. Cause that's their job.
They are not in any position to judge that.
Thankfully, the black bar is not there, perhaps previous discussions made them reconsider.