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Stephen Hawking has died

bbc.com

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Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#191

Post by telesilla »

n17r4m wrote: post #73

Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing? Is the unified theory so…

A reminder he stated he was an atheist, so I take his words on god with a grain of salt.

“We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” (Hawking)

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#192

Post by fhayde »

jsolson wrote: post #162
TaylorAlexander wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think a good way to say it might be: I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid of not existing.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#193

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

NamTaf wrote: post #164
tintor wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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. :(

>"ACAT includes a word prediction algorithm provided by SwiftKey, trained on my books and lectures"

Wow, I wonder whether they provided it before (or) after MS acquisition.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#194

Post by gkya »

prawn wrote: post #180
Aloha wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arguably he's probably there with Newton, Sagan, Darwin and Einstein

In before or instead of Sagan possibly? I was not particularly aware of Sagan before the internet, whereas I imagine Hawking has been a household name in much of the world for decades?

Shouldn't downvote this. Carl Sagan is nowhere as famous as the other three, probably except the US.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#196

Post by o2l »

troymc wrote: post #190

Growing up in the middle of nowhere, Canada in the 1980s, the library didn't have many good science books. When Hawking's book got published, it was the only thing available like that anywhere around. Remember, this is before you could get any book in existence within one month via Amazon. There was no Amazon. I got A Brief History of Time and read it, and it's almost cliche to say so, but it changed the course of my…

Can you share the names of other physics books that you think are good & readable ?

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#197

Post by nabla9 »

Dangeranger wrote: post #38

“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.” -- Stephen Hawking

He died in π-day that also happens to be Albert Einstein's birthday.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#198

Post by joegreen »

paulmd wrote: post #103
Dangeranger wrote: post #46

“What do Sheldon Cooper and a black hole have in common?” Hawking asked the fictional Caltech physicist whose IQ comfortably outstrips his social skills. After a pause, the answer came: “They both suck.” Stephen's sense of humor has always cracked me up.

I, for one, will always remember him for his feature on the hit single "Satisfaction". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wmzxxN0m3k

I could not find any source telling he had anything in common with this song.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#200

Post by vincentv »

nabla9 wrote: post #197
Dangeranger wrote: post #38

“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.” -- Stephen Hawking

He died in π-day that also happens to be Albert Einstein's birthday.

And Albert Einstein died at the age of 76 as well. What a coincidence.
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