On Pi Day, no less. RIP.
Much more significantly, it's Einstein's birthday.
Nature couldn't have chosen a better day to honour both.
Stephen Hawking has died
231–240 of 468 posts
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#232That 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…
He fooled Death, staved off it's dance
it beat him yet, Longinus' Lance
now the bet is in our hands
perhaps we'll get another chance:
Wise for ever, still funny now
The party's on the day of Tau
He chose a funny day to die
A perfect day: the day of Pi.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#233Even 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)
To an atheist physicist God probably means the universe or the forces that govern the universe. They share many of the same properties, like being all powerful†, outside of time and space and being creators, not the created.
† within the constraints of some universal logic
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#234Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#235Even 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…
Did anyone start reading this comment expecting the usual downvotes and controversy?
And then realized after a few paragraphs that this is Stephen Hawking writing it? Be honest.
I just think there has been such a transition from books to online comments and forums that everything is picked apart and commented by a far larger group of people than in the past.
The man was a legend. His books were inspiring. Can today's blog posts and tweets be the same going forward? Just some thoughts I had while I read that.
RIP Steven Hawking, inspiration to millions!
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
Shouldn't downvote this. Carl Sagan is nowhere as famous as the other three, probably except the US.
Sagan is a special case. Will be remembered (mainly) as a very good science communicator. Not so many people connect it with a famous and top-class scientist woman. The work of his first wife, Lynn Margulis, changed forever the concept of evolution. If we put Sagan with Darwin we should not forget to add Margulis to this list also.
My rule of thumb is whether or not you get your name attached to some physical phenomena. ie: Newtonian Physics, Hawking Radiation, etc.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#237I accidentally ate Stephen Hawking's lunch once at a conference at Caltech.
Please explain more...
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#238This warrants the black bar. He has changed everything for humanity time and again. We owe him the best future we can possibly make.
Agree. Hawking had a big impact on my general outlook on life.
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#239[deleted]
Re: Stephen Hawking has died
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
>* "If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality."* Which coi…
Piketty also did good job in providing proof that the discourse Marx's capital started is still relevant today: wealth keeps concentrating and that will undermine the whole premise of democracy. “When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, as it did in the nineteenth century and seems quite likely to do again in the twenty-first, capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and…
It's difficult to get people to appreciate Piketty's book when their jobs depend on not appreciating it...