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Stephen Hawking has died

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Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#361

Post by amyjess »

I'm going to provide a slightly different perspective from what I've seen, not just here but in other communities as well.

I've seen a lot of people talking about how his death was such a horrible thing, how it saddens them. I don't see it that way. Sure, the world was a better place with his expertise, but the man had been suffering for decades with one of the most horrifying diseases in the world, and in the end I'm just glad that he's not suffering anymore. I hope that, wherever he is, he's finally free.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#362

Post by kristofferR »

dbingham wrote: post #360
nylonstrung wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neil Degrasse Tyson is clearly vying for the slot but seems to make science seem more elitist, more pedantic (read literally any of his tweets) and thus appears to miss the point entirely

I feel like this might have more to do with modern social media and celebrity culture, especially Twitter culture, than with Tyson himself. It's toxic. It's really hard to move in that realm with out adopting some of its sensibilities and tone. In Tyson's defense, the new Cosmos was damn near perfect and had none of the elitism that I detected. Just a love of knowledge and history.

A season 2 of the Cosmos reboot is under development BTW. :)

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#363

Post by exergy »

mgolawala wrote: post #331
joshumax wrote: post #45

For a second I just couldn't believe this was real. Stephen Hawking was one of those people that inspired me towards a career in science, as well as a pursuit of discovering what mysteries of the universe I could uncover within my (cosmically short) lifetime. He did this not through some major life-altering speech I heard from him (although his talks and lectures were quite interesting), or through some grand quote t…

I agree completely. Who will take his place? Who will be the Stephen Hawking of my children's generation? As a society we should work hard to find, celebrate and give a platform to the Stephen Hawking-s and the Carl Sagan-s of tomorrow. The impact of such "celebrity scientists" (I do not use that term pejoratively) is far greater than the measure of the work they have done. It is how they inspire an entire generation…

I work at CERN, so Brian Cox is an obvious choice as far as I'm concerned. Tangentially, Adam Steltzner (the engineer who lead the Entry Descent and Landing of Curiosity) is another one of those "used to be a rockstar" types.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#364

Post by spike021 »

sushisource wrote: post #356
nylonstrung wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neil Degrasse Tyson is clearly vying for the slot but seems to make science seem more elitist, more pedantic (read literally any of his tweets) and thus appears to miss the point entirely

Agreed. I feel like he started off great but as he grew more famous has made it very much all about himself.

Similar issue with Bill Nye, I think, though he's definitely not on the same level.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#365

Post by jpgvm »

intenseSpec wrote: post #295
drawkbox wrote: post #268

Sometimes the RNG of the Universe creates people with intelligence, innovation and insight that are one in a billion that make the world better than it was before in immense ways, Stephen Hawking is one of those mountain movers. People like Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Nikola Tesla and even Elon Musk today, that make us look up, innovate and think way out there, bring us together and remind us we are all on this plan…

Serious question, why is Elon Musk lumped in with Tesla, Hawking, and Sagan? Musk's achievements are assisted by the fact that he has tens of thousands of engineers at his companies and he gets credit for every one of their ideas, all their work, and all the life they give up for his dreams. He didn't found Paypal (his company merged with it), he didn't found Tesla (kicked out one of the original founders), and he di…

For what it's worth Musk doesn't seem to claim that he knows or does anything. He talks about his companies and what awesome things they will do, large teams of motivated and inspired scientists and engineers that share the dreams he does and for once have the money and mandate to go and make them happen.

He may not be a scientist, engineer or inventor but he inspires and empowers scientists and inventors so that counts for something.

Even if his ego should potentially have cosmic objects orbiting it.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#366

Post by Liron »

RayVR wrote: post #321
intenseSpec wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question, why is Elon Musk lumped in with Tesla, Hawking, and Sagan? Musk's achievements are assisted by the fact that he has tens of thousands of engineers at his companies and he gets credit for every one of their ideas, all their work, and all the life they give up for his dreams. He didn't found Paypal (his company merged with it), he didn't found Tesla (kicked out one of the original founders), and he di…

Musk is an incredible self-promoter. He talks about how he is going to save the world, critics just don’t understand or just want to see him fail, and his words bounce around an ideological echo chamber where the facts of his claims don’t matter. IMO, the google founders have had a far larger impact on the world than Elon, however, they don’t promote themselves endlessly.

Without Elon Musk, do you think humanity would currently be in possession of reusable rocket boosters? (Regardless of Page and Brin's accomplishments.)

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#367

Post by Raidion »

nylonstrung wrote: post #350
mgolawala wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree completely. Who will take his place? Who will be the Stephen Hawking of my children's generation? As a society we should work hard to find, celebrate and give a platform to the Stephen Hawking-s and the Carl Sagan-s of tomorrow. The impact of such "celebrity scientists" (I do not use that term pejoratively) is far greater than the measure of the work they have done. It is how they inspire an entire generation…

Neil Degrasse Tyson is clearly vying for the slot but seems to make science seem more elitist, more pedantic (read literally any of his tweets) and thus appears to miss the point entirely

Tyson doesn't have the academic credentials that Hawking or someone like Richard Feynman does. The power of Hawking and Feynman is that they both were at the top of their fields, but took the time to make the foundations of their science accessible to the common man. Tyson has done great things, but he's not quite there.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#369

Post by komali2 »

slavik81 wrote: post #79

That 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…

I like to entertain the (not-serious) fantasy that people actually did show up to his party, but Hawking didn't tell anyone because sci-fi reasons.

Re: Stephen Hawking has died

#370

Post by spitfire »

spike021 wrote: post #364
sushisource wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I feel like he started off great but as he grew more famous has made it very much all about himself.

Similar issue with Bill Nye, I think, though he's definitely not on the same level.

Mr.Wizard far surpassed Nye, even back in the day. There was never any competition. Nye was always an entertainer first, science teacher second.
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