Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
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Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
1–10 of 94 posts
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#2I've often wondered if his sense of purpose, and ability to continue working are what have contributed to his longevity. Certainly inspiring to see what he has accomplished in his lifetime so far.
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#3It raises the age old question again. I sometimes think how people achieve so much.
May be being immobile saves his energy from distraction and helps leaves time to think about black holes.
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#4I've often wondered if his sense of purpose, and ability to continue working are what have contributed to his longevity. Certainly inspiring to see what he has accomplished in his lifetime so far.
Conversely, I wonder if his extraordinary luck of being the only known long-term survivor of ALS has pushed him to accomplish more.
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#5Hate to raise a cynical tone, but in all likelihood his his longevity is mostly due to him having money. I expect, that in most cases patients with similar motor neurone diseases, their money simply runs out--unable to afford ongoing medications, care and new treatments, they die from the disease they simply can't afford to treat.
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#6I've often wondered if his sense of purpose, and ability to continue working are what have contributed to his longevity. Certainly inspiring to see what he has accomplished in his lifetime so far.
His mind is travelling at relativistic speeds, so he's actually only forty years old.
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#7Hate to raise a cynical tone, but in all likelihood his his longevity is mostly due to him having money. I expect, that in most cases patients with similar motor neurone diseases, their money simply runs out--unable to afford ongoing medications, care and new treatments, they die from the disease they simply can't afford to treat.
His longevity might also stem from psychological factors, after all he still has the (afforded) means of remaining a productive person, whereas a patient that can't talk or move, much less do productive work, might fall into an increasing depressive mood and that has biological repercussions.
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#8If you haven't seen it yet, his most recent show on the Discovery channel is incredible. It includes a lot from his previous writings but some new stuff too and it's all set to pretty stunning effects and a great soundtrack reminiscent of scifi movies from the 70s and 80s. You can check it out here:
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/
and the whole series is on netflix. It's truly amazing. Don't miss it.
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#9It raises the age old question again. I sometimes think how people achieve so much. May be being immobile saves his energy from distraction and helps leaves time to think about black holes.
> May be being immobile saves his energy from distraction and helps leaves time to think about black holes.
So that's what the couch guy in college was doing with his time.
Re: Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease
#10Hate to raise a cynical tone, but in all likelihood his his longevity is mostly due to him having money. I expect, that in most cases patients with similar motor neurone diseases, their money simply runs out--unable to afford ongoing medications, care and new treatments, they die from the disease they simply can't afford to treat.
If you hate to do it than whats the point? The dude may have the care and the luck to keep him alive but he's also continued to produce jaw dropping work without being able to move much more than his eye balls. He can't eat or defecate or walk or wave or even make facial expressions but has contributed relentlessly to cosmology, theoretical physics, and the education thereof.
Regardless of the reasons why he is surviving, he deserves to survive like everyone else. And in the face of the most possible adversity has made the universe a different place to humans and turned countless individuals into skyward dreamers.