God did not create the universe, says Hawking...
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By Michael Holden Michael Holden – Thu Sep 2, 9:08 am ET
LONDON (Reuters) – God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book.
In "The Grand Design," co-authored with U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking says a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant, according to the Times newspaper which published extracts on Thursday.
"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking writes.
"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."
Hawking, 68, who won global recognition with his 1988 book "A Brief History of Time," an account of the origins of the universe, is renowned for his work on black holes, cosmology and quantum gravity.
Since 1974, the scientist has worked on marrying the two cornerstones of modern physics -- Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, which concerns gravity and large-scale phenomena, and quantum theory, which covers subatomic particles.
His latest comments suggest he has broken away from previous views he has expressed on religion. Previously, he wrote that the laws of physics meant it was simply not necessary to believe that God had intervened in the Big Bang.
He wrote in A Brief History ... "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God."
In his latest book, he said the 1992 discovery of a planet orbiting another star other than the Sun helped deconstruct the view of the father of physics Isaac Newton that the universe could not have arisen out of chaos but was created by God.
"That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions -- the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass, far less remarkable, and far less compelling evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings," he writes.
Hawking, who is only able to speak through a computer-generated voice synthesizer, has a neuro muscular dystrophy that has progressed over the years and left him almost completely paralyzed.
He began suffering the disease in his early 20s but went on to establish himself as one of the world's leading scientific authorities, and has also made guest appearances in "Star Trek" and the cartoons "Futurama" and "The Simpsons."
Last year he announced he was stepping down as Cambridge University's Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a position once held by Newton and one he had held since 1979.
"The Grand Design" is due to go on sale next week.
(Editing by Steve Addison)
LONDON (Reuters) – God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book.
In "The Grand Design," co-authored with U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking says a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant, according to the Times newspaper which published extracts on Thursday.
"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking writes.
"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."
Hawking, 68, who won global recognition with his 1988 book "A Brief History of Time," an account of the origins of the universe, is renowned for his work on black holes, cosmology and quantum gravity.
Since 1974, the scientist has worked on marrying the two cornerstones of modern physics -- Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, which concerns gravity and large-scale phenomena, and quantum theory, which covers subatomic particles.
His latest comments suggest he has broken away from previous views he has expressed on religion. Previously, he wrote that the laws of physics meant it was simply not necessary to believe that God had intervened in the Big Bang.
He wrote in A Brief History ... "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God."
In his latest book, he said the 1992 discovery of a planet orbiting another star other than the Sun helped deconstruct the view of the father of physics Isaac Newton that the universe could not have arisen out of chaos but was created by God.
"That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions -- the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass, far less remarkable, and far less compelling evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings," he writes.
Hawking, who is only able to speak through a computer-generated voice synthesizer, has a neuro muscular dystrophy that has progressed over the years and left him almost completely paralyzed.
He began suffering the disease in his early 20s but went on to establish himself as one of the world's leading scientific authorities, and has also made guest appearances in "Star Trek" and the cartoons "Futurama" and "The Simpsons."
Last year he announced he was stepping down as Cambridge University's Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a position once held by Newton and one he had held since 1979.
"The Grand Design" is due to go on sale next week.
(Editing by Steve Addison)
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- Christopher McCandless
- Christopher McCandless
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Comments
damm Spinoza was right.
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I don't think Hawking and those comment-ers could have an 'intelligent' conversation.
- Christopher McCandless
Science is NOT faith... Faith is NOT science
...
You can have both in your life... they are not mutually exclusive.
God and Hawking can exist simultaneously.
...
Not that big a deal... unless you make it a big deal.
Hail, Hail!!!
Then they really get pissy
not in my world.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
I guess the 'faith' part I'm talking about is the belief that there is something out there that is greater than ourselves. And faith in... whatever... can comfort us in times of needs... and to help us comfort other in their time of need.
I'm not saying one or the other and a I admit, i have not taken that leap of faith that tell me religion is truth... and i know it will pretty much take a miricle for me to do so.
So, I'll leave it as simply faith... and the knowledge that I don't know... and will never know... while on this side of my death's door.
Hail, Hail!!!
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis
well of course theres something greater than ourselves out there.... its called the universe. and every little thing in it plays its part.. even us humans. but i dont believe that theres some supernatural force that created it all.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
But, I don't see it that way. I can seperate God from the ancient texts that describe Him... well, as a 'He'. God is more of an 'It', than the created by Man , in Man's image of the Bible. I don't trust the Bible because i don't trust the Church because I don't trust the MEN who run the Church that wrote the Bible.
So, with that... I see Creationism as pretty much a fairey tale as told by men from 5 or 6 thousand years ago the didn't know what stars were made of. It was their explanation of Nature.
I guess I need to quantify my belief that you can have Faith... without having the constraints of religion.
...
And to my friend, Cate... maybe God and the Universe are the same. It's just that religion has staked their claim on God to make Him (It) one of them, instead of them being a part of Him (It).
I don't know... which is pretty much all I know. But, I do know... that no one else knows, either.
Hail, Hail!!!
well... i think about that. sorta. not that theyre the same thing but that there was a need long ago to name where we came from. to explain it all. and so god was created. mankind needs order. i think we crave it. i think its implausible to a whole lot of people that all this happened through through happenstance. and i think thats what the problem is... that the birth of the universe thing was some random event. when in fact the natural world is all order. the intelligence is nature. but i do totally understand the need to anthropomorphise it.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis
Yeah... but, I also think that maybe it's a simple as God is life... all life, not just Man. Maybe that is the 'image' we share, life. God (for the lack of a better name... maybe The Universe... maybe Nature) creates life... life evolves. The smallest living creatures (bacteria) helped to create the environment that can sustain life. Where did the bacteria come from? Probably from the rocks, dust and comets that formed the planet. Where did the rocks, dust and comets come from? The Big Bang. I have no idea.
Maybe the answer is as simple as the bacteria (life) has always been there. The Big Bang released everything and the random interactions influenced by physics and chemistry formed the planet Earth... which happens to be in the right spot... in this time (where time includes the earliest formation of the planet til now)... to sustain life.
It isn't some 'Grand Design' by some great designer... all of this is going to die... including the Earth and the Sun and the Milky Way Galaxy. We just happen to exist at the right time in Earth's lifecycle. It is random.
After we are gone... maybe, life lies dormant until the next Big Bang because we don't know if the Big Bang was just the beginning of a renewed cycle of contraction, pressure, heat, explosion, expansion, contraction...
Maybe, God gives us life... and just wants us to live.
...
Again, I don't know. All of this is just a big maybe.
Hail, Hail!!!
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis
And until this day i haven't seem any proof of god, and I'm not talking about "the miracle" of birth, the sunsets, or any other bogus "miracle"
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?
after we are gone.. maybe life lies dormant...???
by we you mean???
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
Pretty much the all inclusive we of the lifeforms on planet Earth... all of the Humans, dogs, cats, hamsters, ants, bees, fishes, paramecium, amoebas... when the planet's core cools and the atmosphere goes away... when the Sun cools and swells, consuming her terrestrial planets. Granted, it's going to be a while and we (Humans) may fall victim to Earth's next mass extinction (or the one after that) and join the dinosaurs as just another chapter in Earth's history before any of these death blow scenarios take place... but, eventually, everything will be gone.
The ingredients that created the environment may still be in the Universe... waiting for the next cycle.
Hail, Hail!!!
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?
Maybe Hawking is God himself...
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
That could explain a couple of things :think:
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?
Sweep the Leg Johnny.
Sweep the Leg Johnny.
WOW :wtf: Well my friend religion is always looking for that kind of response... church is waiting for you
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?
Well said...and you definitely have some good points about however I don't think Hawking was attempting to "disprove" anything as much as saying that God wasn't necessary based on what he and other physicists currently hypothesize. I read the article and the title was a bit sensationalistic, if you ask me.
"With our thoughts we make the world"
In no way is this concrete, but its still a step ahead of unbacked faith that someone made the universe in 6 days - and any other belief the church claims that has clearly been disproven as time goes on.
Like I said, it surely isn't absolute (at least I don't believe so) but the beauty of science is that it's not too proud to be disproven.
True... in a sense...
But, isn't religion simply theories based upon the knowledge of human (men) from the late Neo-lithic Age? Explanations of Sun and Season... crop yield and crop failure... birth and death... it was all attributed to the gods.
Mankind created gods as the explanation of nature. You cannot prove or disprove that Thor controls the weather.
The God found in religion is a creation of Man.
Hail, Hail!!!
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?