RIP Stephen Hawking

[Syncop8r]

[Nix]

Sorry to see him leave us. Quite a mind.   

[Smashie]

Not much add other than one of the greatest minds we have known

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43396008

[Justin Barylski]

one of mankind's greatest minds

[gerleatherberman]

One of the most truly brilliant humans in history. His incredible insight and foresight will forever be remembered. May those who guide the world look back to his acute  sense of humanity and morality!

[Lynn LeFey]

Against what I would consider to be extreme physical difficulties, he still took what gifts he had, and shared them with the world.

I find it a little funny that I was going to compare his work to the phrase 'Standing on the shoulder of giants'. He lifted humanity's understanding. And while looking up the quote, I found out that he wrote a book by that very title: "On the Shoulder of Giants".

Attributed originally to Bernard of Chartres, and later restated by Isaac Newton, "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants".

There are a few people in our lifetime that can say this, that they contributed something to the body of understanding of humanity that it has lifted us up, so that we now see further than they could.

I don't get emotional about the passing of celebrities, but I am legitimately choked up over this.

He made humanity greater.

Thank you, Mr. Hawking.

[Don Pablo]

 

[MadPlumbarian]

Now that was a mind that would always keep the gears turning! You will be missed!
JR

[dks]

RIP -  Big Bang Theory should make a special on him

[styx]

This is a great loss

[Whoey]

He beat the few years he was given at 22... Contributed quite a bit more than most of us can ever hope to achieve in spite of his condition. RIP

[Chako]

I just found out.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/stephen-hawking-his-laboratory-was-the-universe-1.3842097

[pfrsantos]

RIP -  Big Bang Theory should make a special on him

 


They probably will. He had a great sense of humour, even appeared in some of the episodes.

[ThePeacent]

that's just sad. 
Read almost all his books I could get my hands on as a teen   

now he's one with the Universe, to say the least he got closer to what he's always been fascinated with

[Don Pablo]

Today is also Pi day, 3.14.
Also Einsteins birthday.....

[captain spaulding]

Truly a devistating loss to the science community and mankind as a whole. His great mind will be missed. He has contributed so much and I just hope he has inspired others to follow in his quest for understanding of our universe. RIP Steven.

[shark_za]

I see him more as a marketing power behind science, more so than anything else.
Maybe I'm just too dumb to really understand his field   

[Don Pablo]

I see him more as a marketing power behind science, more so than anything else.
Maybe I'm just too dumb to really understand his field   

If by “marketing power” you mean “someone raising public awareness of science” then yes, that’s true.

It’s also true that he revolutionised our understanding of black holes and contributed to our understanding of the universe.

Here’s something that I found:
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/hMBZo

[pfrsantos]

I see him more as a marketing power behind science, more so than anything else.
Maybe I'm just too dumb to really understand his field   

Don't be upset. We awl are...

 

[Don Pablo]

I see him more as a marketing power behind science, more so than anything else.
Maybe I'm just too dumb to really understand his field   

Don't be upset. We awl are...

 

If someone said “Pabs, I bet ur not as smart as Steven hawking haha” that wouldn’t really be an insult to me. 

[pfrsantos]

[lister]

I see him more as a marketing power behind science, more so than anything else.
Maybe I'm just too dumb to really understand his field   

You are not wrong. He was a hell of a physicist as far as I can tell, but the public perception of him is far out of proportion. But he is not the only one and one could not expect nothing else from a society that is as obsessed with the myths of heroes as ours is. Take any of the well known scientists, sports people, celebrities... and the same is true of them. The truth is no one is really important in the great scheme of things. Any great work could have been done by some else. In fact it often is done by many at the same time. But we really like our heroes... 


Ps: Just look at all the super hero stuff coming out of Hollywood. And they are supposed to be good role models? All you have to do to be great is to be biten by a radioactive cockroach and mutate, be the chosen one, be supernatural... role models indeed. What happened to training hard, learning stuff and the like? 

[SteveC]

 

[Lynn LeFey]

The truth is no one is really important in the great scheme of things. Any great work could have been done by some else.

This is 100% not true.

There are a very small number of individuals with all of the attributes required to make a specific discovery, invention, or piece of art, and NO ONE ELSE ON EARTH would have done it.

Maybe EVENTUALLY someone else would come along, but each of these pieces of creation they make adds another stepping stone to the sum of human understanding, and UNTIL that person discovers or creates, we, humanity, make no forward progress in that area. ONE SPECIFIC HUMAN often changes the course of human history. ONCE discovered, it can be understood by much less capable people, but that initial discovery is hard to the point of impossible, with only a few VERY rare individuals able to make that leap.

A friend of mine happens to be a math professor, whose specialty is the calculation of theoretical models of the boundaries on spacetime. She is extremely smart, obviously. She's a bona fide genius. But she knows that she is nowhere near the caliber of mind of Hawking or Einstein.

It may be true that Hawking got a lot of press, compared to lots of other significant scientists, but it's not because he didn't deserve it. It's that there are so few OTHER deserving scientists that DO get the recognition deserved.

And comparing recognition of real-world work to love of super heroes is frankly idiotic. Go be cynical and nihilistic somewhere else.

[lister]

 

[Don Pablo]

The truth is no one is really important in the great scheme of things. Any great work could have been done by some else.

This is 100% not true.

There are a very small number of individuals with all of the attributes required to make a specific discovery, invention, or piece of art, and NO ONE ELSE ON EARTH would have done it.

Maybe EVENTUALLY someone else would come along, but each of these pieces of creation they make adds another stepping stone to the sum of human understanding, and UNTIL that person discovers or creates, we, humanity, make no forward progress in that area. ONE SPECIFIC HUMAN often changes the course of human history. ONCE discovered, it can be understood by much less capable people, but that initial discovery is hard to the point of impossible, with only a few VERY rare individuals able to make that leap.

A friend of mine happens to be a math professor, whose specialty is the calculation of theoretical models of the boundaries on spacetime. She is extremely smart, obviously. She's a bona fide genius. But she knows that she is nowhere near the caliber of mind of Hawking or Einstein.

It may be true that Hawking got a lot of press, compared to lots of other significant scientists, but it's not because he didn't deserve it. It's that there are so few OTHER deserving scientists that DO get the recognition deserved.

And comparing recognition of real-world work to love of super heroes is frankly idiotic. Go be cynical and nihilistic somewhere else.

As an aside, I notice from history a repeating story: progress in a field, any field (doesn’t have to be a scientific field, for example, SpaceX and rockets) often slows down because the people working in it think that they’ve figured out, discovered invented or finished everything that they think is possible for humans to do, or are just not motivated anymore, and then someone new comes along and reinvigorates that field with a new perspective, and boom. An explosion of progress. Of course, just until the cycle starts to repeat again. 

[pfrsantos]

The truth is no one is really important in the great scheme of things. Any great work could have been done by some else.

This is 100% not true.

There are a very small number of individuals with all of the attributes required to make a specific discovery, invention, or piece of art, and NO ONE ELSE ON EARTH would have done it.

Maybe EVENTUALLY someone else would come along, but each of these pieces of creation they make adds another stepping stone to the sum of human understanding, and UNTIL that person discovers or creates, we, humanity, make no forward progress in that area. ONE SPECIFIC HUMAN often changes the course of human history. ONCE discovered, it can be understood by much less capable people, but that initial discovery is hard to the point of impossible, with only a few VERY rare individuals able to make that leap.

A friend of mine happens to be a math professor, whose specialty is the calculation of theoretical models of the boundaries on spacetime. She is extremely smart, obviously. She's a bona fide genius. But she knows that she is nowhere near the caliber of mind of Hawking or Einstein.

It may be true that Hawking got a lot of press, compared to lots of other significant scientists, but it's not because he didn't deserve it. It's that there are so few OTHER deserving scientists that DO get the recognition deserved.

And comparing recognition of real-world work to love of super heroes is frankly idiotic. Go be cynical and nihilistic somewhere else.

As an aside, I notice from history a repeating story: progress in a field, any field (doesn’t have to be a scientific field, for example, SpaceX and rockets) often slows down because the people working in it think that they’ve figured out, discovered invented or finished everything that they think is possible for humans to do, or are just not motivated anymore, and then someone new comes along and reinvigorates that field with a new perspective, and boom. An explosion of progress. Of course, just until the cycle starts to repeat again. 

Reminds me of the story of the student who arrives late at class, sees a problem in the board, copies it, goes home and solves it. The teacher was just showing it as an (so far) "unsolvable" problem. Since the student didn't knew that, he just approached it without any preconception and managed to solve it.

Not sure if it's just an urban legend but it wouldn't surprise me if it were true. Sometimes you just need a new look at something to make it work.

[powernoodle]

One of the most truly brilliant humans in history. His incredible insight and foresight will forever be remembered. May those who guide the world look back to his acute  sense of humanity and morality!

Humanity and morality?  It is well-known that he was a recidivist divorcee with a penchant for strip clubs.  His philosophy, which denied ab initio the possibility of a creator - though all objective evidence points at the conclusion that every effect (the universe) has a cause equal to or greater than itself - led him to forward the truly kooky notion that nothing created everything - nevermind that he offered no evidence of his thesis.  As for his "morality", his worldview denies the possibility of objective morality because philosophical naturalism posits that there is no objective good or bad in the universe.  We cannot ascribe morality to someone who denies its existence.

Were it not for his confinement to a wheelchair and his electronic voice, few of us would have ever heard of him.  But the greatest, most brilliant genius of our times he was surely not. 

  Running for cover!

[pfrsantos]

One of the most truly brilliant humans in history. His incredible insight and foresight will forever be remembered. May those who guide the world look back to his acute  sense of humanity and morality!

Humanity and morality?  It is well-known that he was a recidivist divorcee with a penchant for strip clubs.  His philosophy, which denied ab initio the possibility of a creator - though all objective evidence points at that conclusion every effect (the universe) has a cause equal to or greater than itself - led him to forward the truly kooky notion that nothing created everything - nevermind that he offered no evidence of his thesis.  As for his "morality", his worldview denies the possibility of objective morality because philosophical naturalism posits that there is no objective good or bad in the universe.  We cannot ascribe morality to someone who denies its existence.

Were it not for his confinement to a wheelchair and his electronic voice, few of us would have ever heard of him.  But the greatest, most brilliant genius of our times he was surely not. 

(Image removed from quote.)  Running for cover!

I see what you did there, but it's ok.
 

Show content

I don't mind other people thinking he's better than me, I forgive them!

 

[AimlessWanderer]

One of the most truly brilliant humans in history. His incredible insight and foresight will forever be remembered. May those who guide the world look back to his acute  sense of humanity and morality!

Humanity and morality?  It is well-known that he was a recidivist divorcee with a penchant for strip clubs.  His philosophy, which denied ab initio the possibility of a creator - though all objective evidence points at the conclusion that every effect (the universe) has a cause equal to or greater than itself - led him to forward the truly kooky notion that nothing created everything - nevermind that he offered no evidence of his thesis.  As for his "morality", his worldview denies the possibility of objective morality because philosophical naturalism posits that there is no objective good or bad in the universe.  We cannot ascribe morality to someone who denies its existence.

Were it not for his confinement to a wheelchair and his electronic voice, few of us would have ever heard of him.  But the greatest, most brilliant genius of our times he was surely not. 

(Image removed from quote.)  Running for cover!

Without turning this into a religious debate, which has no place on this forum, one does not need belief in a deity to have morality. I did not know Steven personally, so I will make no judgement on his.

Steven's passing is indeed a great loss to the nation and to science. I lack both the intellect and indeed the prejudice to judge his mind and his theories, but he is, was, and will remain, a highly regarded theoretical physicist, accomplished author, and father of three.

It is sad to see that some people feel compelled to mark his passing with derogatory comments. I am in no position nor feel no need  to pass judgement on him, but would like to express my thanks for his work and dedication despite his life adversity. If nothing else he was a great inspiration that one can still achieve great thing when faced with debilitating life challenges.

Thank you, Steven, and may you rest in peace.