Physicist Stephen Hawking has dismissed religion once again as he deemed heaven a "fairy story" aimed at appeasing those afraid of death.
The author of 1988 international best-seller "A Brief History of Time" said in an interview with The Guardian that his views were partly influenced by his battle with motor neuron disease.
"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he told the newspaper in an interview published on Monday.
"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."
Hawking's stance on religion has hardened since the publishing of his seminal work.
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 2010 book, "The Grand Design" 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.
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.
IMO, Religion is nothing more than a control system to keep the sheeple on the reservation......Stephen Hawking agrees. Not bad company to have on an idea.
You can't SEE electricity, but have the common sense to know if you immerse yourself into an INVISIBLE STREAM OF 220 VOLTS, things like Heysus will no longer be an issue for you.
ou can't SEE electricity, but have the common sense to know if you immerse yourself into an INVISIBLE STREAM OF 220 VOLTS, things like Heysus will no longer be an issue for you.
Only if I'm standing in a pile of saltwater soaked scofield bibles.
The gist of it is that if it can't be explained, it must be 'god'.
It's good that most scientists are atheists. Else we'd remain in the christian-generated dark ages.
Perhaps we need another Inquisition to straighten things out for you xtians? You would like that, wouldn't you. Sure you would. Oh wait. That is what the Last Days are for. It will be a bloodbath. Surely you christians will rejoice. You get your death and destruction by proxy: your 'god' will do it all for you.
It's good that most scientists are atheists. Else we'd remain in the christian-generated dark ages.
Ever hear of Georges Lemaître? He was the Jesuit priest and astrophysicist who came up with the "Big Bang" theory (so named by Fred Hoyle, mocking the idea). The scientific establishment at the time mocked the idea. Even Einstein disliked it. Eventually the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation validated his ideas.
Good thing too, else we'd remain in the atheist-generated dark ages of astrophysics.
So much for that. You speak of theory. Here is an example based on fact:
Ever hear of Galileo? lol. Fucking christians forced him to recant when he was right. Well, at least they didn't burn him alive, or stretch him on the rack, or rip his balls off. I suppose they'd call that an act of christian charity...
So much for that. You speak of theory. Here is an example based on fact: Ever hear of Galileo?
Peerhaps you are unaware of how science is supposed to work (AGW not withstanding). Dont worry, I'll educate you. Theorys are formulated, tested, and accepted if found to be in agreement with observation. Thus far, the "Big Bang" theory is still the accepted standard. There are ideas in competition with it. They have their own problems and are still being tested.
Funny, you have to go back to the 1600's to Galileo, while my example was from the relativly recent 1960's. Atheists just love Galileo, Georges Lemaître and others not so much. LOL.