Greetings, Ham, It's nice to have a simpatico interest. I too caught that on coast to coast. Eschewing the tube, I'm naturally hooked on radio...
On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 12:13 PM, Ham Priday Steve: I suspect that he thinks scientific descriptions have > > some privileged status over other sorts of descriptions. ... >> > > Ham: > I think your analysis is right on, Steve. Leonard Mlodinow, a science > journalist who knows Hawkin has published a best-selling book on his > theories of reality called "The Grand Design." I heard him interviewed on > Coast-to-Coast AM last night and thought you might like to review this > summary of the discussion prepared by the show's host George Noory. > > "Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinow discussed his current work with Hawking > on the grand design of the universe and two central questions-- where does > the universe come from, and why are the laws of nature what they are? > Hawking's theories and the latest research in physics were used to answer > those questions. While the conditions for life are just right on Earth, > Mlodinow noted that we're looking backwards at the situation-- whatever > conditions it took for us to get here, have already happened. > > John: And yet Hawking claims philosophy is dead? > "The notion of the multiverse (many universes each with their own physical > laws) is a consequence of Hawking's theory of cosmology, said Mlodinow. > These various universes arose from nothing, but we now understand from > quantum theory that the state of nothingness is actually very unstable, and > that "things are always coming and going from nothingness," he explained. > Hawking's picture of the universe incorporates three theories: > > ". A 'no boundary' condition in which time becomes a dimension that looks > like space. > . M theory-- an extension of string theory dealing with forces like > gravity. > . Top Down Cosmology-- a new quantum approach that suggests the cosmos has > many different simultaneous histories. > > "Mlodinow also reviewed the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe, > and the search at the Large Hadron Collider for the theoretical Higgs boson > particle. Interestingly, Hawking has predicted that the Higgs particle will > not be found." > > For all his alleged brilliance, Hawkin apparently believes the universe (or > "multiverse") was created from nothing, despite its 'Grand Design'. When > Mlodinow was asked several times if he (and Hawkin) believed there was a > Creator of the Grand Design, he dismissed the question as "one way of > thinking," for the unsophisticated. His reaction was the same when asked if > he thought life had any purpose. > > John: well, I say consider the source on that one. Ask somebody who's drinking wine and getting laid regular if life has any purpose. Not some gnat in a knot. Ham: > In short, the Hawkin-Mlodinow team is promoting the view that conscious > life and the ordered physical universe are mere happenstances that arose > from the chaos of nothingness. John: sigh. More moronists. The world is full of them. Ham: > They are unwilling to even speculate on a principle to explain existential > reality. For the life of me, I can't fathom a writer choosing the title > "The Grand Design" if he doesn't acknowledge a Designer. (But perhaps the > Pirsigians here view it differently.) > > John: I've always maintained that anybody who names a book "a brief history of time" and does so non-ironically, is an ass and a philosophical cretin. And I bet I could whip him in a game of one on one, as well. Ham: > Anyway, it provided a fascinating look into the scientific mindset. > > John: Yes. Sigh again. Good to hear from you, Ham. John Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
