Mana pendapatmu? Tinggal mengamini aja? --- "Bukan Pedanda" <bukan.pedanda@...> wrote:
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven > > News > Science > Stephen Hawking > > Stephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story' > > In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the cosmologist shares > his thoughts on death, M-theory, human purpose and our chance > existence > Ian Sample, science correspondent > guardian.co.uk, Sunday 15 May 2011 22.00 BST > Article history > > Stephen Hawking > Stephen Hawking dismisses belief in God in an exclusive interview > with the Guardian. Photograph: Solar & Heliospheric > Observatory/Discovery Channel > > A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" > for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said. > > In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious > comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing > beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time. > > Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of > 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance > existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today. > > The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few > years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young > scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he > has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future. > > "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 said. > > "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," he > added. > > Hawking's latest comments go beyond those laid out in his 2010 > book, The Grand Design, in which he asserted that there is no need > for a creator to explain the existence of the universe. The book > provoked a backlash from some religious leaders, including the > chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, who accused Hawking of committing an > "elementary fallacy" of logic. > > The 69-year-old physicist fell seriously ill after a lecture tour > in the US in 2009 and was taken to Addenbrookes hospital in an > episode that sparked grave concerns for his health. He has since > returned to his Cambridge department as director of research. > > The physicist's remarks draw a stark line between the use of God as > a metaphor and the belief in an omniscient creator whose hands > guide the workings of the cosmos. > > In his bestselling 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, Hawking drew > on the device so beloved of Einstein, when he described what it > would mean for scientists to develop a "theory of everything" a > set of equations that described every particle and force in the > entire universe. "It would be the ultimate triumph of human reason > for then we should know the mind of God," he wrote. > > The book sold a reported 9 million copies and propelled the > physicist to instant stardom. His fame has led to guest roles in > The Simpsons, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Red Dwarf. One of > his greatest achievements in physics is a theory that describes how > black holes emit radiation. > > In the interview, Hawking rejected the notion of life beyond death > and emphasised the need to fulfil our potential on Earth by making > good use of our lives. In answer to a question on how we should > live, he said, simply: "We should seek the greatest value of our > action." > > In answering another, he wrote of the beauty of science, such as > the exquisite double helix of DNA in biology, or the fundamental > equations of physics. > > Hawking responded to questions posed by the Guardian and a reader > in advance of a lecture tomorrow at the Google Zeitgeist meeting in > London, in which he will address the question: "Why are we here?" > > In the talk, he will argue that tiny quantum fluctuations in the > very early universe became the seeds from which galaxies, stars, > and ultimately human life emerged. "Science predicts that many > different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of > nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in," he said. > > Hawking suggests that with modern space-based instruments, such as > the European Space Agency's Planck mission, it may be possible to > spot ancient fingerprints in the light left over from the earliest > moments of the universe and work out how our own place in space > came to be. > > His talk will focus on M-theory, a broad mathematical framework > that encompasses string theory, which is regarded by many > physicists as the best hope yet of developing a theory of > everything. > > M-theory demands a universe with 11 dimensions, including a > dimension of time and the three familiar spatial dimensions. The > rest are curled up too small for us to see. > > Evidence in support of M-theory might also come from the Large > Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern, the European particle physics > laboratory near Geneva. > > One possibility predicted by M-theory is supersymmetry, an idea > that says fundamental particles have heavy and as yet > undiscovered twins, with curious names such as selectrons and > squarks. > > Confirmation of supersymmetry would be a shot in the arm for > M-theory and help physicists explain how each force at work in the > universe arose from one super-force at the dawn of time. > > Another potential discovery at the LHC, that of the elusive Higgs > boson, which is thought to give mass to elementary particles, might > be less welcome to Hawking, who has a long-standing bet that the > long-sought entity will never be found at the laboratory. > > Hawking will join other speakers at the London event, including the > chancellor, George Osborne, and the Nobel prize-winning economist > Joseph Stiglitz. > Science, truth and beauty: Hawking's answers > > What is the value in knowing "Why are we here?" > > The universe is governed by science. But science tells us that we > can't solve the equations, directly in the abstract. We need to use > the effective theory of Darwinian natural selection of those > societies most likely to survive. We assign them higher value. > > You've said there is no reason to invoke God to light the blue > touchpaper. Is our existence all down to luck? > > Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be > spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance > which we are in. > > So here we are. What should we do? > > We should seek the greatest value of our action. > > You had a health scare and spent time in hospital in 2009. What, if > anything, do you fear about death? > > 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. 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. > > What are the things you find most beautiful in science? > > Science is beautiful when it makes simple explanations of phenomena > or connections between different observations. Examples include the > double helix in biology, and the fundamental equations of physics." > ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! 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