Stephen Hawking: ‘There is no God,’ says physicist in final book

Via MSN

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 14: Scientist Stephen Hawking of "Into The Universe With Stephen Hawking" speaks via satellite during the Science Channel portion of the 2010 Television Critics Association Press Tour at the Langham Hotel on January 14, 2010 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

There is no God — that’s the conclusion of the celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking, whose final book is published Tuesday.

The book, which was completed by his family after his death, presents answers to the questions that Hawking said he received most during his time on Earth.

Other bombshells the British scientist left his readers with include the belief that alien life is out there, artificial intelligence could outsmart humans and time travel can’t be ruled out.

Hawking, considered one of the most brilliant scientists of his generation, died in March at the age of 76.

“There is no God. No one directs the universe,” he writes in “Brief Answers to the Big Questions.”

“For centuries, it was believed that disabled people like me were living under a curse that was inflicted by God,” he adds. “I prefer to think that everything can be explained another way, by the laws of nature.”

Hawking suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, for most of his adult life.

The scientist died while still working on the book, which his family and colleagues finished with the help of his vast personal archives.

‘Increasingly looking inward’

While Hawking spoke of his lack of belief in God during his life, several of his other answers are more surprising.

“There are forms of intelligent life out there,” he writes. “We need to be wary of answering back until we have developed a bit further.”

And he leaves open the possibility of other phenomena.

“Travel back in time can’t be ruled out according to our present understanding,” he says. He also predicts that “within the next hundred years we will be able to travel to anywhere in the Solar System.”

“He realized that people specifically wanted his answers to these questions,” the scientist’s daughter, Lucy Hawking, who helped complete the book, told CNN.

Hawking saw the world on the brink of a “vast transformative change” when he died, she noted, adding: “He’s asking us not to go into the future blindly. How good is the track record of the human race in using advances in technology for the good of ordinary people?”

In remarks prepared by Hawking and played at the launch of the book in London on Monday, the scientist also turned his attention to the world he was leaving behind.

“With Brexit and Trump now exerting new forces in relation to immigration and the development of education, we are witnessing a global revolt against experts, and that includes scientists,” Hawking said.

Hawking had been a critic of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, and called Donald Trump a “demagogue” in 2016.

His greatest concern, his daughter said, “is how divided we’ve become,” adding: “He makes this comment about how we seem to have lost the ability to look outward, and we are increasingly looking inward to ourselves.”

Hawking’s final message to readers, though, is a hopeful one.

Attempting to answer the question “How do we shape the future?” in the book’s final chapter, the scientist writes: “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.”

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Iska Waran
Iska Waran

That’s just silly. Saying “I see no evidence of a creator” or “I don’t believe there to be a creator” might make sense, but pronouncing there to be an absence of a creator is illogically and overly definitive, IMO.

Aztlan pop. 1
Aztlan pop. 1

Just remember this, my girl, when you look up in the sky
You can see the stars and still not see the light (that’s right)

Stephen Hawking sucks Donkey Balls
Stephen Hawking sucks Donkey Balls

God is either real or the biggest hoax ever foisted onto mankind.

Aztlan pop. 1
Aztlan pop. 1

ever foisted on man.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Option 2 is correct. Religion is a scam perpetrated on the working classes to keep them in line and not rising up to kill the royal class. Ethics and morrals are only practiced by the lower classes, not the rulers…

MrLiberty
MrLiberty

Organized religion is a complete and total scam. But that does not in any way invalidate the existence of an unfathomable, unexplainable, indescribable divine that is the totality of everything there is.

grace country pastor

I’m in partial agreement, however God and religion are two completely different things. Religion is the enormous problem you describe. God is not the problem, people practicing their “religions” are. Bible Christianity is the 100% pure absence of religion. Religion defined as mans attempts to please God or assuage His anger.

Aztlan, pop. 1
Aztlan, pop. 1

Thanks for the quick response time, GCP!

Religion is also man’s way of trying to earn passage into heaven. That shows a lack of faith in the grace of god.

grace country pastor

Absolutely and agreed!

Jdog
Jdog

The bible was written by men, it is a scam. The common notion of god as an entity which whom is manlike is rediculous. I am not saying the universe does not have a central life force, but it is nothing you could even conceive of at this lowly point in your evolution….

Aztlan pop. 1
Aztlan pop. 1

Maybe GCP can clear this controversy.

He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them.

They meet with darkness in the daytime,
And grope at noontime as in the night.

motley
motley

Now that he has passed on … i would wager he is saying (like Homer Simpson) – … DOH !!!!!

Tommy
Tommy

…..said the bitter wheel chair bound dude.

anon38D
anon38D

Good one Tommy. We can use you here.

Dutchman
Dutchman

Hawking is way overrated. Thank god he’s dead, he was right up there on my dead pool with John McCain.

Todd H.
Todd H.

I am having trouble remembering of what Hawking contributed to the world. Everyone knew the guy, but can anyone say what he discovered or did off the top your head? An eccentric public intellectual, much like Carl Sagan, is all I can say clearly. In our culture, Albert Einstein is similarly overrated to an extreme. General relativity is a cute theory, but it has still never been used for any practical purpose in over 100 years.

JimmyTorpedo
JimmyTorpedo

Hawking proved that you can live 40 years longer than any other ALS sufferers if you have really good brains. And grow new teeth apparently.

not sure

Okay, time for the $10,000 dollar question:

How can one come to the conclusion that God doesn’t exist and yet also claim that there is intelligent life out there?

If God is not here discernably, then He would have to be out there somewhere; in the same way that intelligent life is not discernably here, but also out there somewhere.

How can both statements be held as true? Either both statements should be considered possible, or both statements be considered impossible; but one statement cannot be considered impossible while the other is considered possible.

Hollywood Rob

You ladies are a riot.

not sure

Dude, don’t knee jerk every time you see the word God.

It wasn’t a question of the existence of God, it was a question if the logic of the two statements from Mr. Hawking’s are compatible.

Think Spock and not Graham.

Hollywood Rob

Dude. You are for sure, not sure. That was a response to your attempt at logic. You can’t see that the two issues are uncorrelated because you have a belief in god. So your head explodes.

AlphaBravo
AlphaBravo

I don’t think I’ll be buying the book. Poor reviews on Amzn.

RiNS

All you pussies need give up believing in that Sand Nigger and get a real God.

If you did, Hawking’s scribblings would be much ado about nothin’…

Breaking News from the office of Not sure…
comment image

Moar Details at 11!

Yours by the Grace of Odin,

RiNS

Dead Cat's Head
Dead Cat's Head

which “Hawkings” were they quoting?
http://milesmathis.com/hawk3.pdf

Happy Wotan’s Day

Done in Dallas
Done in Dallas

I was wondering when that was going to show up…

TC
TC

Ha, me too. Having done some volunteer work around the ALS cause in the past, I am highly skeptical one could have this horrible disease for 50+ years. It’s that vicious.

BL
BL

No way in hell Hawking lived with ALS that long, another conspiracy Admin., add it to the bucket.

Rdawg
Rdawg

pi=4

RiNS

this never gets old….

pi=4 funny stuff

grace country pastor

Holy crap… I never saw this. And people wonder what the agenda is? Must keep the worlds greatest brain alive to prove there is no God. I’m sure that someday we will learn that Hawkings “consciousness” was uploaded or captured into the “mind” of some quantum computer somewhere… and he will speak from that position of “authority” on the matter.

Amazing, the lengths that will be traversed…

wdg
wdg

In my humble opinion, Stephen Hawking is highly overrated. His model for the origin of the universe is just that, one big model or hypothesis supported by very little hard science. So the earth formed with a big bang but from what? A void? How is that possible? Like so many scientists, and over the years I have known a Nobel Prize winner in physics and the President of the Royal Society of Canada who was a very good friend, what struck me most about these scientists was that they started to think that they were a god with a unique understanding of the universe when in fact they understood very little about the origin of universe and life on earth. But consumed by arrogance and hubris, they make great pronouncements and construct imaginary models based on little or no evidence. And without a shred of evidence, they are prepared to violate the scientific method and conclude there is no God.

Hollywood Rob

And yet, you seemed to be very happy to violate the scientific method and with absolutely no proof what so ever conclude that there is a god.

wdg
wdg

But I am not claiming there is or there is not a God. It is not about me because I am making no such claim but about Stephen Hawking.

Hollywood Rob

Well, no. You are actually talking about your two canadian friends and their hubris. You assume, because of your belief in god, that the imaginary models (your words not mine) are based on little or no evidence. You have presented no evidence that their models are based on little or no evidence. You simply make the bold claim. If you are not arguing for the existence of god, then what is the point of your complaint. A complaint not about Hawking, but about a couple of friends of yours in canada.

motley
motley

Make the effort and read the Bible. There is no other religious book possessing the prophecy over the thousands of years that it was written. Or …. are you afraid of the truth?

Anonymous
Anonymous

Scientists ask that they be granted one free miracle, the creation of the universe, and they will explain the rest. No deal.

Cleve Watson
Cleve Watson

Well, one thing is certain: He now knows the validity of that assertion.

Southern Sage
Southern Sage

The English stopped believing in God after they committed national suicide by foolishly jumping into World War I, as if was God´s fault. The grief and economic ruin tore their hearts out. No God, eh, Hawkins? God is visiting his wrath on what is left of your country today. You turned away from Him and He has turned away from you. Hawkins and those of his ilk are in hell or headed there.

Hollywood Rob

The English do believe in god. They believe in Allah and his one true prophet. Your god lost. Their god won. I guess your god isn’t all he’s cracked up to be. Does that mean that you will be going to hell because you believe in the wrong god?

Southern Sage
Southern Sage

Allah is not God.

Hollywood Rob

Allah is not your god.

e.d. ott
e.d. ott

…but if Allah WAS his god, how would that make Allah any more credibly legitimate than the Christian God? Is it just because the premise is “no Christian God”, but all the others are just fine?
Hmph …over one billion ass-raisers playing “Ring Around the Rosie” with a Kaabah meteorite shard could never be wrong.

motley
motley

Your opinion is no big deal and no one should get offended by your insolence towards the one, true deity. Besides … you, me … we’ll all soon get to meet Him.

Iwasntbornwithenufmiddlefingers
Iwasntbornwithenufmiddlefingers

Keep your dead ass opinions to yourself

TC
TC

* book actually written by a handful of atheist jews

grace country pastor

“There are forms of intelligent life out there,” he writes.

Creation inherently implies Creator. There can’t not be “intelligent life” out there because we are here. Things are; therefore they were made. Creation simply cannot be accidental. If so, the most basic observable laws of physics are meaningless. In a trillion years a rock will never ever come to life (and certainly not become sentient) yet that’s the essence of cosmological/biological evolution. How did the rock come to be by the way, the minerals and elements themselves? Even the atheist believes in a creator (proving there is no such thing as an atheist); creation itself creates itself via evolutionary psudo-science. Some call her mother nature, others Gaia; whatever, she IS creation. Her proponents love her because she holds no one accountable to herself for anything. She says “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law” as only the strong survive. That’s also the single commandment in the satanic church.

Not my opinion which is worthless, but what the Bible says…

Rom 1:20… “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

Every living soul, every soul who has ever lived, has inherent knowledge of their supernatural Creator. It’s built in. The venom with which each deny Him is a testimony to the internal struggle within themselves as they KNOW they are lying to themselves. Massive cognitive dissonance creates that venom (talk about heads exploding…!). I know cause I was there some time ago. I don’t get angry with people who fight because I was a fighter too. The fight is directly against ACCOUNTABILITY. I thank God I gave up fighting. I also know most will not. It’s the nature of us.

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.” Hey Stephen…

Psalm 19:1… “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

“He makes this comment about how we seem to have lost the ability to look outward, and we are increasingly looking inward to ourselves.”

Duh…! Without God to look out at, there remains only ourselves to look in at. Seems very foolish to me… and we wonder why the world is as messed up as it is. We are the center of our own universe when God should be. The human race is selfish. It shouldn’t be. If it knew what God did for it, it wouldn’t be.

Proverbs 18:2… “A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.”

I have degrees in psychology and philosophy from years ago proving myself to be that very fool.

He gave this world to us that we could share it with Him.

Rev 4:11… “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Hawking, “one of the most brilliant scientists of his generation” simply proves himself to be one of the biggest fools. It’s a shame because he KNOWS there is a God now. It’s a bigger shame because untold millions will believe him and continue to mock the Bible because “science”. This just popped into my head; remember the Thomas Dolby song “She Blinded Me With Science”… 🙂 Kind of fitting I think.

It’s unfortunate that there are some who are off-put by scripture. I’m not sorry, though I do feel saddened for you. I didn’t write it; indeed, man couldn’t/wouldn’t have written it. Scripture is off-putting and offensive at its core. It reveals the human race for exactly what it is. Ugly. It says, you have a problem you can’t fix. It also says God fixed the problem and that’s really, really great news that cannot be shared too many times! Better that some (even many) are offended that a few (even one) might be saved.

@Southern Sage…

Scripture is very clear that God is not pouring out wrath on anyone currently. This is wonderful! He is offering grace and peace to each and every human being. Wrath will come, just not yet.

Clearly, sin abounds in this world (and in heaven too)…

Rom 5:20… “Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”

…but grace much more abounds. For now. God withholds wrath that grace might be offered to His enemies, us sinners.

Rom 5:8… “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Appreciate the opportunity to share that. I hope y’all have a great evening. Off for a Fuzzy taco and to Wednesday night Bible study.

motley
motley

Simply … excellent !

Hollywood Rob

GCP. You called it creation. He didn’t. For you, if you call it creation then you can call for a creator. All Hawking said is that there is almost surely intelligent life out there. So who shall we believe. A book written by a bunch of illiterate jews back before toilet paper (none of whom actually ever met christ), or the predictions of one literate gentile who had to have somebody to wipe his ass.

grace country pastor

“All Hawking said is that there is almost surely intelligent life out there.”

And I agreed with him.

“So who shall we believe.”

If I really thought you wanted an answer, I’d give you one. Your insolence betrays you however. Motley provided some simply excellent advise above. Read the Bible, you have been pathologically misled about its contents. Just a few pages to start… Genesis 1-3, Romans 3-8.

flash
flash

Well that settles that.

BL
BL

I know damn well there is a God, southerners believe in God more than anyone else in this GD God forsaken country, that is why we are the BIBLE BELT.

Rdawg
Rdawg

Also, the states with the lowest average IQs are in the south: https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/we-compared-average-iq-score-in-all-50-states-results-are-eye-opening.html
Just sayin’.

BL
BL

Ratty- Aunt Ester has a message for you….you old heathen.

TC
TC

No mention of race. Interesting….

BL
BL

TC- Yeah, he failed to mention we got stuck with most of a certain racial group.

Rdawg
Rdawg

So…blacks aren’t southerners that believe in God? Interesting…

BL
BL

No back pedaling Dawg, TC called you out fair and square. Want to revise that statement? 🙂

Coalclinker
Coalclinker

We’ll never give up our guns and we’ll never trust people from up North. That proves Southerners are much more intelligent than most other Americans. Yankees also don’t know how to use pork, make cornbread, or use seasonings, and when was the last time any genre of music or truly great literature came from up there? They also know nothing about distilling whiskey.

BL
BL

Clink- The Dead South band is from Canada, but you got the rest correct.

BL
BL

Another thing Clink, what Yankees do to cornbread is reason enough to start CWII, a big +1000 on that. Some things are sacred.

pyrrhus
pyrrhus

Another “intellectual yet idiot” specimen. Bye bye Steven, better luck next time.

KaD
KaD

Amazing how brilliant people can sometimes be so blind and stupid.

Anonymous
Anonymous

called Donald Trump a “demagogue” in 2016.

His greatest concern, his daughter said, “is how divided we’ve become,” adding: “He makes this comment AAAAfter he makes his divisive comment”. There fixed it for you. SH, just another liberal POS.

Coalclinker
Coalclinker
MrLiberty
MrLiberty

So long as you limit your concept of god to a “one,” then as a scientist you likely will never begin to appreciate the unfathomable truth of the divine. He knows the truth now.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Poor old sod, had shit life on earth and now on his knees in the fires of hell praying for one last chance. As Mr. George Carlin said – “not too bright folks, not too fuckin’ bright”!

Boat Guy
Boat Guy

Stephen Hawking got a tough break in the health issues of life’s lottery and attempted to make the best of it with his intellect . Becoming totally dependent on others to survive every breath and not lay there and suffocate rotting in your own excriment is not that easy road to walk .
For him to deny the existance of a supreme being what ever we may perceive him / her / it to be while exclaiming the odds of life elsewhere in the universe is merely his scientific conjuncture from his base of thought . Questioning everything does not make you a blasé famous basturd considering the many atrocities man has committed over the centuries in “GODS” name .
Surely if Mr Hawking did encounter GOD the peace and love that passes all understanding will give him a hall pass considering his suffering in life . Or perhaps my belief structure is in deep disarray in my life’s search ,“OK”
One thing Mr Hawking did criticize heavily was the SETI project as we broadcast signals in search of a response from the deep reaches of space . His thoughts were that we need to be silent and hope to be ignored by more advanced space traveling beings . No place in our own history has an advanced civilization encounter a less advanced people and it worked out very well for the less advanced . The thought of being exploted for fun , profit or dare I say a food source is very possible . Perhaps keeping to ourselves and tending to each other and our needs is something Stephen Hawking leaves behind for us and his legacy ???

bob

Who makes that fuckwad an expert? Most of that astrophysics crap and quantum physics may be mathematically sound within the mathematical models within which they operate, yet, as euclidean geometry is proved flawed in calculations in both the grandest and smallest scales, who is to say that the “math” those bastards come up with to “prove” their conconclusions is not flawed? And I used to be all about the micro and the macro of the universe. Once I realized that most-if not all-of it is mere theory, unprovable except with mathematics that were invented by men, the gig was up. It might be fun to think about, and to imagine its all real and true as they speak it, but its still just a guess. All of ’em-Kaku, Hawking, Tyson…they can fuck themselves. Lazy fucking queers. If they want to do the world some good, they should grow a vegetable garden.

e.d. ott
e.d. ott

God says: “There is no Stephen Hawking.”

/sarc

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