Steven Hawking is Today's Solomon
from the meaningless
dept.
It was reported by the Associated Press today
that Steven Hawking wrote some questions on Yahoo! Answers, a new feature that
allows users to pose questions for others to
answer.
Hawking's question: "In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?" Also linked here.
This reminds me of Ecclesiastes 4:15-16:
I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
So this addresses the political side of his question. Even when a favorite king is placed on a throne, the next generation will reject him. Then there is ch. 6:10-12:
That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
This addresses the overarching question, but it does so with God in mind. I realize Hawking is implying that human beings are on their own in this struggle, and here I am giving God as the answer. Silly, right. Yet with all his wisdom, he still seriously ponders the notion of the infinite. In my estimation, when we finite beings perceive something infinite, that perception is the rudimentary beginnings of the belief in God. That's how I can feel justified in attributing wisdom to Hawking. He is one of the few physicists who assert that there must be an infinite attribute to the universe. He simply points to space and time as this infinite attribute, which is his error.
Hawking's question: "In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?" Also linked here.
This reminds me of Ecclesiastes 4:15-16:
I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
So this addresses the political side of his question. Even when a favorite king is placed on a throne, the next generation will reject him. Then there is ch. 6:10-12:
That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
This addresses the overarching question, but it does so with God in mind. I realize Hawking is implying that human beings are on their own in this struggle, and here I am giving God as the answer. Silly, right. Yet with all his wisdom, he still seriously ponders the notion of the infinite. In my estimation, when we finite beings perceive something infinite, that perception is the rudimentary beginnings of the belief in God. That's how I can feel justified in attributing wisdom to Hawking. He is one of the few physicists who assert that there must be an infinite attribute to the universe. He simply points to space and time as this infinite attribute, which is his error.
Posted: Saturday - July 08, 2006 at 09:30 AM |
Distractions