If you are a science buff and love current research and theories, you'd love this list!
Stephen Hawking, the stalwart physicist! Which words does this name bring to your mind? Black-holes, theory of relativity, high-energy physics et cetera for sure! But do you know, besides his extraordinary contribution to high-energy physics, Hawking had a profound study on the other fields of science and technology and even in philosophy? And most fundamentally, he was capable of expressing tough ideas in the easiest words!
Three warnings
A decade ago Hawking made some comments on the question of the future of human civilization, addressing the probable and potential threats to it. Certainly, the genius scientist had some suggestions too! Hawking talked about three different issues, although interconnected on the question of humanity and the progress of civilization. Let’s have a look at what he said!
Global Warming
Hawking was seriously concerned about the coming threats from the temperature hike rate of the earth. He strongly warned about the approach of the planet’s temperature curve towards the tipping point, crossing which would lead to the irreversibility of global warming. The renowned physicist warned that the increasing rate of warming might bring a Venus-like climate to Earth. The temperature may rise to 250 degrees celsius with sulphuric acid rain, as he claimed.
Clash of Intelligence: Real versus Artificial
As a scientist, Hawkins had a very positive and progressive notion towards Artificial Intelligence. But as a socially responsible man too, the scientist has warned us about the balance of intelligence, between humans and machines. Hawking was afraid of the fact that the exponential advancement of AI’s might match or even surpass human intelligence, leading to a historic threat to the existence of human civilization. He predicted the risk of huge unemployment among people caused by machine intelligence.
Leaving the Earth
Hawking, probably because of his predictions and the frights from Climate change, AI, Nuclear war et cetera, had a strong belief that men should certainly explore the other planets for the survival of the human race. Other than that, the low-probable but highly impactful events, the collision with a large asteroid, for example, were the issues behind his prescription.
Controversies
International media like BBC and The Guardian gave intense attention to Hawkins opinions, leading to some controversy even in the science communities. Whether his statements were scientifically correct or wrong, let us leave it for the future. But the greater good is, it made the common public interested in the question of science and technology, which people, in general, avoid discussing. And this was only because of this physics genius, Stephen Hawking.
