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Stephen Hawking WOO??????????????

kedo1981

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Stephen Hawking WOO??????????????

Is anyone else disappointed in the “into the universe with Stephen Hawking show on Discovery?
It was bad enough having him fear monger about aliens and then all the news orgs picked it as if it were the gospel but on the last one he plainly states that “ the universe came from an explosion out of nothing” when referring to the big bang.
In his own book “ a brief history of time” he asserts that the pre inflationary universe was some form of unstable energy soup and there for “not nothing”.
The creationists will quoting this till hell freezes over.
 
So you are all unaware that the UFO nutter sites are running the headline “Stephen Hawking fears alien invasion” or the like, how is this not perpetuating WOO?
Are you also unaware that some of the main “exclamations” of the creationists is:
How can something come from nothing?
Or
How did a universe explode into existence out of nothing?
This is the level of explanation I’d expect on a network new show where you constantly hear
“The big bang; the explosion that created the universe”
Surely everyone here at this site knows that the term big bang is merely a populist term that was originally meant to be derogatory.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the theory of cosmic inflation involves the universe expanding out of a matrix of unstable energy (of unknown properties).
SH has written this in the past.
Again, this show does seem to perpetuate populist mis- information
 
i dont think its woo to fear alien invasion.... well atleast not really.
while i doubt the posibility of such a high evolved species that is able to fly to us would still be agressive, it is a posibility, and he wasnt saying they are coming, they are on the way. he just said we should be carefull with attention seeking in the Universe.

the out of nothing is indeed a bit strange. But i think pre big bang universe is just guessing. we simply dont know.

maybe i just like Hawking to much to call him woo.
 
kedo1981 said:
So you are all unaware that the UFO nutter sites are running the headline “Stephen Hawking fears alien invasion” or the like, how is this not perpetuating WOO?
Are you also unaware that some of the main “exclamations” of the creationists is:
How can something come from nothing?
Or
How did a universe explode into existence out of nothing?
This is the level of explanation I’d expect on a network new show where you constantly hear
“The big bang; the explosion that created the universe”
Surely everyone here at this site knows that the term big bang is merely a populist term that was originally meant to be derogatory.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the theory of cosmic inflation involves the universe expanding out of a matrix of unstable energy (of unknown properties).
SH has written this in the past.
Again, this show does seem to perpetuate populist mis- information
Click to expand...

The woo woo crowd has been misquoting scientists for ever. I believe the venerable Mr. Hawkins is a bit paranoid. He's intelligent but his physical condition may be making him more afraid of certain situations than more healthy people tend to be. Who knows? He may be right. Some aliens may say after they discover the earth "Hey looky here" We have a planet with water and oxygen. Lets kick the aboriginies out and settle there ourselves. Not going to happen. Alien civilizations are too far away.

As for the Universe comming out of nothing. Define nothing? Are the areas between the galaxys and beyond nothing? Could it be that the portions of the universe we consider to be filled with nothing is actually something we are unaware of? Professor Hawkins needs to use a better vocabulary when he talks to the public.

Heres what my non genius mind thinks. If aliens come into our solar system they have moons to settle. Europa would be a great place to settle down. Mars has water and so do many other moons in or area. Hell Pluto has water. Why would they fight us?
 
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Strictly speaking, he's not spewing woo. But, he is delivering a kinda "soft" interpretation of science, that can more easily be digested as "promoting woo", to anyone who wants to hear it that way; than what you typically find in scientific presentations.

I think he's always been like that, so the show does not surprise me. That is also one of the reasons why I like Brian Greene's books better than Hawking's. Though, I still respect Hawking.

It would be more accurate to say that there was an "initial condition" that existed "before" the Big Bang occured, which is not really "nothing". But, since we don't know much (or anything, at this point), about what that initial condition was like, it might be easier for some people to simply say it was "nothing".
 
Pretty much with Wowbagger. The series is "science light" and meant for mass consumption.
As an old sci-fi fan, speculating on the results of alien contact is old hat. Hawking might well be right; we have no reason to presume altruistic aliens.
 
People have been taking snippets of his and running wild with them for a long time. Some people still think his "mind of God" line was meant literally.
 
Since the Big Bang is often described as broken symmetry, then the initial condition would be some kind of symmetry which might be indistinguishable from nothing. So I guess "nothing" in Hawking's statement should be in quotes, but unfortunately that doesn't come across well verbally, especially in a robotic voice (though I notice that they are now using a surrogate narrator). And it's not like he can do finger quotes.

Also, I've been wondering how much of his narrating is being paraphrased or co-written for him. It takes him considerable effort and time to put his thoughts into words and yet there seems to be a sudden proliferation of documentaries that he is presenting.

Idea for a new conspiracy theory: Hawking has been dead for three years. :boxedin:
 
Psi Baba said:
(though I notice that they are now using a surrogate narrator).
Click to expand...
By the way, I do like how they use the surrogate narrator, occasionally blending it with the robotic voice.

Psi Baba said:
Also, I've been wondering how much of his narrating is being paraphrased or co-written for him. It takes him considerable effort and time to put his thoughts into words and yet there seems to be a sudden proliferation of documentaries that he is presenting.
Click to expand...
And, I wonder the same thing.
 
Let's face it, Hawking opened the flood gates for the nutters et al by his recent two statements :

"The universe came from an explosion out of nothing"

and

(whatever it was he said about fearing alien invasion and its high possibility)

...Sorry to sound so heartless, but maybe Hawking's disease has finally reached his brain...

Quite frankly I find both of his claims to be very stupid with regards to actually announcing them to the laymen public (in laymen terms) who are incapable of logically rationalizing any form of common sense when it comes to all things related to science and its vocabulary terms of endearment.

Those of us who know better and are scientifically well-versed are, unfortunately, in the minority not the majority.

He has just given way for creationists and alien worshipping cultists to run amok.

Oh the humanity !
:eusa_doh:
 
Xephyr said:
Let's face it, Hawking opened the flood gates for the nutters et al by his recent two statements :

"The universe came from an explosion out of nothing"

and

(whatever it was he said about fearing alien invasion and its high possibility)

...Sorry to sound so heartless, but maybe Hawking's disease has finally reached his brain...

Quite frankly I find both of his claims to be very stupid with regards to actually announcing them to the laymen public (in laymen terms) who are incapable of logically rationalizing any form of common sense when it comes to all things related to science and its vocabulary terms of endearment.

Those of us who know better and are scientifically well-versed are, unfortunately, in the minority not the majority.

He has just given way for creationists and alien worshipping cultists to run amok.

Oh the humanity !
:eusa_doh:
Click to expand...

I don't understand this need to blame Hawking for what the crazies and woos might be thinking. He didn't open any floodgates--crazies have been misrepresenting scientists' positions for as long as there have been scientists and crazies. Hawking has already made clear that we can't know what happened before the big bang. And like others have pointed out, it may be that the Discovery channel (or whoever) simply paraphrased his actual words.

And his speculations about dangerous aliens are mot definitely not woo. They are entirely within the realm of possibility. Just because they may be pessimistic makes them no less probable.

Would it be better for scientists to *not* speak so there's no chance that they are misconstrued?
 
Philosaur said:
Would it be better for scientists to *not* speak so there's no chance that they are misconstrued?
Click to expand...


Actually, I like that idea !

Or better yet...

Scientists could just speak in scientific lingo thus leaving the populace scratching their heads in confusion, shrugging their shoulders, and moving along forgetting about it. This would leave those of us who understand science lingo to discuss and rationalize the subject at hand with no interruption from nutters because they'll be far off in the distance mindlessly watching Nascar and American Idol.

:dl:
 
Xephyr said:
Actually, I like that idea !

Or better yet...

Scientists could just speak in scientific lingo thus leaving the populace scratching their heads in confusion, shrugging their shoulders, and moving along forgetting about it. This would leave those of us who understand science lingo to discuss and rationalize the subject at hand with no interruption from nutters because they'll be far off in the distance mindlessly watching Nascar and American Idol.

:dl:
Click to expand...

A priesthood of scientists!

I think that's pretty much what caused the problem. If people were MORE fluent in the languages and concepts of science, then Hawking's words wouldn't be a problem.
 
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