Stephen Hawking says heaven is just a fairy tale for those scared of death. If that means there’s no hell, I’d be sad. There’s always BBQs and cold beer in hell – and everyone knows all the words to the songs.
That’s what David Byrne says, anyway. [The Guardian]
TSH
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 11:50 AMI was going to say “Hawking’s no expert” but then I realised that nobody knows anything about the supernatural. Not really.
So it’s nice to know what he thinks, but given the subject matter it deserves as much weight as what anybody else thinks.
Having said that, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that any given conception or construction of any possible afterlife is little more than a fairy tale. So maybe that’s what he’s talking about… :–]
dave
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 11:57 AMi second this
Jason
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 1:02 PMA great man once said; “Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence.” – Carl Sagan
To go out on another quote from a great man; “Prove me wrong, and I will take a compass and tattoo “Fancy that!” on the side of my cock.” – Tim Minchin
Timmy Toucan
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 12:18 PMWell he knows more about the basic construction of the universe – and the laws that govern its construction – than most, so he is probably in a position to be able to offer a valid opinion how likely its existence is…
Nick
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:29 PMSurely, though, for heaven to be anything near what most people seem to think it is, it would necessarily have to NOT adhere to the physical laws and construction of the universe as we know it?
Nodeity
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:29 PMIf he’s rite then when you die you will no longer exist as a thinking entity, and it won’t matter any way. If he’s wrong, his expertise and vast intellect doesn’t make him an all knowing deity. I personally can’t imagine my thinking self just going pop and Disappearing. Besides there’s just too much anecdotal evidence to the contrary….
Graeme
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 12:27 PM“nobody knows anything about the supernatural” Nobody knows anything about the monster under the bed either. Knowing anything about non-existent entities isn’t possible (other than the fact they don’t exist).
Glenn
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 12:10 PMI think the angostic position makes most sense….if I am wrong and there is a heaven, well, I’ll be pleasantly surprised (and embarrassed). If I am right and I end up worm food, no harm done…I am just dead. Sort of win win I guess
Nathan Carter
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:56 PMWell, no, actually, that’s a little retarded. Most religions’ conception of heaven involve you actually believing in them to get there. Otherwise you head to the other place. So if you’re wrong, and you spent all your time wondering and no time believing, then you’re probably going to the hot place. Not the nice one.
twiryn
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 5:55 PMAnd what happens then depends on the religion. There are all kinds of variations of reincarnation, eternal punishment, non-eternal punishment, etc. etc.
Steve
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 11:05 AMA ‘hell’ is still considered an afterlife, it’s the nastier version of the preferable heaven/valhalla etc, but it’s still something.
He obviously means afterlife in the sense of there being a continued consciousness, as opposed to oblivion. And to many, a tortured existence is still preferable to nothing at all.
Peter James
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 12:10 PMSeen this on yahoo news this morning. Should have seen all the comments. Some of those religious freaks doesn’t even believe in evolution. WTF, I didn’t think people like this existed any more. And I suppose the world is flat??????
Big Windows
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 1:06 PMYep… Flat as a tac… With the exception of the tacs in my office which seem to be slightly convex…. Damn?!
The Gremlin
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 2:27 PMThe one thing evolution can’t explain is the existence of creationists
Jackpolo
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 4:28 PMEvolution deals with defense mechanisms honed over time based on ones surroundings. Wouldn’t a belief in an afterlife (in a time when there weren’t as many facts to latch onto) be a necessary defense against say, disregarding consequences completely?
Schroe
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 12:44 PMThank God for Stephen Hawking!
Sarcasm aside, it’s enlightening to hear his thoughts on the matter.
ozboy
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 12:54 PMM-Theory, the associated 11 dimensions (7 unseen)& the multiverse are also a fairytale for those who can’t accept that, in life, not everything can be explained.
Jason
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 1:59 PMWhat makes you think that there are things that can’t be explained? There is nothing to suggest that there is any sort of permanent enigma in existence.
I take it you have numerous relevant qualifications to so easily brush aside the under construction theories of some of the world’s smartest men and women as well.
Nath
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:57 PMUh… gravity?
ozboy
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 9:44 PMLike heaven?
At present, multiverse = tooth fairy/Santa Claus/Easter bunny
Sciby
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 1:09 PMI’m kinda divided between my want to believe in something behind the scenes, that’s bigger than the society we’ve built, and the logical step that what we see is what we see.
What stops me from being completely agnostic is this: Why am I specifically in this body? I’m aware I’m looking out of these eyes, that my conciousness is in THIS body and not another. Why is that? What mechanism placed “me” in this body and not another? Or even at all? We’ve often been described as bio-mechanical, and its obvious that less complicated organisms (ants, etc) follow basic behaviour patterns that can be replicated, so it’s fair to assume that basic human behaviour can be replicated… so why do we need a self-aware consciousness at all?
All of those are serious questions, no suggestion or opinion will be rejected. :)
huu
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 2:32 PMLet randomly distribute cells of all different ability in a pool of water, add an energy source to one end of the pool (let say a warm vocanic vent). Now for those cell that can sense the heat will move toward the vent to obsorb more energy, survive longer and multiply. After few generation you can pretty much predict that all cells in this pool have heat sensor follow the vent. Wow these cells are amazing, they can sense where the heat is and move toward it to keep warm, there must me a spirit that look over them to guide them there!… now add obstacle and challenges along the way, and multiply that by billions of years see how those cells turn out!
huu
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 2:54 PMTo be balance, let look at it on the other side of the arguement too, its easier to understand so it is more widely accepted. The earth is only 12000 years old so we wouldnt have the time to evlove from anything, therefore god must have put us here.
InformedGamer
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 10:15 AMThe earth isn’t 12,000 years old though…
It’s 4,500,000,000 years old. You’re slightly off there…
matt
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 2:52 PMthe problem with science vs religion is…
science is something done by men, it is imperfect, and worst of all, never inspired belief in a ‘fact’ or ‘theory’ as much as religion inspires belief in their teachings.
“this is how it is because our perfect God said so”
no wiggle room there…
thats why its so hard to convince religious people with science, despite having more proof than God… God doesn’t need proof. he is always right.
scientists know that what they study might be wrong.
religious people don’t.
Bob
Friday, May 20, 2011 at 1:24 PMGive me a break. Multiverse, like all theory is just that…a theory. It exists to explain the evidence that we see around us. If it no longer fits the evidence it is disregarded in favor of a new theory that explains the evidence more accurately. That is called science. Religion, doesn’t alter its beliefs based on facts and evidence. It actively tries to suppress them. Do you see the difference?
Veddermandan
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 1:56 PMWell if Jesus is ok with the quote than i am too.
Tagline :By Jesus Diaz on May 17, 2011 at 11:00 AM
sirjay
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 2:03 PMReligion is for the weak of body and mind. People that cannot comprehend that death of the body is death of the mind.
mind = soul, Consciousness, intellect, etc.
TvZ
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:39 PMWhat load of rubbish quote is that?
Maybe Hawkings felt a little angry that he can’t stand up for what he believe in. (See, I did it again). Maybe he just can’t put his finger on what drives people to religion (Again I did it). So all hie life’s work is just done, because he can…no greater good, no lesser evil, just because he sat around and had nothing to do, or couldn’t do anything (now I’m just being nasty). To quote a TRUE intellectual: “I pitty the fool!”.
And look how the added the little apple in the photo…aint that sweet…to portray gravity and how they float, I’m sure Newton would be so proud of him, maybe because Isaac Newton was actually highly religious…I wonder…
Speaking of the apple, what evolved into an apple? or did the big bang produce it? or did the big bang produce the seed for the apples and neatly put it in the ground for the apples to grow. Too many questions for a simple answer like..”bah humbug! Religion is for fools”
Peter
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 4:12 PMYou can be religious and live in the real world, mate. Doesn’t matter what Newton believed, he clearly had some grip on reality.
As for your inane questions about apples, spend a few days checking out TalkOrigins.org, it will clear up your Christianity right up.
Schroe
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 1:11 AMThanks for that link, I’ve been looking for something exactly like it.
matt
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 10:27 PMa thinker doesn’t need to move…
at 21, a few years before the moon landing, he was diagnosed with his illness, given 2 to 3 years to live. he would have never seen the moon landing.
but he did, and he married, and his brain was spared, he was able to think, ponder, wonder, so much so he became famous for it. and now 49 years after he was diagnosed, he still lives on, one day soon he may even get to go into space himself. he has out lived the other longest survivors of his disease by over a decade.
if he were a believer in God, I think him, indeed anyone, would consider his life a MIRACLE!
ffs, if you actually knew anything at all, you would know the biggest curse that came with his illness is that he has for the last half a century, only had months to live… that would get old pretty fast… still, at least to some extent, it probably prompted him to live every day like it was his last…
he doesn’t believe in God because there is no scientific reason to. or indeed, as he sees it, any good reason to…
Nick
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:27 PMThe thing that keeps me reflecting on a God is the fact that I, and it seems a fair few other Kotaku readers, seem to care whether there’s a God or not.
My dog doesn’t seem to care if there is, all that much, afaik. He also likes to lick himself in awkward places though, which I don’t. This is a plus.
Although, why is it a plus? Why is that not a bad thing? Why is something ‘bad’? Why the fluff do I care if it is or not?
*mind explosm*
Stefan
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:46 PMHeaven and Hell, I personally believe, are power garnering schemes of religious organisations. Basically working on fear (of hell) and want (for heaven), all you have to do is take part in the religion… which makes the religion more powerful.
Nath
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:59 PMYes, because it benefits a religion to have its believers so dedicated to the cause that they’re willing to die for what they believe, and thereby remove themselves from the membership, while also apparently making the religion rather distasteful for anyone who isn’t keen on dying for what they believe in. Brilliant logic.
Jay
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:59 PMFor people who can’t imagine that there is no afterlife, just think of it as the time before you were born. You simply didn’t exist.
ozboy
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 9:41 PMI actually reckon it is easier to think of it as when you are asleep and not dreaming.
matt
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 10:31 PMwhat about all those religions who believe in multiple lives ;)
MDolley
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 5:00 PMI always struggled with the logistics of heaven. You are supposed to spend eternity with your loved ones, but what if your wife and child die in a car accident, then years later you get re-married. Isn’t that just going to be really awkward?
matt
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 10:35 PMI think thats where the Multiverse theory applies to heaven.
God works it so you get sent to the heaven of a universe where you never married your first wife, just your latest one :D
I think thats the funniest thing I find about religious nuts… they are forever using scientific theories and facts that don’t conflict with religion, in order to try and disprove ones that DO conflict with religion!
it’s like:
“err, guys… you can’t have your cake and eat it too…”
“my religion says I can!”
“FFFFFUUUUUU….”
Nath
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 2:30 PMThe Bible actually addresses this. A teacher comes up to Jesus and says, “What happens in heaven if a woman is forced to remarry up to seven times?” (Jewish law said that if a husband died, his brother was forced to marry his widow so that she had someone to provide for her) And Jesus said, “In heaven, there is no marriage (paraphrase).” For more details, Matthew 22:23-33.
Andrew
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 9:19 PMI always thinks it strange that people are scared of dieing, scared of just not existing. Do you remember yourself before you were born, no, well how scary was that! Because that’s what you will be after you die. People really have far too big an opinion of themselves, too think that you will live on forever. Typical human ego trip !!!
olearymo
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 9:15 AMHeaven is a zero gravity flight with Stephen Hawking.