We don’t have many choices in our quest for heroes. Stephen Hawking definitely qualifies. He gave us many memorable quotes, but one comes quickly to mind.
“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” We buy into the claim that man is the most intelligence of all the animals. Despite many examples to the contrary, it may be true. After all, we have adapted to a wider spectrum of climate than any other species. I’ll try to come up with more supporting evidence. I see the inability and/or disinclination of conservatives to adapt as proof positive of their lack of intelligence.
The professor’s self-deprecation combined with his approach to science should guide us all. Don’t fear being proven wrong. If nothing in science was ever discovered to be wrong, there would be no advancement, We would be stuck with the place where we are.
A few years ago I wrote an article on black holes, the Big Bang, dark matter and dark energy. The impetus for that piece was an article on the web site of Cambridge University by Stephen Hawking. I took his advice in the second sentence of the previous paragraph. Fear of being wrong made me hide ideas that I had held for decades. I likely will not do cartwheels or dance a jig when someone points out my errors, but I will not hang my head and look for a hiding place. Here is the link to that article: A Bigger Bang
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