Reflections after reading "Meditations of Hawking: Ten Questions"

This book mainly talks about Hawking’s answers to ten big questions. The following is a brief summary of my answers to Hawking:

1. Does God exist?

Answer: God does not exist. God did nothing in the matter of the creation of the universe, so there is no need to postulate the existence of a Creator.

2. How does it all start?

Answer: The universe does not exist eternally. It must have a beginning, where the Big Bang initially occurred at a singularity to form the current universe.

3. Are there other intelligent life forms in the universe?

Answer: There are other intelligent life forms. But the conditions for the existence of life are so harsh and complex that it is very difficult to discover the existence of other intelligent life, at least in places very far away from the earth.

4. Can we predict the future?

Answer: No. The development of quantum mechanics has overturned scientific determinism since Laplace, and all evidence points to God being an addicted gambler who rolls the dice on every possible occasion.

5. What is in a black hole?

Answer: Black holes are formed by extreme distortion of space and time. All objects that are close to it are sucked in, even light is no exception. At the same time, particles are also spit out, causing the black hole to slowly shrink and eventually disappear, and space-time returns to flatness.

6. Is time travel possible?

Answer: Possibly. By using the distortion of space and time to form a wormhole, a spaceship can travel through the wormhole and take a shortcut to go back to the past or reach the future. But why do we never find any visitors from the future? From this point of view, time travel can cause big logistical problems.

7. Can we survive on earth?

Answer: No, devastating disasters in the future of the earth are inevitable. Hawking expressed concerns about various threats to the earth: nuclear war, environmental pollution, resource plunder, and asteroid collisions.

8. Should we colonize space?

Answer: Yes. On the one hand, if we do not colonize space, humanity will have no future; on the other hand, developing space colonization can stimulate people's interest in science.

9. Will artificial intelligence surpass us?

Answer: Yes. Artificial intelligence brings us huge benefits but also carries risks. AI may eventually surpass us intellectually and be beyond our control.

10. How do we shape the future?

Answer: The impact that science and technology will bring to us in the future cannot be underestimated. We need to have scientific literacy and actively participate in the development of science and technology.

? I am basically satisfied with Hawking’s answers to the first six questions. As a top physicist, Hawking obviously has his own unique insights into answering professional questions in physics. However, I think he exaggerated a bit starting from the seventh question.

? First of all, I admit that devastating disasters in the future of the earth are inevitable, but Hawking is a bit exaggerated, or he is overly worried. These threats do exist, but for now, they are not as serious as Hawking said. These threats are still within the controllable range of mankind.

? Space colonization is not practical at present. We have yet to find a planet that is completely suitable for human habitation. Even Mars, which is the most suitable for human habitation, still faces many problems. Before we find a place that is basically suitable for human habitation, there is no need to invest too much manpower and material resources to colonize space, because it involves huge risks, and insisting on doing so will undoubtedly waste money and harm people.

? Artificial intelligence will indeed bring some negative impacts, but it is impossible in my opinion to say that it can surpass humans and be uncontrolled. No matter how powerful the AI ??is, it just needs to be unplugged. It also does not have the emotions that humans have. After all, we basically know nothing about what consciousness is. Even if AI does have emotions in the future, our research on consciousness will have reached its peak by then. Are we still afraid that we will not be able to control AI? ?

In the end, Hawking’s full credit for shaping the future to science is one-sided. He is guilty of over-reliance and blind faith in science. Although science can explain many problems, science also has its limitations. Not all problems can be solved by science. Perhaps religion and philosophy will occupy a larger share in the future, or perhaps there will be a new worldview and methodology to dominate our standards in the future. These are all unknown.