Sunday, September 05, 2010

Stephen Hawking Says Universe Created Itself From Nothing

Created Itself Spontaneously.
I shouldn't pick on Stephen Hawking.  He is severely disabled and is now in retirement.  Perhaps his judgment and scientific analysis are not as keen as they once were.

Nevertheless, I found it curious that Hawking believes the universe created itself.  He said:
“Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist.”
Okay. Maybe if I want a pizza, it will create itself from nothing.  I will call this "the Stogie Theory of Pizza."  I just hope it doesn't spontaneously create any anchovies.  Well, a few on the side is okay.

Hawking also stated that he does not believe a personal God exists.  Am I offended by this?  No.  But it seems so stereotypical of the establishment,  materialistic scientist, who can't see beyond his rack of test tubes.  Scientists are generally so cause-and-effect in their thinking (and that's a good thing), that it is curious to hear Hawking describe something so completely illogical and irrational in human terms:  that the universe created itself from nothing.

Maybe God created it.  Okay, but then who created God?  There is no plausible cause-and-effect scenario there, either.  Right.  I do agree.  Whether we are talking about God or the universe, the very existence of either is utterly impossible if we rely solely on human observation and experience.

But that's what human logic tells us -- and human logic is limited.  Human logic is based only on phenomena and natural laws that we can measure and observe, with our limited senses. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Lord Rees is said to be the greatest scientist in the United Kingdom, and he, like I, believes that the why and the how of the universe is beyond human understanding.  I always like to use my pet analogy, i.e. that we can no more understand the existence of the universe than a boll weevil can understand higher calculus.  No matter how hard that boll weevil studies math, or how advanced its calculator, it will never be able to understand E=MC2.  This is true even though the boll weevil has a big ego and believes there is nothing beyond the reach of his massive brain.

Lord Rees has his own analogy, and it ain't bad.  He says:
Some aspects of reality – a unified theory of physics or a full understanding of consciousness – might elude us simply because they’re beyond human brains, just as surely as Einstein’s ideas would baffle a chimpanzee.
Some other man, one J.D.S. Haldane described my position exactly when he said:
Now my own suspicion is that the universe is not only stranger than we suppose, but stranger than we can suppose.
Ah, great minds do think alike!

A materialist looks at a sky full of stars and sees a cosmic accident with no meaning or purpose. I, however, am more optimistic than that.   I see in the same sky a complex system that was purposely set into action, and though I do not understand it, that mankind is an important part of it all.  And it is good.

Update:  Reader Courtney sent me the attached graphic, "Atheism," in her comments on this post.  I liked it and I am adding it here!

10 comments:

  1. "the Universe can and will create itself from nothing" Afraid I don't have that much faith!

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  2. Either God is unquestionably evil, or God does not exist. I choose the latter opinion.
    Oh, and Jesus was a delusional narcissist.

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  3. Anonymous, you haven't supported your strange opinion with any logic, so I can't give it much credibility.

    Jesus may have been delusional, but he was no narcissist. He preached "love your neighbor as yourself" and died a horrible death in the belief that he was saving mankind. That is a strange definition of "narcissim."

    God, if he does exist, is no doubt more complicated than your ability to understand him. Or as Shakespeare said, "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

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  4. I think you contradict yourself. On the one hand, you have a mysterian view of the universe and think it cannot be explained with human logic (which I agree with, although I think we don't know for sure). But on the other hand, you summarily dismiss what, according to your logic, is a legitimate if humanly incomprehensible possibility.

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  5. Matt, I suppose anything is possible if you accept the limitations of human logic. However, to simply voice such a notion as fact, as Hawking did, is both arrogant and irresponsible.

    Yes, maybe the flying spaghetti monster that atheists like to bring up, did indeed create the universe. "Let us not reject a legitimate possibility simply because it seems incomprehensible in human terms."

    On the other hand, the same argument can also be used to state that God exists, even though we cannot explain his existence with human logic. I prefer this explanation to that of Hawking, as it has some clues to support it (e.g. the near death experience, the mystical experience, etc), if not actual proof, that it is true.

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  6. Are you trying to say Steven hawking is a materialist? Because I totally disagree that your last statement in anyway relates to hawking.

    Max

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  7. Max, yes I am saying that. If you disagree then explain why.

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  8. I don't believe that Hawking looks at the sky and see an accident with no purpose or meaning. How could his interest be held in something he finds no meaning?

    Physics is great for probing into our world and finding the intricate and perfect systems that we live among.

    Searching for the reason the universe began and accounting it to gravity something that brings us all together is a nice thought.

    Max

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  9. it makes more sense than believing in an imaginary friend.
    if god exists, he certainly isn't interfereing with anything physicial. for all intents and purposes, he does not exist.
    if he does, how do you know that he is good? there are so many variations: anti-god, god, 50% good good, 70% evil god, random god. And they all average to zero.

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  10. it makes more sense than believing in an imaginary friend.
    if god exists, he certainly isn't interfereing with anything physicial. for all intents and purposes, he does not exist.
    if he does, how do you know that he is good? there are so many variations: anti-god, god, 50% good good, 70% evil god, random god. And they all average to zero


    Anon, using cutesy language like "God is an imaginary friend" does little to impress me with your ability for deep thought. The rest of your comment is largely unintelligible.

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