Posted on 11/12/2010 1:18:50 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Yeah, our cats were screen climbers too. Mostly used the same window. Nothin’ there, then, ching! Cat’s hanging from the screen.
I sure hope not! I want to play Sigourney Weaver in 'Aliens' before I'm dead and cold, LOL!
Oh, that’s so cute!
Everything in the past was directly observed.
I believe you're speaking of, 'A Brief History of Time'. As to "no one reading it", I think you may be mistaken. It was on the NYT Best Seller list for four years.
And I read it. Found it fascinating and easy to read and understand. I got the book from my friend Joe, who was the least likely guy one would ever think who'd read about Blackholes and/or Physics (of any kind). As he was HS 'Sr' for 3 years.
he like HS so much he didn't want to leave :-)
"Paradox" is too kind a word for it:^)
Cordially,
I did a google search and snopes.com and nothing comes up about this except your post.
You are right that Hawking is not making scientific statements when he utters metaphysical statements about science.
However, it is not sufficient say that God is just as valid an explanation as science. God is necessarily the only explanation because without God explanation itself has no foundation whatever. Non-material laws of thought such as logic, reason and science are impossible in a strictly materialist universe.
So every time Hawking uses logic and reason he is, though he does not acknowledge it or admit it, tacitly assuming and thus evincing God's power and greatness. Hawking is blind to the fact that if he actually followed his presumptions consistently then he cannot justify or account for these very laws of thought he relies on and expects us to obey.
Cordially,
Somebody please help me out here. I'll just admit it up front that I am not a scientist and I have a couple of questions born of ignorance. Since time is relative, and flows slower the closer an object is to a large mass, then what does it mean to say, for example, that the universe is 14 billion years old? 14 billion years compared to what? Current time? Observer time? Obama time? What?
At the Big Bang all matter and energy were supposedly contained within an infinitesimal point. (Or at least I'm under the impression that's what it says.) Wouldn't the mass and relative size of the universe at the beginning and in subsequent stages have an effect on time? Can we know what the speed of time in those phases was, but again, though, compared to what?
Cordially,
From what I've read so for, I think the only thing I could understand in that book is maybe the cover and the dedication page.......
Is that something you really, really want to admit to?
Funny you talk about turnatable speed. I came up with a strange theory that the Atlanta Rhythm Section was really Fleetwood Mac when the 33 speed was upped to 45. Try it with Imaganary Lover!!!!
I am waiting for the point where Quantum Physics explains why socks get lost in the washer and/or dryer.
I don’t know anything about snopes.com, but this is something I heard with my own ears from one of the Washington pundits, on McLaughlin or some other show.
I agree with you. That said, one has to first accept that God is a valid explanation, as valid as science.
Hawking is blind to the fact that if he actually followed his presumptions consistently then he cannot justify or account for these very laws of thought he relies on and expects us to obey.
This is the beauty of discussing Hawking! It's perfectly obvious that if he were to treat each hypothesis equally and then let the chips fall, he would not be writing books say we don't need God to explain the universe.
Even if he just followed his own "observations" to their conclusions, they still end up being contradictory and internally inconsistent without God.
Hawking states that the force of gravity itself can create something out of nothing. If that is true, then the "law" of gravity is unpredictable and random, and therefore no "law" at all.
Moreover, if the law of gravity can create something out of nothing, and the law of gravity is operating at all times, then "reality" is never fixed. Gravity could create and insert, as it were, something out of nothing at any time, at any place.
Wow, this Hawking law of gravity thing is starting to sound a lot like an omnipotent spiritual power, but one that operates with something like intelligence, thus making our "reality," in gross terms, predictable and non-random.
Is that you in there, Diana?
Moreover, if the law of gravity can create something out of nothing, and the law of gravity is operating at all times, then "reality" is never fixed. Gravity could create and insert, as it were, something out of nothing at any time, at any place.
These are great points you make concerning the internal inconsistencies and self-vitiating futility inherent in Hawkings world view. Aside from the fact that he overlooks the obvious, (gravity is not 'nothing') if the "law" of gravity is unpredictable and random, and therefore no "law" at all, then on his atheist premise he has no logical right to affirm merely on the basis of past experiences that the future will be like the past or even that probability is true of the natural order. Without the principle of the uniformity of nature, the principle of induction and the ability to make predictions, there goes science itself out the window.
Hawking wants to have cake without the precondition necessary for cake.
Cordially,
This is why I love articles like this one; they frequently give you a new way to look at things. Thanks for the ping!
And I hope he keeps talking! Sometimes I wonder if the Lord isn’t going to crack his heart open right before he dies. But aside from that, the more Hawking talks about this, and the more people try to wrap their minds around it, the more people will at least be seeking answers to questions that just might lead them to the truth.
May it be!
Thanks for your enjoyable conversation.
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