Posted on 05/16/2011 12:41:52 PM PDT by Former Fetus
British scientist Stephen Hawking has branded heaven a "fairy story" for people afraid of the dark, in his latest dismissal of the concepts underpinning the world's religions.
The author of 1988 international best-seller "A Brief History of Time" said in an interview with The Guardian published on Monday that his views were partly influenced by his battle with motor neurone disease.
"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he told the newspaper.
"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Some people would be interested in learning from such an excellent communicator who made the transition from atheist to believer. Some fear what they might learn. Some really don't want to learn that,
"Mere Christianity" is excellent food for thought.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
ROMANS 1:22
There is no branch of science, none whatever, that predicts that matter can “feel” things. If you hit a computer with a hammer it does not feel pain, for example. A computer attached to a video camera so it can “see” does not experience the color red, it only interprets bits coming in off a data feed, a series of numbers. These are simply facts: there is not even the beginnings of any theory that explains conscious experience and its associated sensations, and there is no analogy to that in the computer world whatever.
Even if I programmed a robot to say “ouch” when I hit it with a hammer, do you really feel sorry for it? No, because you know it was simply programmed to say “ouch” and you know it really has no sensations at all, it is merely responding to electrical signals. Our brains are also responding to electrical signals coming from our nerves, but something wonderful and unexpected happens: those signals also cause sensation, feelings, colors, smells. Furthermore, for those atheists who claim that human beings are really only complex machines, fine, tell me how anything in science, anything at all, predicts that machines, no matter how complex and no matter whether chemically/biologically based or otherwise, would experience sensations, see colors, feel pleasure or pain... and why would any of that even be necessary in the universe? Clearly I could program a complex machine to survive and do all manner of things biological beings do without them having to feel pleasure or pain or actually experience colors or sounds, don’t you think?
That, Mr. Hawking, should be the hint that makes you rethink your theory. Sensation is not only totally unnecessary in a purely physical world, it is also totally unexplained by anything in science. Even researchers on this topic have essentially given up trying to explain sensation. They search for “physical correlates” to sensoria, but they have no idea why such a thing should even exist. It seemingly arises out of nothing at all according to totally unknown rules.
Does the existence of sensation prove there is a god? Maybe not. But it does prove—very emphatically—that what you call science does not even scratch the surface of what the universe is all about. That should at the very least give you some pause to consider there are other things you do not know for sure.
I've had this sneaking suspicion that the whole "quantum mechanics" thingee has been nothing but a made up story by a bunch of geeky physicists who never got invited to good parties trying to get even with the rest of us!
Mark
CORRECTION:
Evolution is a “fairy story” for people afraid of truth.
There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers, but there is for humans. See John 3:16
There, fixed it.
God gave him endless gifts and free will to do what he wanted with them.
All I can say to that is, Amen and Amen!!!!
Thanks yes I knwo that but it did really do a number on me for many years wondering if somehow something I did made it that way?
You must be a Protestant!
I am always amazed at how stupid this jerk is.
I remember watching one of his specials where he says there is very little we don’t understand about the universe.
That is stupid enough but then he goes on to say that 80% of the universe is composed of ‘dark matter’ which nobody has ever seen or detected!
On their face his arguments are often absurd.
God knew his decision before the earth was created! What’s your point? Are you going to suggest that God should not have allowed him to be born knowing that he was going to reject Him? What you are fighting is the eternal dilemma of election vs. free will. I would not be honest if I said I understand it. But I know it is a fact that God knew what Hawkings would do, and I know it is a fact that he had a free choice. One day I will understand it, but not now.
I’m an atheist. I don’t try to debunk anyone’s beliefs, but I just don’t see any evidence of a God. There’s far more evidence of Bigfoot.
But I would happily accept any evidence someone could provide me. I think that life in an afterworld paradise would be mighty nice, but all indications are that it just isn’t so.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Ro. 1:20
I have a Ph.D. in molecular biology and I can vouch that a humble cell is the best proof of the existence of a Creator.
I can vouch that a humble cell is the best proof of the existence of a Creator.
Based on what?
It's takes much more faith to believe that all the intracacies of the universe, the solar system, man, animals, plants, physics, etc, just evolved or suddenly appeared than to place one's faith in the Creator, Who has clearly displayed Himself in creation itself. http://www.rockycreekbaptist.org
What you say is so true.
He was wrong about that black hole thingy too.
Romans 1:19,20 - didn’t they believe the sun revolved around the Earth and the Earth was the center of the universe? What credibility did they have?
You need to do a serious study of the cell. Just to give you an example, I spent several class periods explaining to my students the importance of accurate replication of DNA, and we looked at all the mechanisms by which the cell double proofs newly synthesized DNA to make sure it is a perfect copy of the parent DNA. But then we looked at RNA, how far less importants the effects of a “mistake” would be, and how much more relaxed RNA synthesis is. We even discussed how many “mistakes” in RNA synthesis either don’t make any difference, due to wobbling of the 3rd base in a codon, or the difference is minimal (change an aminoacid for another one that most likely will have similar properties). At the end, it took me close to an hour to compare both processes, and I challenged the class to think if “it just happened so”. That’s just one little example, you may want to sign up for my intro biology course, provided there are openings, it has turned out to be quite popular. How frequently do you get to see a professor raise her hands and proclaim “my Lord, how great Thou art” in class?
You are assigning genetic anomalies in RNA syntheses to God? That’s quite a stretch, Doc.
I took Intro to Microbiology during my undergrad, but if the professor had raised his hands and hands and proclaimed “my Lord, how great Thou art”, I probably would have withdrawn.
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