Scientist Stephen Hawking Decries Iraq War

AP ^ | 11/2/04 | TIM ELFRINK

[bd476]

Disinformation from an otherwise intelligent man. It brings to mind similar nonsense from Bobby Fischer.

[spunkets]

#97 should be it was English and Euro...

[TOUGH STOUGH]

What a crying shame.

Even GREAT minds are sometimes wrong.

[pau1f0rd]

he always reminded us to learn the material so you never had to use a book, because someday, he said, all the books may be burned. He told us to learn to use physics in a common-sense way because someday you may be in a political prison and need to use your wits to escape.

I had a chill up my spine when I read this

[benjaminjjones]

Just goes to show that IQ don't mean a thing.

Sorry to read this about Hawking. I always admired him, not just for his forays into the more esoteric areas physics, but for his courage in dealing with his disability, and his efforts to popularize science.

I have his book (gave me a headache too, LOL) and I was (for 2 years) a physics major before I switched to EE. Trust me, thinking about physics too much or too long can mess your head up as bad as LSD. Realtime life and human interaction becomes irrelevant

It's not that IQ "don't mean a thing".

In theory, IQ tests are supposed to be a measure of raw processing power, but I don't really trust them. I mean, who writes the IQ tests? Are there social or cultural influences? etc., etc., yadayadayada. Quantifying raw processing power of a neural network is hard to do.

History of I.Q.

The problem I have with IQ tests is that if you load a super computer with a crap program, you're gonna get crap. On the other hand, if you load a super computer with a great program, it'll give you great results, but ONLY for the specific answer that you asked.

From what I could find, Hawking and Einstein have (had) estimated IQ's of 160. Estimated I.Q. of Famous People

They were both great a solving specific problems, but I wouldn't trust either of them to boil water.

On that same IQ list you have Hitler and Hitlery almost tied at 141 and 140. She's supposed to be incredibly smart, but is a complete failure as a wife, mother, and human being.

The point is that a high IQ is not something to be ignored. In Hitler and Hiltery's case, it can incredibly dangerous.

On the lighter side, I'll never forget reading some Playboy (I swear, I only bought it for the articles, LOL) that featured "smart" women with IQ's of 130. Despite the bimbo's physical assests, all I could think was "if y'all are so friggin' smart, why are you buck nekid in a men's magazine?"

[TheDon]

The grim question of how many people have died in Iraq has sparked heated debate over the years. The controversy dates from 1995, when researchers with a Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) study in Iraq wrote to The Lancet, the journal of the British Medical Society, asserting that sanctions were responsible for the deaths of 567,000 Iraqi children. The New York Times picked up the story and declared "Iraq Sanctions Kill Children." CBS followed up with a segment on 60 Minutes that repeated the numbers and depicted sanctions as a murderous assault on children. This was the program in which UN ambassador (and later Secretary of State) Madeleine Albright, when asked about these numbers, coldly stated, "The price is worth it."

The Nation

[anniegetyourgun]

A darn good assessment of the difference between smarts and IQ. But then, I'm blonde.....what do I know.....

[beelzepug]

"He's smart in physics and mathematics, obviously."

Or maybe he isn't. Since I haven't a clue what he's talking about, how do I know it isn't all just so much bull$#it?

[openotherend]

This ugly cripple is now fair game. Now that's intelligent. Maybe you'll get hit by a bus and be a cripple. That's implying you're already ugly.

I'm sorry for the ugly comment. I shouldn't have posted it.

[DianeDePoitiers]

There were some great scientists and philosophers who supported Hitler in the 1930's. And does anyone remember that nut case Bertrand Russell? To paraphrase Laura Ingraham, "shut up and study your black holes" - or whatever.

[Unam Sanctam]

Did Hawkings ever condemn Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses?

[spunkets]

"what do I know..."

What right and wrong are. Hawking doesn't.

[The Toad]

I'll just ignore his (Hawkings) comments--after all, all he does is study Uranus.

[atomic conspiracy]

Coming on the heels of the Lancet's Goebbels-style study alleging 100,000 civilian deaths in Iraq, and Richard Dawkins' increasingly shrill and reckless anti-American bigotry, this is simply conclusive evidence that the British scientific and intellectual community has lost its moral compass.

There is a lot at stake in this politicization of scientific status for evil ends, and the implications extend well beyond the current set of world conflicts.

The credibility of science itself is at stake, with fanatics and charlatans of every stripe and creed as the likely beneficiaries if that credibility collapses.
British scientists seek to appease the monsters of the Islamo/left/media alliance, but they are sowing the seeds of their own destruction and of a new dark age in doing so.

[The_Reader_David]

Academic attainment is not the same thing as what Aristotle called 'the ruling virtues'. It's the latter that all citizens in a democratic republic are called to exhibit whenever an election is held.

I am, myself, an academic. I am always staggered by how much people's politics reflects wanting to universalize their own circumstances: academics live in a quasi-socialist setting where 'the bottom line' in dollars and cents isn't the point, businessmen see everything in terms of the bottom line. Academics tend to be leftists, businessmen fiscal conservatives (often of a very narrowminded sort). Both positions are absurd: you can't run a business or an economy like a university, and you can't run a university or an education system like a business.

[benjaminjjones]

But then, I'm blonde.....what do I know.....

I demand a recount and ID verification on that, LOL

[Kirkwood]

I wish I knew more about his experiences in a Nazi prison, but he said very little in detail. He did say he worked slowly on nonsense things to make sure the Americans would forge ahead. He worked only enough to stay alive. He also feared being captured by the Russians, whom he hated as much as the Nazis.

[perfect stranger]

He is pretty much a lefty but I wish someone would show him this site.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Hey, an apology. That never happens. Good job - you've shown yourself to be a lot better than a lot of the people 'round here. I hope you have a good evening.

[Publius Valerius]

Well, I am surprised that it only generated one comment, yours, days later...