It may be that everything we do is determined by some grand unified theory. If that theory has determined that we shall die by hanging, then we shall not drown. But you would have to be awfully sure that you were destined for the gallows to put to sea in a small boat during a storm. I have noticed that even people who claim that everything is predestined and that we can do nothing to change it look before they cross the road. Maybe it’s just that those who don’t look don’t survive to tell the tale.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“Is Everything Determined?” lecture, Sigma Club Seminar, Cambridge University (1990-04)
(Source)
Reprinted in Black Holes and Baby Universes, and Other Essays, ch. 12 (1994). Hawking's thesis that the universe is actually deterministic, but too complex to be predictable, so acting as though free will exists is useful socially and, like fluid dynamics equations, satisfactory for most purposes.
Quotations by:
Hawking, Stephen
It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“Return of the Time Lord,” interview by Emma Brockes, Guardian (27 Sep 2005)Full text.
So Einstein was wrong when he said “God does not play dice”. Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can’t be seen.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Nature of Space and Time,” Lecture 1, “Classical Theory,” Princeton (1994)
Full text. Variants sometimes seen: "Not only does God play dice with the Universe; he sometimes casts them where they can't be seen." "Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." "God not only plays dice, He sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen."
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Science of Second-Guessing”, interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (12 Dec 2004)
Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Science of Second-Guessing”, interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (12 Dec 2004)
I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Science of Second-Guessing”, interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (12 Dec 2004)When asked his IQ.
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Science of Second-Guessing”, interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (12 Dec 2004)
Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
A Brief History of Time (1988)
The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
A Brief History of Time (1988)
For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
British Telecom advertisement (1993)
The victim should have the right to end his life, if he wants. But I think it would be a great mistake. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
Press conference, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (14 Jun 2006)
Full text.