Stephan Hawking must be tripping

[Joeybagadonuts]

Stephen Hawking, famed astrophysicist and author of "A Brief History of Time," warned that humanity's long-term survival depends on our doing one thing. We must abandon the Earth. But Stephen Hawking also said contact with aliens could get us killed.


Why Does Stephen Hawking Say To Abandon the Earth?

Hawking said that global warming, the threat of nuclear annihilation, and man's overall greed are the biggest threats we face as a species. He explained that the human race must learn to live in space and move to outer space if we are to survive.

Stephen Hawking's call for us to live in outer space seems couched in scare tactics, but he insists he's an optimist. "If we can avoid disaster for the next two centuries, our species should be safe, as we spread into space," Hawking said.

Why Does Stephen Hawking Say Contact with Aliens Could Get us Killed?

On an April broadcast of "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking," he warned that "contact with aliens could get us killed." His argument, according to the New York Daily News, was, "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."

So Why Does Stephen Hawking Still Say We Should Live in Space?

Stephen Hawking said that as long as we are the only intelligent life in this galaxy, we should be fine living in outer space. But it needs to happen soon. Optimism aside, Hawking warned, "It will be difficult to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million."

Stephen Hawking also said that while contact with aliens could get us killed, we're not likely to find many intelligent alien species. We're more likely to find alien microbes or animals. Of course, "War of the Worlds" should be kept in mind when dealing with alien microbes. The aliens who tried to kill us off died from the common cold.

Is Stephen Hawking's Call to Abandon the Earth Possible Now?

Katherine Freese, who is an astrophysicist with the University of Michigan, was quoted by the London Telegraph as saying the next closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri, 4.2 light years away.

If we take Stephen Hawking's warning to abandon the Earth seriously enough to stage a mission to Proxima Centauri to find a livable planet, with current rocket technology, it will take us 50,000 years to get there.

Stephen Hawking's call to abandon the Earth shouldn't depend on interstellar travel. Until we develop the means to make a trip between stars shorter than the age of some civilizations, Hawking's call to live in space will be more easily served by building space stations and moon colonies.

But Should We Listen to Stephen Hawking?

It's not that Stephen Hawking is one of those people who is so smart he's always right. There's no such thing. But Stephen Hawking rarely gets this adamant unless he's sure. Also, he's not the only person who's called for humanity to abandon the earth and live in space over the years.

Stephen Hawking's warnings about the threat of human extinction are obvious to most people. We are our worst enemy. Even Pogo had that right when he said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

Of course, Stephen Hawking's call to abandon the Earth leaves us carrying our own worst enemy into space. Those calls to get along we've heard and made over the years may be even more vital now than ever.

 

[EbonyNIvory]

Is your Mike Yates alt broken?

 

[Bert Notorius]

Species come and go.

He should know that.

 

[Songcatcher]

Whoever wrote the article, I don't see any writing talent.

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

Is your Mike Yates alt broken?

Mike Yates?

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

Stephan Hawking is always interesting and I agree we are killing the planet.

I also agree we are a fucked up life form but I don’t understand how he thinks that leaving the planet will prevent us from self destruction.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Stephan Hawking is always interesting and I agree we are killing the planet.

I also agree we are a fucked up life form but I don’t understand how he thinks that leaving the planet will prevent us from self destruction.

Because we'll no longer have all our eggs in one basket.

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

I think he's been watchig too many Star Trek re-runs.

 

[eyer]

...I don’t understand how he thinks that leaving the planet will prevent us from self destruction.

Exactly...greed is hard-wired - it ain't leaving us anytime soon.

Don't you find it interesting that a simple 'ol human character trait like greed is right up there on his list w/ global warming and nuclear annihilation?

Those whackos of the bible seem to be on to something...

 

[richard_daily]

Because we'll no longer have all our eggs in one basket.

Yes, but wouldn't we just be delaying the inevitable? We'd still end up killing ourselves.

The solution is just running from the problem.

 

[satindesire]

Stephan Hawking is always interesting and I agree we are killing the planet.

I also agree we are a fucked up life form but I don’t understand how he thinks that leaving the planet will prevent us from self destruction.

I think the self-destruction that we will avoid by leaving Earth will be things like Global Warming, etc.

In Space, there's no globe to fuck up. We'll actually be forced to have to learn how to be frugal with commodities and resources for once, recycle, keep a healthy body, and work HARD because waste will rapidly lead to death. Here on the planet, we as a whole don't really think about being frugal with resources or recycling because the bad things that are going to happen in the future, well, that's the FUTURE! We'll be -dead- by the time that shit happens, so why worry about it now?

That's just my opinion, though.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

Stephan Hawking is always interesting and I agree we are killing the planet.

I also agree we are a fucked up life form but I don’t understand how he thinks that leaving the planet will prevent us from self destruction.

Hawking's "abandon earth" proposal is even dumber than you suspect.

In order for humans to colonize the moon or mars (nowhere else is even remotely [pun intended] feasible) what do we have to take with us as a bare minimum?

Correct. Air, water and a food supply. And colonization means the ability to replenish all three indefinitely. Answer: biospheres. Okay, we've played with the idea a little bit here on earth. No big deal. It's just biology and chemistry, right?

So assuming we master that technology and get a nice shady spot picked out on Mars, how many trips (and centuries) will it take to build communities to house.......how many people? Surely you weren't thinking about the entire fucking population of Earth, were you Steven? Even Noah only had to transport two of each species and intellectuals today make fun of that legend/myth.

So who do we leave behind, and what are the politics of that?

But even if you could take everybody, why would you? If the worse thing man can do to Earth is continually poison it to the point of it becoming an airless, barren desert like the moon or Mars, why transport the biospheres and inhabitants there?

Just build the damn things out in the Mojave or Sahara and move in as soon as they're done.

Think it through folks. The only reason to leave Earth for space colonization is when our Sun begins to turn into a Red Giant and threatens to literally consume the Earth. Short of that, there are far easier remedies to our worst environmental stupidity.