DEEPAK CHOPRA Explains Stephen Hawking's The Grand Design

Deepak Chopra gives some much-needed sense to the ongoing discussion of Stephen Hawking's new book, The Grand Design. He explains that when Hawking said that a Creator is not needed to explain how the universe began, behind the sound bite was a deeper insight, which is that one law of nature, gravity, transcends space and time. Therefore, as long as gravity exists, multiple universes can unfold out of nothing. To me it seems to be basically a discussion about creation, instead of religion.
     . . . .  June


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A New Creation Story: Beyond Religion and Science
October 11th, 2010

Stephen Hawking made worldwide news with his sound bite about how the universe was created. Specifically, he said that a Creator is not needed to explain how the universe began. Behind the sound bite was a deeper insight, which is that one law of nature, gravity, transcends space and time. Therefore, as long as gravity exists, multiple universes can unfold out of nothing.

Among scientists this proposition has raised eyebrows and no doubt will be discussed for a long time. But let’s look at the larger picture. The discussion about creation has grown stale. On one side science sticks by its basic principles: the laws of nature govern the universe, randomness prevails over any possible pattern or design, and all phenomena, including the human mind, can be reduced to physical properties. On the other side religion sticks to its basic principles: God or the gods created the universe, the hand of the creator can be seen everywhere in nature, and human beings are connected to the divine, giving us a privileged position in the cosmos.

To resolve this opposition, dozens of books have attempted to reconcile science and faith. Yet without a doubt science has the upper hand. The modern world is willing to throw out any number of beliefs about God if the facts don’t fit. Science isn’t willing to throw out a single piece of data, however, to satisfy an article of faith. The net result is that science has become bolder. The old position was that physics is separate from metaphysics. But Hawking’s statement that a Creator is unnecessary is nothing less than a metaphysical statement. In fact, it points the way to abolishing metaphysics altogether. Why bother with God when science is on the verge of delivering a Theory of Everything?

The problem is that just at the moment when science is poised to strike the last blow, it has gotten stuck. Metaphysics hasn’t been defeated; rather, physics has been forced to peer into the domain of God with no way forward. Hawking himself has been forced to concede that there is no Theory of Everything. There is only a patchwork of smaller theories, each competent to explain a specific aspect of nature, but with no unifying principle.

This statement isn’t going down well among cosmologists. They want a unified model based on mathematical certainty, not a shrug of the shoulders. They already know that time and space emerged from the quantum void, but this nothingness has to be explained. Otherwise, it could contain absolutely anything. Hawking states quite firmly that it cannot be explained. He clings to gravity as a substitute for God, since without gravity, creation falls apart.

Some scientists refuse to be shocked; others refuse to give up. Cosmologists earn their paycheck by winning grants based on the latest mathematical model for how the universe came to be. But to an outside observer, Hawking’s basic insight, that the human mind will never be able to pierce the quantum vacuum, feels like a direct challenge to science’s story of creation. It doesn’t support religion’s creation myths, not by a long shot. But Hawking has deeply considered the big picture of cosmology and declared the game over, if the game is a perfect model that will unify all the laws of nature. An outside observer would also conclude that it might be too early to give up. Perhaps we can move forward if creation depends on basic principles that neither science nor religion has accepted so far.

Which is exactly what is happening in the forefront of speculative thinking. Religionists are trying to rethink God in light of quantum mechanics; scientists are looking to spiritual traditions for glimpses into the realm that transcends the five senses. A new creation story is trying to be born, and although nobody knows the outcome yet, here are the new founding principles that currently vie for acceptance . . .

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Stephen Hawking Says That Extraterrestrial Life Almost Certainly Exists

Marauding space aliens? Perhaps. According to the article below Stephen Hawking, the legendary theoretical physicist, proclaimed that extraterrestrial life is almost certain to exist and that they're probably scavenging the universe for resources after destroying their own homes. Our technology isn't good enough yet to scan the distant solar systems that could possibly support life, so we don't know. Read the rest of the article.
    . . . June

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Stephen Hawking may be right about marauding space aliens:

Aliens have been in the news this year. In April, cosmic oracle Stephen Hawking, the legendary theoretical physicist, proclaimed that extraterrestrial life is almost certain to exist. He also mentioned, by the way, that we should stay as far away from aliens as possible, since they're probably scavenging the universe for resources after destroying their own homes.

Then, in August, two separate teams of astronomers discovered that distant solar systems had as many as 10 planets, one of which may be capable of hosting life because of its near-Earth size. That brings the total count of confirmed planets outside our solar system to more than 400.

How do astrophysicists find these far-off planets? What makes a planet a good candidate for hosting life? And when can we expect to be Skyping with E.T.? Let's pull on our alien-hunting boots.

The first step is defining our quarry. Hawking could be right - maybe there are fearsome extraterrestrials zipping around the universe at hyper-speed. Or maybe silicon-based life forms are riding across a distant galaxy on an asteroid as you read this. But most astrophysicists aren't betting on that.

Because current technology and resources limit our search to the nearest few hundred stars, our best odds lie in searching for the only kind of life we know to exist: carbon-based cells that consume oxygen and carbon dioxide. That means we're looking for a planet a lot like Earth.

The problem is that it's really hard to find planets more than 20 trillion miles away, because the bright light of their nearby star obscures them from view. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but with someone shining a floodlight in your eyes.

Over the last couple of decades, scientists have gotten around this problem through indirect observation: detecting the planets' effects on other objects.


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Stephen Hawking suggests 'Multiple Universes arise from Physical Law'

The Grand Design

 According to the following article, we really haven't learned a whole lot about the universe from Hawking's new book 'The Grand Design'-  unless maybe we're a physicist and can understand the concepts. Frankly, I sort of like the idea of M-theory -
that multiple universes can arise naturally from physical law. It sort of simplfies how we can think about our world, whether it's in actual fact or not.
   . . . June


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Physicist Hawking suggests 'theory of everything' applies
courierpostonline.com | Courier-Post:

'The Grand Design' may sharpen appetites for answers to questions such as 'Why is there something, rather than nothing?' and 'Why do we exist?' Questions like these have troubled thinking people at least as far back as the ancient Greeks.

Hawking likes the tale of the old lady who accused a lecturing cosmologist of talking nonsense: She knew for a fact that the whole universe lies on a flat plate, borne on the back of an enormous turtle.

"What does the turtle stand on?" the lecturer asked.


"Another turtle," she replied. "It's turtles all the way down."




For some readers, the answer from Hawking, known for his work on black holes and author of the best-selling "A Brief History of Time," and physicist Leonard Mlodinow, may not be much more satisfying.



The "grand design," says Hawking, is to be found in M-theory, an idea launched in the mid-1990s.



Annoyingly, there's no agreement on what the M stands for. The authors suggest "master," "miracle" or "mystery." Others also have been proposed, but none of these names offers the layman much help in answering the basic questions.



"According to M-theory, ours is not the only universe. Instead, M-theory predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing. Their creation does not require the intervention of some supernatural being or god," the book says. "Rather, these multiple universes arise naturally from physical law."

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Stephen Hawking - Making Something out of Nothing

 Stephen Hawking is his latest book "The Grand Design" made a statement that God is not necessary for creation. He didn't say that there is no God. The following article states: "Mind you, he’s not saying that God doesn’t exist. He’s merely reiterating what Scriptures have said right along – that what we humans perceive as “something” can and has developed from what we humans perceive as “nothing.”". There's also a quote from Deepak Chopra with his explanation
   . . . June

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Stephen Hawking: Making something out of nothing
Albany Interfaith Spirituality | Examiner.com:  September 12th, 2010 8:11 am ET

Stephen Hawking is not only a master physicist, he’s also a master publicist.

The media has been recently abuzz with Hawking’s latest and greatest shocker – his assertion that God is not necessary for the creation of this, or any other known universe. Mind you, he’s not saying that God doesn’t exist. He’s merely reiterating what Scriptures have said right along – that what we humans perceive as “something” can and has developed from what we humans perceive as “nothing.”

So we’re right back to wondering exactly how that can happen. Hawking boils it down to M Theory, or what he proclaims to be The Theory of Everything. The M, which used to stand for “membrane” until hotly disputed, is now etymologically up for grabs (ironically, some link it to “miracle”). Hawking contends that - since the laws of gravity exist, all else mathematically follows. And why do these laws of gravity exist? Who knows…

The concept of “nothing” is equally elusive. We all learned in grade school that zero is not necessarily nothing. It’s a place holder. When partnered with other digits, it multiplies and divides. When standing alone, it signifies the absence of all that we commonly perceive to exist. In order words, it can signify “no thing” – but the absence of “things” is not, in and of itself, a complete void.

Deepak Chopra addresses this crucial point in his analysis of Hawking’s (and coauthor Leonard Mlodinow’s) latest book, The Grand Design. In a September 8, 2010 Huffington Post article, Chopra and coauthor Menas Kafatos explain: … Hawking and Mlodinow are leading us on a journey to the very edge of ‘nothing,’ the underlying source of all space, time, matter, and energy, and the closer they get, the more their findings lend no contradiction to a universal presence, often referred to as God. The ultimate basis of material existence which physicists dub as this nothingness is the ground zero of creation. It is imbued with the pure order that generates mathematics; it gives rise to the laws of nature that govern and balance the universe; and it
remains mysteriously above its own creation, monitoring quantum interactions beyond the speed of light.

Read On . . .

Stephen Hawking Looks At Space Exploration, Time Travel

Stephen Hawking is one of the most intriguing men alive today as well as one of the most intelligent. Hawking is now almost completely paralyzed by Lou Gehrig's disease. Despite his disability, Hawking said he has lived a full life. When he speaks out on a subject, the world listens. He speaks out about space exploration in the article below.
    . . . June


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Stephen Hawking Speaks Out On Space Exploration, Time Travel:
SPACE.com



Humans must continue exploring space, if only for the romance of it, and time travel should be possible, but engineers will have to figure out a way to warp space-time to be sure, famed physicist Stephen Hawking says.



Hawking spoke out on those subjects and others in a Sunday interview with PARADE Magazine to discuss his new book 'The Grand Design' with Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinow.


In the interview, Hawking said he supports the continuation of human space exploration.

Robots may be good at gathering data, he argued, but they shouldn't entirely replace people in space. Seeing astronauts floating around in all that vast blackness is inspiring, and people need inspiration, he added.

"Science is not only a disciple of reason, but, also, one of romance and passion," Hawking told PARADE.

On paper, time travel should also be in cards because of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which allows for the potential to warp space-time so much that a traveler could leave Earth in a rocket and return home before he or she ever departed, Hawking said. Of course, that means you have to be able to warp space-time, which is pretty tricky.

Read on . . .