I am going to begin a new chapter of my Steemit journey by looking at the life of people who have affected the earth as we know it in more ways than we can find words to appreciate.
So it is no surprise that this adventure would start with a man who literally carried the world on a wheel chair using a mixture of intelligence, humor and wit.
3 years ago, i was able to get close to one of my University professor, Prof. Jimaza; An expert in Micro-Economics in the University of Abuja, Nigeria. You'll find it surprising that a student of Economics and an expert in that same field would share and be connected by a man whose life has been dedicated to the sciences. We discussed some of Stephen Hawkins Theories and Ideas that i soon became the envy of some students. To be close to a professor in Nigeria is never an easy fit.
This connection was so deep that on the 14th of March 2018 at about 9am, I got a call from Prof. Jimaza.
"Stephen Hawkins is dead" He said.
I didn't know what to say. In that moment, we both mourned him in our own little way. Two Economics heads, connected by a man so intelligent he helped us touch the stars.
I like to imagine i have met and sat with Stephen Hawkins, so for easy reading and for the sake of my sweet ego, we would be talking about his thoughts and ideas in an interview style. So join me as i introduce you to the life of Stephen Hawkins.
STEPHEN HAWKINS: The man who didn't die
HIS BELIEFS
Q: Do you believe in God?
Hawkings: I believe there is a grand design to the universe but it has nothing to do with God. With the theory of everything and the breakthroughs in science, soon every human would be able to benefit from this grand design.
“Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t. I’m an atheist.”
The truth is, there is a fundamental difference between religion and science. Religion is based on authority and science is based on observation and reason. Eventually science would win because it works.
Q: If you do not believe in the existence of God, how then would you say the universe was created?
Hawkings: The universe or universes as the case may be were created out of nothing. Their creation does not require the intervention of a God. The Universe was created naturally from physical law.I know it doesn't immediately make sense, Something from nothing! This is cos at the level humans experience the universe, we see cause and effect, but cause and effect does not exist on the quantum level in the same way that we experience it.
“Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.”
So when people ask me if the Universe was created by God. I look at them and smile cos that question doesn't make any sense in the first place. Time didn't exist before the Big bang so how would God find the time to make the universe in. Its like asking directions to the edge of the earth. You and i know the earth doesn't have an edge as it is sphere.
Q: You talked about the theory of everything. Can you shed more light on that.
Hawkings: The theory of everything also known as master theory or ultimate theory simply put is just a proposed notion that the universe and its entirety, laws of physics and every other theory can be link and understood under one theory. Think of it as an umbrella.
Over the years modern physics have been built on two major theories, General relativity and quantum field theory. What the theory of everything hoped to accomplish is combine this two theories into a unified approach.
By studying black holes, i was able to create a formula that unified quantum field theory and general relativity theory. You see, while quantum mechanics try to understand the universe by studying the motion of small tiny particles that make up large bodies, the general relativity or classical physics tried to understand it by describing the motion of large bodies.
But with the discovery of the Hawking Radiation, i was able to interweave quantum mechanics and general relativity. To understand this, one need to understand the concept of a black hole.A black hole is a densely packed region of space made of matter usually like a very large ball with a strong gravitational pull so strong that nothing can escape out of it.
Black holes form when the center of a very large star collapses in upon itself. A black hole is defined as a densely packed region of space, you can imagine it like a stress ball made up of matter, where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing can escape out of it. Around the stress ball, there is a circular region of space which encapsulates it, and the perimeter of this circle is known as the event horizon -which is can be thought of as a wall that separates what the reality we can perceive from that which inside the black hole. We cannot see anything beyond this point.
So contrary to popular opinion, i believe that black holes can radiate energy and since quantum mechanics state that an empty space is actually not empty as there is the creation and destruction of energy on a subatomic scale, so also it is for a black hole.
When particles are created in the black hole around a place called the event horizon, some of them are sucked in deeper into the black hole but in other for the law of conservation of energy to hold, the particle that goes deeper into the black hole would need to also carry negative energy.
In essence, if the black hole is receiving negative energy, then it is also loosing energy and therefore loosing mass, which makes the black hole gets smaller as it emits more energy. Hence black holes are like vitamin tablets placed in water, they can dissolve with time.
Whew!! Hope i didn't blab too much
Q: No sir, that actually sounds very interesting.
Hawkings: So now you know,
“If you feel you are in a black hole, don’t give up. There’s a way out.”
Q: That's very true.
Q: Lets go away from physics now. Do you believe their are extra terrestrial lives out there?
Hawkings: Of course i believe there are alien lives out there. I have even committed to a cause for searching for alien lives using radio waves and visible light observations of 1 million nearby stars and 100 galactic centers. As humans, what we should rather concern ourselves with is the effect of first discovery. What would happen wehn we first come in contact with alien life.
"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans. We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet."
Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.
Q. Interesting, thank you for your time sir. Do you have any last words for our readers?
Hawkings: The truth is,
We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.
Also
I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.
And finally
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
Q: Thank you so much sir, may you continue to live on in our hearts.
References:
Disclaimer: This was not a real interview and every thought shared was based on the the writer's understanding of Stephen Hawking's statements as seen from research conducted when writing this article.