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Hawking’s latest book, Short Answers to Difficult Questions, is a collection of articles and essays written just before his death in March 2018. As always, he doesn’t shy away from tough questions.
Excerpts from a book published by The Sunday Times show that Hawking faced some of the biggest questions facing humanity today, from the possibility of the existence of God and life after death to the threat of extraterrestrial life and the artificial intelligence.
“One way or another, I believe that in the next 1,000 years, a nuclear confrontation or an environmental catastrophe will destroy the Earth, and that is inevitable,” he said. “Until then, I hope that our ingenious race has found a way to avoid these disasters.”
However, as he eloquently emphasizes, many threats will need to be avoided until this becomes a reality, from asteroid collisions to the rise of artificial intelligence. Hawking also talks about a less discussed topic: the menacing emergence of “superhumans” created using gene editing tools like CRISPR-Cas9.
“There is no time to wait for Darwin’s evolution to make us smarter and better,” he wrote. – [Dabar] we are entering a new phase, the so-called self-created evolution, in which we will be able to change and improve our DNA ”.
“The rise of such superhumans will pose serious political problems for unenhanced people who will not be able to compete,” he added. – They are likely to die or become irrelevant. Instead, there will be a race of beings who create themselves and who will improve themselves at an ever-increasing rate. If the human race is capable of redesigning itself, it is likely to spread out and colonize other planets and stars. “
S. Hawking asked another question about the existence of God. “The question is, did God choose the path of the beginning of the universe for reasons we cannot understand, or was it due to the laws of science? I believe in the second. If you want, you can call the laws of science “God,” but there would be a personal God to come together and ask you questions. “
Despite being an atheist all his life, Hawking is buried in Westminster Abbey in the scientists’ corner, alongside such luminaries as Darwin and Newton.
He had many solutions when he considered other important changes that could help humanity, such as trying to slow down climate change.
“It’s easy,” he wrote. – The development of fusion power, providing an unlimited supply of clean energy, and the transition to electric vehicles. Fusion would become a practical source of energy and provide us with an inexhaustible supply of energy without pollution or global warming. “
Although he is already dead, it turns out that he has not yet finished predicting and proposing solutions for the future of humanity.
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