54 pages • 1 hour read
Stephen HawkingBrief Answers to the Big Questions
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Knowing the Universe Through Science
Perhaps the most important lessons Stephen Hawking imparts to the general public in this book are (1) that the techniques of science can discover how the universe works without appealing to revealed knowledge or supernatural forces and (2) that science can solve the problems that plague humanity. Whereas people once explained the mysteries of life—storms, lightning, earthquakes, diseases—as the arbitrary decisions of gods, in the past few hundred years science has discovered natural explanations for nearly all of these phenomena. Hawking asserts that gods need not intervene in reality or even create it; the laws of physics dictate the beginning, middle, and end of the universe’s history. Regardless of whether a god exists, claims Hawking, such an entity wouldn’t meddle in our affairs. Instead, nature behaves in an orderly manner that, even at its extremes, humans can discern using the tools of science.
In recent decades, scientists have established two great pillars of physics: relativity theory, which sets the rules for the universe at large, and quantum mechanics, which defines the behavior of the microscopically small. These two monuments of the human intellect have brought a complete understanding of the workings of the cosmos almost within reach. Already, astrophysicists understand enough about the workings of the cosmos to begin making plans to visit other star systems. Through these discoveries, “knowing the mind of God is knowing the laws of nature” (28). The wonder of science is that it can tease out arcane yet useful truths about reality. Although its techniques are slow and careful and its attitude is one of formal humility, science makes astounding discoveries—the immense size and age of the universe, exploding stars, black holes—natural phenomena that even the most extraordinary stories from mythology couldn’t imagine.
Armed with the hard-won knowledge of science, people can reshape matter and energy to benefit humanity. Many problems remain unsolved—such as environmental degradation, nuclear war, economic disparities, and persistent diseases—but science, properly applied, can help overcome each of these problems if people prioritize doing so. Hawking calls on educators to redouble efforts to make science appealing to young students from whose ranks will emerge the Einsteins of the future. Already, science—and the technology it enables—has improved billions of lives. Smartphones, the internet, and improved communications open a world of possibilities to people who might otherwise feel excluded from human enterprise. It’s an unfinished job, but as Hawking notes, science can lead the way toward a better future for everyone, without recourse to deities.
The Dangers of Modernity
Hawking isn’t against technology but worries that the risks inherent in modern weapons systems, extensive use of fossil fuels, and artificial intelligence (AI) may cause a catastrophe. To that end, he’s upbeat about the possibilities for space exploration and finding other worlds to colonize. For Hawking, keeping humanity on a single planet, given people’s growing ability to destroy civilization, is a poor way to manage our future.
Three major threats to humanity are nuclear war, climate disaster, and misaligned AI or super-AI. Each could end life as we know it. Unless nuclear weapons are banned, eventually they’ll result in devastation. Unless technology can replace fossil fuels as energy sources and recapture gases that otherwise raise the temperature of the atmosphere, Earth may suffer a “runaway climate change” (162), and unless AI is developed with great care, it might get out of control and damage or destroy the human species.
Hawking points to two major technical possibilities for rescuing Earth from devastation and saving humanity from extinction. These are the careful use of AI to solve festering problems on our planet and the colonization of moons and planets beyond Earth. Both carry risks, but each offers the possibility of tremendous success.
AI involves computers that train themselves to think usefully about human problems, manage projects, invent new things, and make discoveries. AI may soon outstrip humans as intelligent agents, and this carries risks: Such computational machines might wander beyond their assigned duties and become difficult or impossible to corral or shut down. Hawking considers these risks solvable if we address them early on and with great care. Well-behaved AI would have the potential to make tremendous inroads against persistent problems, offering cures for diseases, solutions to poverty, ways to control climate change, and fixes for environmental degradation.
A robust collection of off-planet colonies would ensure that some portion of humanity survives if people fail to prevent a climate catastrophe or a nuclear war disaster. To this end, Hawking argues forcefully for a dedicated effort to travel into space—first to the moon, where underground colonies and mining operations could be established that would retrieve much-needed resources, and then to Mars and beyond: “I believe it is up to scientists like me, together with innovative commercial entrepreneurs, to do all we can to promote the excitement and wonder of space travel” (169).
This project won’t be easy—it may take decades to achieve the first footholds on other worlds—and it will be risky. Beyond those early colonies lie the nearby stars, many planets of which are Earthlike and orbit in “Goldilocks zones”—zones that aren’t too hot or too cold. Such a project requires technology we haven’t yet developed, and travel to other star systems will initially take decades. Still, the audacity of such a dream can inspire humans to make great efforts and impart meaning and purpose to our future. Through science and technology, then—including advanced computers and spaceships for colonizing other worlds—humans can find solutions to the problems we’ve created for ourselves.
A Limitless Future
Although Hawking fears for humanity’s chances over the next 1,000 years, he’s optimistic that, if we survive, we’ll make massive advances in quality of life, our intelligence, and the possibilities for colonizing other worlds. These advances fundamentally have no limit: Humans could enjoy millions of years of continuous improvement and, along with it, expansion into the further reaches of the galaxy and beyond.
AI already has shown great promise, and it’s just getting started. Hawking believes that computerized intelligence will soon find cures for dread diseases, figure out how to control climate change, and provide great bounty for all. In addition, it will advance our ability to communicate, bringing the world closer together and enabling everyone—rich and poor, people with disabilities, and yet-unsung geniuses—to participate. Computers, the internet, smartphones, and electronic devices for people with disabilities already have greatly increased our connectedness, and these achievements are merely the beginning of what’s possible.
While doing all this, we’ll improve our abilities, becoming increasingly intelligent. By connecting our brains directly to AI through the internet, we could greatly increase our brainpower. Advances in genetic engineering may permit people to adjust their DNA and become brighter, stronger, and more long-lived and possess new abilities.
Such advances may cause social upheaval: “Once such superhumans appear, there are going to be major political problems with the unimproved humans, who won’t be able to compete” (81). Meanwhile, AI machines themselves may reproduce extensively and become the dominant form of intelligence on Earth, perhaps replacing DNA-based brainpower altogether. Either way, the result is a vast expansion of intelligence that then travels out into the cosmos. Intellect, for Hawking, is key to humanity’s success, especially as it begins to explore the galaxy. Smarts, organic or mechanical, will be critical to space exploration and the eventual expansion of civilization that results.
Hawking hopes that people well trained in science and engineering will slip the bonds of Earth and venture forth to build vast new worlds for our descendants. He believes that we can fix the problems on our home planet, improve our intelligence, and travel outward to colonize the galaxy: “Looking further ahead, there are no fundamental limits to what can be achieved” (187).
Related Titles
By Stephen Hawking
