Cameron ALSO fancies himself a philosopher and theologian. And he is not nearly as well equipped as Hawking for such things. And Cameron is a media creation as well.
Good points.
Genius cosmologist Kirk Cameron takes down Hawking & Lennon
by unshackled 48 Replies latest jw friends
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botchtowersociety
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EntirelyPossible
Good points.
Danke.
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unshackled
TD: Hawking's "free pass" is not because he's disabled. It's because a mind like his only comes along every generation or so.
Exactly...well put TD. Cameron shows his true colors by going after Hawking's unfortunate condition. Pathetic really. Throwing in Lennon was just icing on the Cameron idiocy cake.
Sweeney: <rant>People are entitled to believe idiotic and wrong things. The ones who understand just how idiotic and wrong those people are ARE ALSO ENTITLED to critique, criticize, and correct them. WHAT'S MORE, there is a moral obligation to point out when others are idiotic and wrong in order to prevent idiocy and wrongheaded ideas from spreading even further than they already have. </rant>
Bravo, Sweeney, bravo.
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botchtowersociety
TD: Hawking's "free pass" is not because he's disabled. It's because a mind like his only comes along every generation or so.
Not to knock Hawking too much, but there are plenty of living physicists that have contributed as much to the science as he has. His greatest claim to a greater level of fame than the others is, I think, his science popularizations, and the fact that his disability makes him unique.
Here is the list of Nobel Laureates in Physics:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/
I don't see him on the list.
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Mad Sweeney
Botchtowersociety, you can't underestimate the value of what you call "his science popularizations." Most of us are non-scientists and NEED popularization to make physics understandable and interesting. Maybe Hawking doesn't do as much experimental research as many others and so doesn't break a lot of new ground in applications, but he's a thinker with the ability to connect with the general public and as such he's the face of physics genius for the current generation.
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botchtowersociety
I'm not knocking his work to educate the general public. Far from it. I admire that work and I have read it myself.
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bohm
Not to knock Hawking too much, but there are plenty of living physicists that have contributed as much to the science as he has.
Witten come to mind. But leaving that aside, being one of the greatest scientists alive (which we can surely agree on) hardly disqualify him in any way.
His greatest claim to a greater level of fame than the others is, I think, his science popularizations, and the fact that his disability makes him unique.
and so f*cking what? i have heard that expressed many times on this site and i really dont get it. He is popular mainly because he is likeable and tries to bring really hard things to the non-scientific community. and he is a damn good scientist. I think his popularity is deserved, and at any rate, popularity should not influence our evaluation of his ideas.
Here is the list of Nobel Laureates in Physics:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/
I don't see him on the list.
If you look really hard on that list you will see its called the nobel prize in physics and not theoretical physics. Specifically, the nobel prize focus very heavily on experimental physics, which is why a person like Witten is not on that list, while everyone understand he deserve something like a nobel prize for his work in unifying string theory. If (when) Hawkins radiation was observed Hawkins would get a nobel prize with 100% certainty. Unfortunately the chances are more than slim this will happend in his life time.
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sabastious
typos in title of OP:
- replace "cosmologist" with "cosmetologist"
- replace "takes down" with "critiques the hairstyles of"-Sab
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botchtowersociety
The Bohmster speaks.
I'd lean more toward Weinberg than Witten, for unifying the electromagnetic and weak forces.
I think superstring theory and quantum gravity will eventually prove to be crap. Like adding epicycles to Ptolemaic astronomy to explain planetary movement.
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unshackled
He is popular mainly because he is likeable and tries to bring really hard things to the non-scientific community.
Agreed bohm. What makes Hawking so likeable is that his fight with Lou Gehrig's disease is a triumph of human spirit. Not only extremely brilliant but he's clearly a fighter….having outlived his prognosis by 44 years.
Amazing what he has accomplished when he only has control of one muscle, and its in his cheek.