Standup Zone Forum
General => Random => Topic started by: PonoBill on March 13, 2018, 10:42:33 PM
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The model for tenacity and the value of pure thought has left us. A lot of other people died today as well, but not many left us with a little less hope for clarity because of their passing and a vacuum that can't be filled. Steven Hawking, 1942-2018
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A remarkable man/life in so many respects. Perservering/overcoming ALS for so long is practically impossible. Left with barely a life support system, he went inward/made incredible use of essentially the only thing he had- his mind. What a mind! Denied the luxury of distractions and maybe the burden as well, his life is not only a testimony to tenacity- but the incredible power of sustained focus.
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A great scientific mind. His mind will be hard to replace among his peers.
RIP
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A true testament to the human spirit...what an amazing mind and man.
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Steven Hawking is right inline with the modern day genius of Niels Bohr and Linus Pauling. To me, these are the greatest historical figures. Carve them up on a mountain. Fortunately for us there have been, and are people in the world like Steven Hawking. Aberrations of humanity in a most scientifically insightful way. They show us that anything is possible. His probably 1.912e+28 AMU will now be redistributed.
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As good a scientist as he was, the thing that really stands out for me was his human spirit. It cannot be understated how he was given mere years to live and he pushed that out to decades. A man whose physical abilities struggled to allow him to communicate and yet was one of the finest science communicators of his time.
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He also had a great sense of humor, as indicated by so many of his off the cuff quotes, and appearances on Big Bang and The Simpsons among others.
Certainly there will be a large, black hole in his absence...
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He also had a great sense of humor, as indicated by ...
So you are Data and you have a bit of time off. What to do? Get the Hawk, Einstein and Newton together for a poker game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=133&v=mg8_cKxJZJY
I have to admit I tried to read one of his books and failed miserably. I switched gears and resolved to enjoy his pop culture status, which for me peaked with reference to him as "the Hawk" - one of the elders of the internet on the IT Crowd.
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"A Brief History Of Time" is called the best selling book that no one read. I really don't get why. It's easy reading. "The universe in a nutshell" is kind of an update and is readable too despite the lack of a comma in the title. Black Holes and Baby Universes is a much tougher slog. I haven't read his other popular book--the grand design. It's probably time for me to do that.
I remember that Star Trek episode. I liked the portrayal of Newton as a touchy and irritable dick. I read a few biographies of Newton and the generally agree to that. He was appointed Warden of the Mint, and was responsible for dealing with counterfeiters. The two biographers I read agreed that he hung quite a few including a famous counterfeiter and confidence man whose name I can't recall.
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It is easy reading, and while I was reading I understood everything perfectly. It made me feel smart. But, when I stopped reading, it all faded pretty quickly. I'll probably dust it off and give it another read. I could use another dose of feeling smart about now...
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Robert Leighton said a lecture from Richard Feynman was like Chinese food. After the lecture, you think you understood everything he said, but half an hour later you're dumb again.
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What an amazing life.
Do all the greats have their own version of this quote?
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
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Probably, because it's the most important life lesson anyone learns. I think if you don't assume you are wrong about everything, then you absolutely are.
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If I were someone great, this would be my quote:
"To live is to learn."
I'm sure it's plagiarized.
Seeing I'm not great, I'll go with my own original quote:
"To live is to surf." ::)
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A little over used quoted but:
“To be is to do”—Socrates.
“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.