We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.
Stephen HawkingRead
A theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: it must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A good theory effectively explains many observations with minimal assumptions and predicts future outcomes.
Stephen Hawking's quote emphasizes the criteria for a robust scientific theory. It should not only provide an accurate account of a wide range of phenomena with simplicity but also be able to forecast future observations, thus demonstrating its reliability and usefulness in understanding the natural world.
Themes
TheoryPredictionsObservationsScienceModel
In practice
Example use cases
In a science class, when discussing the importance of theories in explaining natural phenomena.
More from Stephen Hawking
All quotes βI regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
Stephen HawkingRead
It surprises me how disinterested we are today about things like physics, space, the universe and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination. Its a crazy world out there. Be curious.
Stephen HawkingRead
I was not a good student. I did not spend much time at college; I was too busy enjoying myself.
Stephen HawkingRead
The world has changed far more in the past 100 years than in any other century in history. The reason is not political or economic but technological-technologies that flowed directly from advances in basic science. Clearly, no scientist better represents those advances than Albert Einstein: TIME's Person of the Century.
Stephen HawkingRead
In my opinion, there is no aspect of reality beyond the reach of the human mind.
Stephen HawkingRead
Similar quotes
At lunch Francis [Crick] winged into the Eagle to tell everyone within hearing distance that we had found the secret of life.
James D. WatsonRead
It was about three o'clock at night when the final result of the calculation [which gave birth to quantum mechanics] lay before me ... At first I was deeply shaken ... I was so excited that I could not think of sleep. So I left the house ... and awaited the sunrise on top of a rock.
Werner HeisenbergRead
The scientific spirit is of more value than its products, and irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.
Thomas HuxleyRead
The radical novelty of modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief... that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart.
Walter LippmannRead
We've all been sick; we're all afraid of infection. I think the easiest application to help people understand what quorum sensing is and why it's important to study is to tell them that if we could make the bacteria either deaf or mute, we could create new antibiotics.
Bonnie BasslerRead
In more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, much more than the end, of history.
Carl SaganRead