We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.
Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein's general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that time travel, once considered only a fantasy, may be possible due to scientific principles outlined in Einstein's theory of relativity.
Stephen Hawking's quote emphasizes the extraordinary implications of Einstein's general theory of relativity, proposing that the fabric of space-time can be manipulated in ways that challenge our conventional understanding of time. This opens up the idea that time travel may not just belong in the realm of science fiction, but rather could become a reality through advances in science and technology.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a science class discussing relativity, a teacher might quote Hawking to inspire students about the potential of scientific exploration.
More from Stephen Hawking
All quotes →I 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.
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.
I was not a good student. I did not spend much time at college; I was too busy enjoying myself.
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.
In my opinion, there is no aspect of reality beyond the reach of the human mind.
Similar quotes
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What is it that keeps you so interested in the telomere? It's so intricate and complicated, and you want to know how it works.
I think that when we know that we actually do live in uncertainty, then we ought to admit it; it is of great value to realize that we do not know the answers to different questions. This attitude of mind - this attitude of uncertainty - is vital to the scientist, and it is this attitude of mind which the student must first acquire.
Space exploration is a force of nature unto itself that no other force in society can rival.
We have genuflected before the god of science only to find that it has given us the atomic bomb, producing fears and anxieties that science can never mitigate.
If Watson and I had not discovered the [DNA] structure, instead of being revealed with a flourish it would have trickled out and that its impact would have been far less. For this sort of reason Stent had argued that a scientific discovery is more akin to a work of art than is generally admitted. Style, he argues, is as important as content. I am not completely convinced by this argument, at least in this case.