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.
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We need more science in the world. Train me.
Paleontologists [fossil experts] have paid an exorbitant price for Darwin's argument. We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life's history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view our data as so bad that we almost never see the very process we profess to study.
For I am well aware that scarcely a single point is discussed in this volume on which facts cannot be adduced, often apparently leading to conclusions directly opposite to those at which I have arrived. A fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.
We only have to capture 1/10,000th of the solar energy landing on earth to completely satisfy all our energy needs.
There are strong reasons for believing that space goes on beyond the limits of our observational horizon. There are strong reasons because if you look in opposite directions, conditions are the same to within one part in 100,000. So if we are part of some finite structure then, if the gradient is so shallow, it is likely to go on much further.
But in most cases even the possibility that the correlations reflect shared genes is taboo.