We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.
Stephen HawkingRead
The voice I use is a very old hardware speech synthesizer made in 1986. I keep it because I have not heard a voice I like better and because I have identified with it.
Interpretation
Stephen Hawking expresses a deep connection to his unique synthetic voice, valuing it over newer options.
In this quote, Stephen Hawking reflects on his choice of voice generated by an old hardware speech synthesizer, illustrating how personal identity and comfort can transcend advancements in technology. His attachment to this voice underscores the importance of familiarity and the role it plays in self-expression, demonstrating that what may seem outdated can still hold significant value for an individual.
In practice
In a speech about overcoming obstacles, I might refer to Hawking's attachment to his voice to illustrate personal identity.
We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.
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.
I've had a chance to fly a lot of different airplanes, but it was nothing like the shuttle ride.
You may object that by speaking of simplicity and beauty I am introducing aesthetic criteria of truth, and I frankly admit that I am strongly attracted by the simplicity and beauty of mathematical schemes which nature presents us. You must have felt this too: the almost frightening simplicity and wholeness of the relationship, which nature suddenly spreads out before us.
The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from an investigation of the governing physics.
The overwhelming majority of theories are rejected because they contain bad explanations, not because they fail experimental tests.
Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it.
There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.