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Hawking Says Scientific Progress Is Major Source of New Threats To Humanity

HughPickens.com writes: BBC reports that according to Stephen Hawking most of the threats humans now face come from advances in science and technology, including nuclear war, global warming and genetically-engineered viruses. "Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, and becomes a near certainty in the next thousand or ten thousand years," said Hawking in answer to a question during the BBC Reith Lectures. "By that time we should have spread out into space, and to other stars, so a disaster on Earth would not mean the end of the human race. However, we will not establish self-sustaining colonies in space for at least the next hundred years, so we have to be very careful in this period."

During his lecture Hawking also answered a question on whether his synthesized electronic voice had shaped his personality, perhaps allowing the introvert to become an extrovert. Replying that he had never been called an introvert before, Hawking added: "Just because I spend a lot of time thinking doesn't mean I don't like parties and getting into trouble."

7 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why care? by Fragnet · · Score: 3, Funny

    Help? Have you seen his wife?

  2. Re:Why care? by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Funny

    What if we aren't an intelligent species?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  3. It's our own fault by wkwilley2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    To quote the late, great Bill Hicks, "We're a virus with shoes"

    --
    Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
  4. Re:He's not wrong by narcc · · Score: 5, Funny

    The most dangerous of them all...

  5. Re:He's not wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maxim 24: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a big gun.

  6. Re:Why care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whoa. Like, dude.

    But what if being intelligent enough to realize you aren't an intelligent species makes you an intelligent species?

    <// /// /// //>~~ ~

  7. Re:He's not wrong by laurencetux · · Score: 3, Funny

    yes and of course

    6. If violence wasnâ(TM)t your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it.

    8. Mockery and derision have their place. Usually, it's on the far side of the airlock.

    12. A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head.

    14. "Mad Science" means never stopping to ask "what's the worst thing that could happen?"