“There is
no God” says Stephen Hawking in his latest book. Compare this with the
paragraph with which he concludes his most famous book, “ A Brief History of
Time”:
“
However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be
understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then
we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to
take part in the discussion of why it is that we and the universe exist.
If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human
reason -- for then we would know the mind of God.”
(emphasis mine).
I think the problem here is the definition of
what we mean when we say the word “God”. If we limit our definition to the
mythological concepts developed by the various religions, we can understand why
Hawking made the first statement above. However, if we come at this in a
different way, we may see why Hawking is talking about the “knowing the mind of
God”.
