We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.
I don't care much for equations myself. This is partly because it is difficult for me to write them down, but mainly because I don't have an intuitive feeling for equations.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the speaker's disinterest and struggle with understanding equations, emphasizing a lack of intuitive connection to them.
In this quote, Stephen Hawking conveys his personal experience with equations, highlighting that his difficulty in writing them and lack of an intuitive grasp creates a disconnect between him and this mathematical language. This reflects a broader perspective that not everyone possesses the same comfort or understanding when it comes to complex scientific concepts, underscoring the unique ways in which individuals relate to and comprehend different fields of knowledge.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a classroom setting to encourage students struggling with math.
More from Stephen Hawking
All quotes βI 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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The things that really change the world, according to Chaos theory, are the tiny things. A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe.
Geometry existed before the creation. It is co-eternal with the mind of God...Geometry provided God with a model for the Creation.
Working out another system to replace Newton's laws took a long time because phenomena at the atomic level were quite strange. One had to lose one's common sense in order to perceive what was happening at the atomic level.
Facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away while scientists debate rival theories for explaining them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air pending the outcome.
I really like science because it seems to be that place where you get the big picture, everything connects.