His warnings may surprise you as they are far beyond the realms of the mainstream beliefs that human civilization may well be ended by global warming.
Firstly, Hawking is fiercely wary of strong artificial intelligence (AI); Hawking strongly believes AI that exudes intelligence equal to or exceeding that of a human could destroy the human race, and was one of many scientists who wrote an open letter warning of the risks (as well as the benefits) of AI.
Suddenly, all of those futuristic movies showing the destruction of humans by robots don’t seem as far-fetched, do they? The Terminator, Minority Report, Transformers, Wall-E, Austin Powers, The Matrix, Star Wars; were these movie directors sending us a message?
Hawking believes our aggressive nature could result in catastrophic events that could end human civilization, such as a major nuclear war that could end all civilization and extinct the human race.
With increasingly violent movies, video games and, in general, more violent behaviors within our current human civilization, sadly backed up by increasingly violent crime statistics, we would have to agree that human aggression is a major cause for concern.
Could it only be a matter of time before the horrific trend of bullied teenagers opening fire on their schools escalates when these psychopathic adults decide to go one step further and bomb the whole world?
Hawking believes that if intelligent alien life does indeed exist, it likely won’t be friendly towards humans, and could aim at conquering and colonizing whatever planets they visit.
With so many alien movies release, many people believe this is the government’s way of familiarizing us with the fact that aliens are, in fact, real and will try and wipe out our human race. But, will these aliens be green bug-eyed monsters or will they look just like you and I? We can’t help but visualize those scenes from The Men In Black movies…
We’d love to hear your opinion on which of the above you think is the biggest threat to the human race; or perhaps even a fourth threat that has not yet been identified?
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I have an inkling that the fourth threat to the survival of the human species- im not thinking of Nibiru, which anyway is based on mythology-is that Earth confronts an impending collision with a yet,undetected planetary system or a rogue asteroid. The catastrophic demise of the dinosaurs including several ancient gigantic craters, discovered in many parts of the globe testify that the human species will face extinction; the question is not how, but when...
With the on set of global destruction it has often caused my mind to wonder the following:
We have been using our fossil fuels at an ever increasing rate which is mind boggling to say the least. Yet with the depletion of this liquid/solid mass weight what is the relation to our gravatanal pull by unknown or known sources due to the reduced overall mass weight of our planet. Could the reduced weight of these materials cause outside gravatanal pull towards our sun or cause the orbiting eclipse of this to be changed.
Hawking is smart in some ways, BUT smart people do dumb things on occasion. He must not be following the hundreds, even thousands of eye witnesses who have seen UFOs, extremely credible people, airline pilots, astronauts, police, government workers and so many more. Extra terrestrials have been here for thousands of years already. We went from muskets and horses to man on the moon in a very short 100 years with HELP from Aliens. I think he is paranoid.
Basically I would say his thoughts are accurate in that it is the side effects of our technologies that pose risks to Life and the Planet, such as AI, nuclear weapons, human created viruses, and whatever is to come. Certainly our aggressive nature (lack of cooperation) is a problem but our technology magnifies it's impact and without it, our aggressive nature would not really be an issue.
I believe that the "best" solution lies in trending toward globalization where leaders, and people, think in terms of preserving the "planet" not "my country". Ultimately it comes down to cooperation of the economic powers (since they have the greatest impact on the planet), understanding that we compete over believe systems that are often inaccurate due to our capacity of abstract thought, and educating humans on science and philosophy regarding our existence, so that life can endure as long as possible, and as happily as possible - our ultimate objective.
Thank you Mr. Hawking for your great contributions.
The problem or cause that Stephen Hawking identifies as the potential cataclysmic effects of human aggression really is symptomatic of a much greater problem--the pervasive nature of human depravity and and evil in the human heart due to the darkness and deceitfulness of sin and unbelief (see Genesis 3; Isaiah 59:2; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:19; Ephesians 2:1), the divine revelation of which Stephen Hawking, brilliant as he may be, rejects as an atheist, even though the Bible clearly reveals that humanity's only hope of future survival and redemption is not in modern technology, science, education, etc. but in God's intervention once again in human history in the Person Of Jesus Christ (read 2 Peter 3:4-10). This time He will not come to die for the sins of humanity, but to subdue all wicked opposition as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, judge this ungodly world in righteousness and establish His everlasting and righteous kingdom on a redeemed earth. On that Day to come, Hawking, like many, will get his science and worldview straightened out once and for all. I hope and pray that before that happens he will truly believe/trust in the one true Creator-God who has revealed Himself in the Person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ (His death and resurrection).