Over the course of his lifetime, Stephen Hawking became known as one of the greatest minds to grace our planet. He said a lot of prolific things over the years, however, his final book Brief Answers to the Big Questions released in 2018 has even more gems. This book is Stephen Hawking’s last warning to humanity. (1)
Stephen Hawking’s Last Warning to Humanity
The profound physicist Stephen Hawking’s last warning about what will happen to us and our planet is one that all should consider. He lays out what he believes the fate of humanity will be and what we can do, at the very least, to adapt.
Moving To Space Is Inevitable
According to Hawking, Earth will only be able to support life for a limited time. He believes the clock is ticking, and that we could has as little as a 1000 years more. Nuclear war, climate change, environmental disaster, and mega viruses will ultimately make our planet uninhabitable. (2)
He says we need to start working hard now to learn how to establish colonies in space and on other planets. He says it will take quite some time before we are capable of this. (2)
“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.” (3)
Stephen Hawking’s Last Warning & The Inevitable Rise Of AI and Superhumans
Hawking believes that artificial intelligence (AI) could make humans obsolete, however, superhumans may be an important factor in the survival of the human race. (2)
“There is no time to wait for Darwinian evolution to make us more intelligent and better natured,” he wrote.“[W]e are now entering a new phase of what might be called self-designed evolution, in which we will be able to change and improve our DNA.” (3)
He recognizes that there are many social and political problems that superhumans will cause, primarily because regular humans won’t be able to compete on any level. (3)
“Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead, there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving themselves at an ever-increasing rate. If the human race manages to redesign itself, it will probably spread out and colonize other planets and stars.” (3)
He does, however, believe that this might be the only way we will manage to get to space in time before our own planet can no longer support us. (3)
We Need To Take Better Care of Our Health
Hawking said that far too many people are dying from complications from obesity, being overweight, and in general just not being healthy. He says that the more unhealthy our population becomes, the worse off we will become. (2)
We Must Solve The Climate Problem
The physicist’s predictions are based on climate change and how quickly our planet seems to be deteriorating right before our very eyes. To him, the solution is easy and relies on powering the world entirely on clean energy. (3)
“[T]he development of fusion power to give an unlimited supply of clean energy, and a switch to electric cars. Nuclear fusion would become a practical power source and would provide us with an inexhaustible supply of energy, without pollution or global warming.” (3)
Aliens Are Out There, And They May Or May Not Be Friendly
Hawking was convinced that there is intelligent alien life somewhere out there in the Galaxy. He also believed that these aliens were likely even further advanced than we are and that this may mean that they won’t be overly receptive towards us. (3)
“If so, they will be vastly more powerful and may not see us as any more valuable than we see bacteria,” he said. (3)
The Conclusion of Stephen Hawking’s Last Warning
Essentially, Hawking says we should be doing the best we can on the planet that we have currently, while also preparing ourselves for the inevitable time when we can no longer live here.
He says that it is not an “if” but a “when”, and that we need to simultaneously slow down the Earth’s current progression toward disaster so we have more time to figure out how to live in space.
Do you agree with Professor Hawking? Either way, what do you think needs to be done to improve our planet’s future?
Keep Reading: Worried about Earth’s future? Well, the outlook is worse than even scientists can grasp
Sources
- “Brief Answers to the Big Questions.” Penguin Random House
- “One of Hawking’s Last Messages For Humanity Was a Warning We Should All Heed.” Science Alert. Mike Mcrae. March 14, 218.
- “Will robots outsmart us? The late Stephen Hawking answers this and other big questions facing humanity.” The Times. Stephen Hawking. October 14 2018