You know, it makes me think there still
might be hope for our little corner of the multiverse.
Being (among many other things) a
political junkie, the first thing I did when I woke up this morning
was to check my newsfeed and see who won the Pennsylvania
Congressional race last night. What I saw below that, though, blew
my mind a little. Every major news organization, advocacy group,
celebrity, TV show, and even the Foo Fighters, in their own profane way, marked with sadness the passing of Dr. Stephen Hawking.
Who knew?
I don't think anyone's surprised at his
death at the age of 74; I think most people who knew of him were glad
he lived and worked as long as he did. But the outpouring of
admiration and grief following his passing took me, at least, a
little by surprise. I always assumed most people knew of him, if at
all, as the guy in the wheelchair who would make cameo appearances on
“The Big Bang Theory” and “The Simpsons”, or the guy that one
dude played in that one movie a few years ago (Eddie Redmayne in “The
Theory of Everything”). But as it turns out, a theoretical
physicist whose work on trying to understand the space-time continuum
will truly be missed.
And that's what gives me hope.
We seem to live in a world where
science is suspect, facts aren't real, and evidence can be made up or
ignored, depending upon your whim and/or your motives. I'm hopeful
it's just a passing phase, that one day historians will look back
upon our time and wonder just what the heck people in the 21st
century were smoking. But some days, it's hard to be hopeful. And
then there are days like today, when the outpouring of admiration for
one of the greatest minds of our generation flows from all corners of
the globe. Maybe there is hope after all. Maybe Hawking's passing
will give people a chance to stop, take a breath, and realize that
the fundamental forces that guide our universe can't be ignored, made
up, or changed to fit a political viewpoint.
Well, a boy can dream, right?
The fact that Dr, Hawking died on Pi
Day seems to be fitting for an individual who was this generation's
Albert Einstein. Maybe his death will now prompt someone from
another generation to make the leap and expand our knowledge of the
universe (or universes) in which we live.
No comments:
Post a Comment