if Stephen Hawking is right

[© tweed]

I won't pretend to understand the details and technical knowledge here, but a version of this article is among the most shared on Facebook today.  in it Stephen Hawking warns that playing around with the Higgs-Boson "God particle" could lead to an instant collapse of spacetime/ destruction of the universe.


I couldn't help but think this would be a dream come true: everything vanishes, no pain nor suffering, nor expectation thereof.  relevant question: if you had the ability to destroy creation with the flick of a switch, would you do it?  how can we morally evaluate the proposition?

[Blue3]

Doesn't this depend on us building a particle accelerator the size of Earth? But anyways, Hawking has also predicted an alien invasion and robot revolution, so he's been becoming a doomer.

[© tweed]

Doesn't this depend on us building a particle accelerator the size of Earth? But anyways, Hawking has also predicted an alien invasion and robot revolution, so he's been becoming a doomer.

anyone who spends their life looking carefully and honestly can't help but find the End.  10k years of civilization is not a long time.

[Bacon King]

better link:

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/08/stephen-hawking-god-particle-could-destroy-universe/

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[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

better link:

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/08/stephen-hawking-god-particle-could-destroy-universe/

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Who says that humans would be the ones to build it?  This sounds like the sort of project that Kang and Kodos might get Rigel IV to fund.

[anvi]

I've actually wondered now and then whether particle accelerators might pose some danger.  I'm glad to know that they'd have to be implausibly large for that.

[tik 🪀✨]

better link:

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/08/stephen-hawking-god-particle-could-destroy-universe/

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That last sentence is very amusing.

By the way, someone calling the Higgs boson the "God particle" is helpfully letting you know they shouldn't be listened to.

[Stranger in a strange land]

better link:

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/08/stephen-hawking-god-particle-could-destroy-universe/

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Who says that humans would be the ones to build it?  This sounds like the sort of project that Kang and Kodos might get Rigel IV to fund.

If the Universe can indeed be destroyed by a scientific experiment done by an alien civilization many light years away that we have no means of contacting, it's something we have no control over and shouldn't waste our time worrying about.