This is the last book from Stephen Hawking. It was brilliantly written in simple English especially on serious topics such as black holes, colonising space, artificial intelligence (AI) and the future of humanity. What interest me the most are his views on the importance of science literacy in children and the wisdom in AI:
‘When we invented fire, we messed up repeatedly, then invented fire extinguisher. With more powerful technologies such as nuclear weapons, synthetic biology and strong artificial intelligence, we should instead plan ahead and aim to get things right the first time, because it may be the only chance we will get. Our future is a race between the growing power of our technology and the wisdom with which we use it. Let’s make sure that wisdom wins’.
However, the chapter on science and religion was expectedly controversial as he was an atheist. As a Muslim, science and knowledge will bring us closer to Allah, but in non-believers, science unfortunately will make them further away from God. I believe that is what having faith differentiates. However Albert Einstein, a legendary physicist had another idea regarding science and religion based on his speech during Princeton Theology Seminar in 1939 :
‘Now, even though the realms of religion and science in themselves are clearly marked off from each other, nevertheless there exist between the two strong reciprocal relationships and dependencies. Though religion may be that which determines the goal, it has, nevertheless, learned from science, in the broadest sense, what means will contribute to the attainment of the goals it has set up. But science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion. To this there also belongs the faith in the possibility that the regulations valid for the world of existence are rational, that is, comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of a genuine scientist without that profound faith. The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind’.
We have been reminded in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 269, not to be too proud with our limited and lack of knowledge :
‘He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good. And none will remember except those of understanding’.
And in Surah Luqman, verse 27 :
‘And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise’.
Stephen Hawking passed away on 14 March 2018 due to long standing complications of his motor neuron disease - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
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