Everybody who interviews Stephen Hawking treats him as a god, and there’s no doubt the man is smart, but this interview, by John Oliver, shows that Hawking has a good sense of humor. Oliver treats Hawking as Stephen Colbert would, with irreverence and a bit of faux solipsism.
This is from Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” show, and is first of a series of interviews: “People who think good.” It’s well worth watching the whole 7.5-minute interview, especially for the bit about Charlize Theron.
My favorite Hawking is here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8520033/Stephen-Hawking-tells-Google-philosophy-is-dead.html
I love this guy.
Well, he certainly got that one right.
b&
Hi Ben,
Oh dear, here we ho again:
“I have always had trouble understanding why otherwise smart physicists like Tyson or Hawking seem to neglect both the rich history of interaction between physics and philosophy as well as the fact that they are unconsciously doing philosophy even when they are doing science”
Read here:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/2014/06/23/philosophy-begins-where-physics-ends-and-physics-begins-where-philosophy-ends/
Thoughts?
I’ve posted my thoughts on Sean’s bl*g. Ashutosh summarizes his own position thus:
The exact same can be said of religion or any other pseudoscience: that it begins where science ends, and the hucksters are always quick to insist that science has no business in their own self-proclaimed domain.
Indeed, I can’t think of a worse condemnation of philosophy than Ashutosh’s own endorsement.
Cheers,
b&
“Everybody who interviews Stephen Hawking treats him as a god”
He isn’t one? 🙂
Only for fundamentalist atheists
🙂
Dear Americans,
I hope John Oliver makes up for the whole Piers Morgan thing.
Yours,
The Brits.
I agree with the sentiment, but I think it’s a little overly optimistic. We’re going to have to apologise for quite some time over that one.
For the record, sorry!
One thing that Piers Morgan did right was he took a strong stand against gun violence in America. He did the right thing where it mattered most.
“There’s also a universe where you’re funny!”
I very much enjoy John Oliver on his Sunday night show. Brilliant stuff.
Hawking’s recent autobiography “My Brief Life” (IIRC) displays his humor as well. Droll, witty, understated.
I recommend the book.
A Brief History of Me?
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“My Brief History”
Ah, I was misremembering it as a closer parallel to his most famous (and least read?) book.
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Wit is supposed to be a sign of intelligence.
Which would explain the traditional mirth of Creationists?
My impression was that either Dr. Hawking is a comedy genius (in addition to being a general one), or this was more of a skit than an actual interview.
It takes Stephen a long time to compose his words, so it’s guaranteed that the whole thing was prepared well in advance. Yes, it was definitely a skit, and almost certainly a collaborative affair between the two.
b&
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