Today is the first anniversary of Stephen Hawking's death. On March 14, 2018, this world-renowned physicist and professor at the University of Cambridge completed his legendary life at the age of 76. Now Hawking is the first anniversary of his death, but the myth he created has not dissipated.
Stephen Hawking (January 8, 1942-March 14, 2018)
The Hawking in everyone's impression is more or less labeled. Many students write essays when they are studying. The most favorite example is Hawking. He gradually becomes an inspirational symbol of disabled body and strong ambitions but achieve great achievements, and even represents the highest wisdom of mankind. We are accustomed to summarizing Hawking in abstract vocabulary, such as "the greatest", "the most outstanding", "the most amazing", etc., but cautious evaluations are rare. Hawking himself said that he did not like to praise him as the title of " Einstein Rebirth".
The author of this article starts with Hawking's death on March 14, 2018 and reviews the image of Hawking's altar around the world. In the final analysis, he has a very smart head and a limitation of his personal personality. "Wisdom beyond ordinary does not necessarily mean a transcendent character. Next to the wonderful universe of thought is a black hole of human nature, which contains particles of various personalities, emotions and senses that the most ordinary person has."
" Theory of Everything 2014" Hawking in the early years, played by Eddie Redmayne.
The other side of the scientific idol
Written by | Lee Xiaen
Hawking died just one year ago, but the myth he created has not dissipated. Looking back on March 14 last year, Hawking's death formed a huge wave. Talk about Hawking is like a flood hitting the piano keys on tens of thousands of pianos - every media is mourning in unison, and every WeChat official account is shedding tears. If a smartphone can be twisted like a towel, I'm afraid everyone can twist a bucket of tears.
The hustle and bustle caused by Hawking's death is just a detonation button that he has accumulated over the years. Those famous gunpowder had been filled with the weak and thin body on the wheelchair as early as when he was alive. Almost every ear can clearly distinguish the "electronic magnetic sound" synthesized by his computer. A female Hawking fan described Hawking's voice like this: "Every syllable is like letting the soul pass by electricity." In 2012, in a public speech held in San Jose, California, USA, when staff members appeared on the podium pushing Hawking, thousands of listeners sitting in the audience stood up at the same time, and the fanatical applause almost overwhelmed his classic opening remark: "Hello, my name is Stephen Hawking." An excited audience praised Hawking as a great man who "alongs with Newton, Galileo, and Einstein to join the ranks of great scientists." I was excited about being able to witness a living representative of these great men with my own eyes. This is also the common voice of hundreds of millions of Hawking fans around the world.
In the eyes of these Hawking worshippers, this humanoid object, who was sagging in a wheelchair, occupies the top of the earth's wisdom food chain. Isn't that the infinite universe hidden in the head leaning against the back of the chair?
Hawking is on the Cambridge campus.
The last sentence should have been a rhetorical question, but if you look at Hawking's life carefully, you will find that this sentence is more suitable to be a question. Wisdom beyond ordinary does not necessarily mean transcendent character. Next to the wonderful universe of thought is a black hole of human nature, which contains particles of various personalities, emotions and senses that the most ordinary person possesses. These particles constantly move, combine, collide and emit radiation, forming the human-shaped body of this intelligent creature and giving him various elements as human beings. Even though these elements have been confined to a scalp for half a century, this at least proves that this guy who is almost worshipped by worshipers as gods is still a human being after all.
Born as a human: Fatalism of Intelligence
"I was born on January 8, 1942, the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death. However, I estimate that there were about 200,000 babies born on this day, but I don't know if there are any other of them who were later interested in astronomy."
Hawking's confession can be said to be a heavy blow to those fatalists who believe that there must be a connection between Galileo and Hawking, who are also a genius. If Hawking knew that the day he died happened to be the same as Einstein's birth, he would definitely try his best to avoid this day so that the media and public opinion who are obsessed with strange powers and gods will make a big fuss about this coincidence. In fact, if you have to find a connection, the anniversary of Karl Marx's death was also on this day, but there is no evidence that the materialistic dialectics of the revolutionary thinker had any effect on Hawking's theory of the origin of the universe.
Hawking (left) and his sister in childhood.
Hawking rejects fate and the ending dominator of fate in his speech: God. In an interview with him by famous Hollywood actress Sally McLean, Hawking gave a clear and concise answer to her question of "Do you believe there is a God who creates and dominates the universe": "No." For his research, God and destiny are interference terms, making it impossible for those purely rational logical reasoning to be deduced normally.
But ironically, Hawking seems to believe that a person's life is to some extent following the "law" of "seeing older at the age of three and looking older at the age of seven". In an interview, he believed that he had a strong interest in the internal laws of things since he was a child, and this interest was laying the groundwork for his future research.
This is undoubtedly a disguised fatalism - a person's fate was determined when he was born, and as he grew up, he was moving towards the given track of fate. Whether it is the biography written by others for Hawking or the autobiography of Hawking himself, he repeatedly exaggerated this point: he was born in an intellectual family and lived in the Highgate District where senior intellectuals gathered in his childhood. His parents are both professional college faculty members. He liked to make electric models and electronic devices since he was a child, and also designed a medieval war chess game, each piece with a detailed and complete family genealogy.
Hawking received Cambridge University honorary degree, photos with his wife Jane and son.
For Hawking's biographer, this last point is enough to prove that Hawking's "the temperament of a scientist and logician has begun to appear at this time." But if Hawking's childhood life is placed on a horizontal comparison line, it will be found that this precocious child, who is portrayed as unique in the biography, does not have much special features. Almost all the childhoods of a generation of children after the war in Europe and the United States were marked by that era. The impact of the national construction during the reconstruction period and the technological war on both sides of the Iron Curtain in the early Cold War on the children's world was to create a large number of model toys related to industrial construction and electronic technology, as well as chess games related to military wars. Many boys are keen on marking non-existent boundaries and fortresses on the map to play virtual war games. If Hawking's birth was delayed for another ten years and his birthplace was changed to the United States, he would probably be as interested in chemical games that make homemade atomic bombs, just like the children in the United States at that time. But this may not necessarily prove that he will become the second Oppenheimer in the future.
However, the young Hawking did show his unique talents in one thing, but it was not science, but it was precisely the theology that Hawking mocked and rejected in the future. Hawking, in middle school, once turned his attention to mysticism and religion. His interest in religion even led him to receive the school’s Theology Award at the end of his third year in middle school.
It was during this period of religious interest that the individual particles in the black hole in Hawking's mind were released. A friend of his middle school years, Michael Church, recalled a conversation when they were discussing a very passionate topic, “The Meaning of Life.”But Hawking's performance made him feel indescribable:
"I was suddenly caught by a terrible cognition, that is, he was encouraging me to fool myself, and he seemed to look at me condescendingly, which was really a disgusting moment."
This condescending joke is a concrete manifestation of Hawking's arrogant personality. Hidden behind the arrogance is a strong desire to dominate. For Hawking, this desire to dominate based on arrogance is like a child-like God, holding a magnifying glass in his hand, peeking at everything like an ant. Hawking's extraordinary talent in intelligence further strengthened his arrogance, allowing him to playfully hold the magnifying glass and focus his eyes on one point, and be indifferent to everything around him.
Read Hawking's autobiography carefully, you will find that this genius with extraordinary intelligence has an unnatural indifference to those with mediocre intelligence. Hawking's adopted younger brother Edward is an example. Hawking gave him only one passage in his autobiography, claiming that he “has hardly entered my childhood life” because “he is very different from the other three of us, and is completely non-academic, non-intellectual.” At the end of this paragraph, he narrates his death in a completely objective tone: "He died in 2004, and the cause of death is never determined; the most likely explanation is that the smoke emitted by the glue he used to renovate the apartment poisoned him."
Hawking seems to think that it is a waste to scatter emotions in people who lack intelligence. His intellectual arrogance occupied his entire life. The study and life in Oxford and Cambridge have made this arrogance even more important. As Hawking himself admitted, the atmosphere in colleges and universities at that time was intelligence first. A genius who does not have to work hard to achieve good results by relying solely on talent is the most respected, while a guy who studies hard and buries his work on the scriptures is only worthy of being a "nerd". "Trying to break through the boundaries drawn by intelligence by hard work is only futile." This "famous quote" from Hawking's mouth will definitely make those who work hard, but this is the most appropriate expression of Hawking's fatalism.
has such extraordinary talent and talent, and there is no doubt that Hawking can achieve something in any field. But whether these professional achievements can be transformed into a world-renowned reputation today is an unknown. After all, not many people in the world can successfully recite the name of every Nobel Prize winner in physics, not to mention that Hawking never won this award that symbolizes the highest achievement of the discipline in his entire life.
At this moment, the disease gave Hawking a rare disease called "motor neuron disease" as a gift. Disease imprisoned his body, but did not deprive him of the talent in his brain. Fame and honor were pushed in front of him in a wheelchair. This is a completely unexpected result, and there is nothing else to explain it with fate. There are countless possibilities that will go to the opposite of Hawking's achievements today, but Hawking chose the difficult but best possibility.
But when this gift of fate was just handed over to Hawking, it still aroused despair. For months, he hid in the corner of campus and drank and listened to Wagner's music. Just like Hitler, a young man who failed the exam from , Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. But no one who focuses on fatalism links these two points together.
Hawking experienced weightlessness in the lab.
Fame is coming: the science star in the wheelchair
"I don't know which one is more famous, is it my wheelchair, voice and thought, or myself?"
Nowadays, the sound synthesized by Hawking, who is paralyzed in a wheelchair and his computer have become the exclusive standard for this world-famous scientific celebrity. But when the wheelchair was just pushed in front of him, it brought despair and hardship. The doctor predicted that he would not live for at most three years. His shrinking body is becoming increasingly burdened by him. What's worse is that the caregivers, although they often come with kindness, are mostly unable to tolerate caring for "such patients".One of the caregivers took the opportunity to make an unreasonable request and forced Hawking to mortgage her to borrow money from college. After the request was rejected, she "started shouting in the middle of the night, rolling on the ground, dancing with her feet, pounding her chest, and dancing around Stephen's bed."
The person who settled all these difficulties and troubles one by one is Jane, Hawking's wife. Even though she knew that her husband might not wake up at any time and her family life would be difficult, this strong woman who believed in religion tried her best to take everything. It can be said that if Jane had not existed, it is still unknown whether Hawking could survive and launch his shocking best-selling masterpiece " A Brief History of Time ". Even though Hawking ended up betraying himself emotionally and finding a new love, Jane still expressed sympathy and compassion for the unfaithful ex-husband in her memoirs, instead of speaking ill of harsh words - nothing greater than this wife's sacrifice.
1965, Hawking and his wife Jane Wilde.
However, it is Jane's memoir, which uncovers the other side of people's worship of the prophet in the wheelchair. That is to the extent to which the fame and honor brought by this worship react violently with Hawking's inner arrogance, thus combining poisons that destroy family and marriage. And the dividing line between all this is the publication of the "A Brief History of Time", which is regarded as the Bible by Hawking fans all over the world.
Hawking's most difficult period was the period when he wrote "A Brief History of Time". His black hole theory had taken shape before 1985 and gained widespread attention in the academic community and became famous. After his first monograph, "Large-Scale Structure of Time and Space", was published in 1973, and it also became one of the best-selling research monographs in Cambridge University Press in history. He was elected as a member of the Royal Society and ranked among the world-class physicists. Many universities and research institutions invited him to give speeches. The invitations he received were even far away from China, which had just been reformed and opened up.
But all this reputation is limited to the discipline of physics. Although he is highly regarded in the field of professionalism, he is far from enjoying privileges. For caregivers, Hawking was just a difficult patient to serve, and he would not regard him as an idol admired by everyone after the release of "A Brief History of Time" and was proud to serve him. But the advantage of obscurity is that no one will disturb the private life of the Hawking family, and the reputation of the professional field will not make Hawking overly obsessed with his achievements. After all, in the eyes of most people, he is just a paralyzed person who needs his wife to be at any time. There is nothing but talent, only Jane's care, care and love are everything he certainly has. For Jane, Hawking is both a beloved husband and a beloved child. Whether in terms of emotions or life, Hawking is deeply dependent on himself. Therefore, although there is a rift between Jane and Hawking on religious issues, Hawking was not a public intellectual at this time, and the differences in ideas and ideas would not turn into a tit-for-tat ideological war. Although Hawking sometimes used his humor to banter Jane's piousness to religion, he was willing to compromise. At the end of "A Brief History of Time", he wrote:
"If we do find a complete theory, in general principles, it can be understood immediately by all people, not just a few scientists. At that time, each of us, including philosophers, scientists and ordinary people, can participate in the discussion of why humans and the universe exist. If we find the right answer to this, it will be the ultimate victory of human reason - because then we will understand the spirit of God."
Hawking dedicated the title of the book to his wife, and at this time he didn't know it would become a bestseller. His purpose in writing books is very frank. For money, he must earn the expenses of extending his life to relieve the burden of simplicity. Hawking himself positioned this book as a popular science book that preached his theory to the public. He even hesitated to use the word "Brief History" in the title, believing it is frivolous. But the editor of the American Bantam Publishing House, the publisher of the book, convinced Hawking that the "Brief History of Time" was "concise and clear" as the title.
The result was much beyond Hawking's expectations. This book was like a nuclear bomb, setting off a hotly debated mushroom cloud around the world.Here, Bantam Publishing House’s sales strategy has made great contributions. The nets posted by publishers to readers do not include difficult terms such as "professionality", but tells readers that this is a popular reading book written by "one of the greatest minds of this era" to solve the basic problem of "where we come from and where we go". Hawking's image in a wheelchair was printed on the cover and poster, which aroused people's curiosity and respect: Since a disabled person can use his strong will to make the talent in his brain break through the body's confinement, the views he expounded in the book must be the most wise quote tempered by fire fighting gold.
The original cover of "A Brief History of Time" was published by Bantam Dell Publishing Group in the UK. The domestic Chinese translation is translated and published by Hunan Science and Technology Press.
By the summer of 1988, "A Brief History of Time" had been on the best-selling list for four months, and sold 500,000 copies in the United States alone. The first Hawking fan club was established in Chicago . In middle schools and universities, students swayed across the market in T-shirts with photos of Hawking sitting in a wheelchair. At a tour signing meeting, thousands of Hawking fans wore Hawking T-shirts and shouted loudly, "Hero!"
Hawking began to enjoy his famous name. He was very happy to be stopped by all kinds of strangers on the street and asked for a photo or autograph. He listened with his signature grinning smile, listening with interest to the admiration he threw himself into his arms. When he learned that his "A Brief History of Time" was comparable to a popular book called "Zen and Motorcycle Repair Art", the complimented smile once again squeezed into his paralyzed face. Because the latter sold 10 million copies in five years.
The flood of fame collapsed the inner embankment, revealing Hawking's dark side like never before. Jane found that Hawking, surrounded by reputation, had changed, "that sense of humor now seems to disappear, his bright eyes have become grim and cold, and the candor that attracted me years ago has no longer existed. His once commendable spirit has now become conscious stubbornness, and that stubbornness has become a huge force that he himself cannot control, affecting his character and changing his personality." A Brief History of Time's explanation of the ultimate problem of the universe triggered many undiagnosed madmen and fanatical fans' switches. Uninvited worshippers blocked the door. People from all over the world called in the middle of the night to ask for a speech to the "professor". They announced that they had discovered the "mystery of the universe", but did not consider the time difference at all. Among them is a Floridian who strongly demands a call with Hawking because he is "convinced that the world will be destroyed within an hour and a half."
Jane hopes to be with Hawking until old age in a peaceful life, but Hawking, who is addicted to fame, repeatedly shatters his wife's pitiful wishes. In April 1989, Hawking finally attracted Hollywood's attention. "American crew led by a lively woman" came to his home and expressed his intention to shoot a documentary film called "A Brief History of Time". Jane initially gave these people trust, and they promised that "will limit any disturbance to a minimum." But when the filming officially started, all the promises disappeared. The furniture was pushed around, and all the tables and chairs were moved away. "Instead of dazzling arc lights and reflectors, they were hung on the cold metal racks, and long cables were placed on the floor, dragging them in and out from each room, which was very dangerous." Each shot of this so-called real documentary film is carefully designed, and Jane and the children have to put on the artificial attitude and posture that the director requires in front of the camera.
"I am like a tame animal in a circus." Jane, who was randomly fiddled with by the media, could only resist silently, but could not block the camera from the door, because Hawking "has formed a hobby for public publicity." Her existence only satisfies Hawking's insatiable puppet decoration. The final breakdown occurred on February 17, 1990. Hawking suddenly left without saying goodbye. He moved to another residence with his female nurse, Elaine, a married woman.The next day, Jane, who was already numb, suddenly received a call from Hawking, asking her and the children to rush to the studio in Ilstery to shoot a set of family shots for the movie version of "A Brief History of Time", asking them to "show their happy and harmonious appearance that has passed."
Jane refused, for her, the science star in the wheelchair was no longer her husband, but a brain soaked in fame, draped in a skin that once was Stephen Hawking.
Hawking attended the premiere of "Theory of All Things" (2014).
The brain in the can: the gods of the palace of atheism
Hawking's head was put in a glass jar, suspended in mid-air. The noise in the audience made him feel a little angry, so he shot two red laser lights from his eyes fiercely.
This certainly does not happen in the present, but in the future a thousand years later. In this future time and space, the moon is built into an amusement park, and Mars is a university town invested and built by the Chinese. Neptune lives on Santa Claus and will come to Earth to carry out a massacre on December 25 every year. The Earth is occupied by an alien invader three times a week, and once it is a group of lobsters. The only thing that remains unchanged is that Hawking is still the smartest Earthling man in this future world. Originally, his lower body was redundant, and only his head was left to help him display his extraordinary talents in order to crush the IQ of all the people on earth with the most harsh and conceited words.
" Simpsons ", Hawking's animation image.
The image created for Hawking in the most popular alternative science fiction series in the United States, " Flying Out the Future" is exactly like this: conceited, arrogant, mean, black-hearted, and arrogant. But interestingly, the person who dubbed Hawking's head in the series was Hawking himself. He was quite satisfied with this mean and arrogant self, just like he was very acknowledged with his image in the American longevity drama "The Simpsons" created by the same team, although Hawking in the film is also a conceited and mean villain.
Hawking, who entered the 21st century, is more keen on appearing in various media than the era of "A Brief History of Time". His "A Brief History of Time" has been reprinted dozens of times around the world, with sales of up to 25 million copies. His fans are spread across every country around the world. As long as his image in a wheelchair appears on the screen, it will cause a ratings boom. In 1993, he "walked" on TV series for the first time, playing cards with Einstein and Newton in the 26th episode of Season 6 of "Star Trek". This disguisedly fulfilled his secret wish: to stand on par with scientific giants like Newton and Einstein. He also knocked the famous genius bookworm "Sheld" to the ground in the popular American drama "Big Bang Theory". In "Ah Dai and Agua", Hawking was even more rude. He told Ah Dai from the phone not to waste time telling the theory of the universe to the audience, because "their brains are only the size of peas and cannot understand them at all." Every listener laughed at Hawking's harsh insult to himself.
Stills from "The Big Bang Theory".
Isn't this strange? Why do people admire someone who openly crushes their IQ so much? Why would he endure his mean and conceited synthesized voice? Can they really understand the proclamation issued by this god who is high in the temple of science to the mediocre mortals?
Perhaps for Hawking's admirers, this guy who was obliquely sloping in a wheelchair is no different from the singer with exaggerated hairstyle and roaring on the stage. People just take the part they need from him: an inspirational model with a disabled body and strong will, a genius brain with extraordinary wisdom, a prophet who predicts artificial intelligence and the destruction of the world, a mysterious spiritual tutor, or a simple joke seasoning that just sprinkles a pair of styles for the ordinary daily life:
"Hawking is gone."
"My God, are you saying he stands up?"
It's a pity, no.
Author: Li Xiaen
Editor: Xixi Rong Xiaosong; Proofreader: Xue Jingning
