What if Stephen Hawking Had Unlimited Time?
Humankind has always been enchanted by the
wonders of the universe.
The stars and planets, distant moons, and
the great mysteries presented to us from beyond
the aether.
But few have been able to capture and bring
the cosmos to the masses like renowned author,
scientist, and all-round genius, Professor
Stephen Hawking.
This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering
the extraordinary question; what if Stephen
Hawking had unlimited time?
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In his life, Hawking had been defying medical
professionals for decades before his death
in 2018, aged 76.
When he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis, or ALS – also known as motor
neurone disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease
– at just 21, doctors only gave him two
years to live.
Of course, that was in 1963, and everybody
knows that that diagnosis simply didn’t
stop him.
Looking at what he accomplished in his lifetime,
his living on infinitely would have gifted
the world with an incomprehensible amount
of knowledge.
In fact, when discussing with The Guardian
his baffling longevity in 2011, Hawking said,
“I have lived with the prospect of an early
death for the last 49 years.
I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no
hurry to die.
I have so much I want to do first”.
Perhaps surprisingly, Hawking was a pretty
rebellious student at school and university.
He didn’t study much and considered himself
a difficult student, though it was obvious
to most of his tutors that they had a genius
in their midst.
Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s he made a
name for himself in science and academia,
especially with his early work on black holes.
It was in 1974 when he first theorised that
black holes emit radiation.
This discovery directly disagreed with Einstein’s
early theories that absolutely nothing can
escape a black hole, not even light.
While it’s true that light can’t escape
a black hole, Hawking suggested that black
holes emit radiation in the form of leaked
energy, and this energy would eventually lead
to them closing up and disappearing.
It was named Hawking radiation, and its existence
remains contested in physics today.
Perhaps, if he’d had more time on Earth,
he’d have eventually been able to help prove,
or at least see proven, Hawking radiation.
His work on black holes goes deeper than that,
though, as Hawking also came up with theories
about singularities.
Singularities are points of infinite density
at the heart of a black hole; of course, we
can’t see into a black hole, but if we could,
Hawking suggests what we would see is a long
funnel eventually leading to this singularity,
where all the matter the black hole absorbs
is crushed.
He even said himself that he hoped he’d
be remembered most for his seminal work on
black holes; so it would have certainly been
something to see him continue to unravel the
universe’s biggest mystery.
All of these papers were published in the
‘70s but, remarkably, Hawking didn’t hit
the mainstream until 1988 when he published
“A Brief History of Time”.
It wasn’t his first book, but in a lot of
ways it was his most important, establishing
his idea that science should be for everyone
and not just an elite group of academics.
Hawking wanted a book on the inner workings
of our universe which catered to everybody,
and wasn’t full of convoluted jargon and
ideas you’d need a degree in theoretical
physics to understand.
This is why “A Brief History of Time”
became a worldwide hit, staying on the “Sunday
Times” bestseller list for five years.
Following this success, Hawking continued
to write about cosmology in an accessible
way, and thirty years later, in 2018, his
final popular book “Brief Answers to the
Big Questions” was published posthumously.
It brought the wonders of space to the masses
again, inspiring the kind of widespread interest
beyond our own planet that Hawking became
known for.
In an alternate world where the man miraculously
lived forever, he’d surely have continued
to write more engaging, bestselling and inspiring
books.
On the topic of alternate worlds, that was
another theory he significantly contributed
to: the multiverse.
Hawking actually had two different multiverse
ideas, revising his own initial theories in
a paper published in collaboration with Thomas
Hertog only weeks before his death.
Hawking had scrutinized the Big Bang theory
for most of his life, as well as the theory
of cosmic inflation, which solves what’s
commonly called “the horizon problem”
in physics – the idea that light doesn’t
travel fast enough to have reached all the
points of the observable universe.
His old multiverse theory spoke of unique
“pocket universes” separated by an inflating
expanse.
But, his and Hertog’s new multiverse theory
appeared much less liberal in terms of what
these “pockets” could look like – limiting
every possibility to Einstein’s uniform
laws of physics.
A radically new theory formed so close to
the time of his passing, with unlimited time
Hawking could have developed it further, and
ultimately, someday, given us definitive evidence
of the multiverse.
It wasn’t just space that Hawking sought
to conquer, though.
It was also time.
Back in 1983, he and James Hartle suggested
that – were time travel possible – we’d
never be able to go as far back as to witness
the actual dawning of the universe.
The pair said that we could never see the
beginning of time because, at the beginning
of everything, there was only space and no
time at all.
In fact, for Hawking, the entire concept of
the beginning of the universe is meaningless.
While going back to the very start of existence
is impossible, Hawking did believe that time
travel might not be entirely science-fiction.
He mused that travelling back in time could
be possible, and famously once held a party
for time travellers, in which the invitations
weren’t sent out until after the party was
over.
Unfortunately, nobody showed up…
But that could’ve been because any genuine
time traveller would’ve certainly blown
their cover if they’d attended a party specifically
for time travellers, held by one of the most
famous people on the planet – or maybe people
in the future are just plain rude.
Regardless, Hawking believed in time travel
to an extent because of “M theory”, which
was a topic in one of his other books, “The
Grand Design.”
“M theory” says that there might actually
be eleven hidden dimensions in the universe,
as opposed to the four dimensions we generally
believe in.
The idea is that by somehow utilising these
dimensions, travelling back in time might
be possible.
There’s no doubt that Hawking is best remembered
for his contributions to science and theories
on the universe.
But, he didn’t spend all of his time looking
at the stars.
He was also a tireless campaigner on a number
of issues.
Given another opportunity, he’d have continued
to raise awareness for people with all kinds
of disabilities, not just ALS, aiming to make
the world a more knowledgeable and inclusive
place for disabled individuals.
He was also a vocal commentator on climate
change and the danger it poses, continually
listing global warming as one of the major
threats against humanity.
His environmental activism even led him to
theorise that mankind would ultimately destroy
itself by the year 2600, after it uses so
much energy that the Earth turns into a ball
of fire.
This belief wasn’t all doom and gloom, as
he did think that humans could be saved via
interplanetary expansion, moving out into
space and beyond, and colonising other worlds.
Clearly, Hawking could have continued to provide
insight and advice, as well as dire warnings,
about the environmental impact of climate
change had he been given more time.
As a man with so much knowledge, and as a
respected voice all over the world, he likely
would have even have led the charge to change
human behaviour for the better.
Hawking’s achievements and contributions
to science and culture were widely recognised
during his lifetime as well as now, after
his death.
His early discovery of Hawking radiation led
to him being elected into the Royal Society
of London, as one of their youngest ever fellows,
in 1974.
Elizabeth II awarded him a CBE in 1982, before
the release of “A Brief History of Time”
– though, nearly a decade after its publication
he reportedly turned down a knighthood in
protest over the British government’s poor
science funding.
Elsewhere, he even received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama, among
many dozens more accolades.
Were Hawking still with us, he’d have surely
gone on to be even more decorated, continuing
as one of the most honoured individuals in
world history, and perhaps even collecting
that knighthood if the British government
finally made STEM education more of a priority.
Ultimately, this great genius had no fear
of dying, and already lived for five decades
longer than the best doctors thought he would
do, for which the world will always be grateful.
His thoughts, theories and papers continue
to provide a basis for centuries more scientific
progress.
And that’s what would happen if Stephen
Hawking had unlimited time.
What do you think?
Is there anything we missed?
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