Hawking 2010 book

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Tero
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Hawking 2010 book

Post by Tero » Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:37 pm

I generally do not read physics. Might need to read this one, or at least spend 10 minutes with it.

Wonderful reviews:
The book has no citations *of anything*. Not for the factual claims it makes, not for the quotes it deploys. Let's read that again: the book has no citations for its *quotations*. At no level of education, and in no profession, is this acceptable practice. It is particularly unacceptable in a book written in part to trumpet the virtue of empirical verification. I understand (but wouldn't recommend) leaving out citations for the hard science in a book meant for the layman. But this book contains a lot of history too, and it builds its thesis on the basis of that history. But all this would be okay, so long as all the claims are correct and the quotations are accurate, right? No. But they're not, anyway.
response to that
this proves that science is always wrong about everything!

i'm pretty sure this also means that evolution is false, climate change is a myth, and Sarah Palin automatically becomes president.

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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by Tero » Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:39 pm


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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by AnInconvenientScotsman » Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:44 pm

I like how the original reviewer concludes with an unsupported claim :awesome:
When I feel sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead.
True story.
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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by Tero » Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:41 pm

I want to know what I can use all these other universes for, is there some profit? Can I steal their oil?
In The Grand Design we explain why, according to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence, or history, but rather that every possible history of the universe exists simultaneously. We question the conventional concept of reality, posing instead a "model-dependent" theory of reality.

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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by AnInconvenientScotsman » Thu Sep 09, 2010 2:04 pm

Tero wrote:I want to know what I can use all these other universes for, is there some profit? Can I steal their oil?
In The Grand Design we explain why, according to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence, or history, but rather that every possible history of the universe exists simultaneously. We question the conventional concept of reality, posing instead a "model-dependent" theory of reality.
If they don't have Irn-Bru I'm not interested (Oh, another reason why Scotland pwns all you 'healthy' countries - except you mercans, you're fine)
When I feel sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead.
True story.
SUIT UP!
"Dear God, dear Lord, dear vague muscular man with a beard or a sword,
Dear good all seeing being; my way or the highway Yahweh,
The blue-balled anti-masturbator, the great all-loving faggot-hater
I thank your holy might, for making me both rich and white"

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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by hackenslash » Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:58 pm

I look forward to it. I'm going to try to pick it up in Londinium this weekend, time permitting, along with On The Shoulders Of Giants, which I've been looking forward to for a while. As always, my book list is expanding beyond the ability of my income to keep up. :(
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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by Pappa » Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:03 am

I do love Hawking's writing style, Brief History of Time was an incredible book and presented some really complex ideas in an understandable way. I'm looking forward to reading this new one.

Btw.... anyone want a copy of a physics debate book between Hawking and Penrose. The maths is completely beyond me, I'd be happy to post it to anyone who wants it (if I can find it).
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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by mistermack » Sat Sep 11, 2010 11:48 am

Pappa wrote:I do love Hawking's writing style, Brief History of Time was an incredible book and presented some really complex ideas in an understandable way. I'm looking forward to reading this new one.
I'm glad to hear that. I've never read any of his books. (I've hardly read any books) but I've never been much impressed with what I've heard, so I'm probably getting the wrong impression. The over-hype that goes with his stuff has always put me off.

The hype that's coming with this book has so far given me the same impression.
"No need for a god?" We already knew that, but the religious people will stuff a god into any gap, so I don't see anything new there, unless he's filled all the gaps. I suppose if you want people to read what you wrote, you have to market it, so you need catchy headlines.

I'm more tempted to give him a read, now you 've recommended his writing style.
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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by Twoflower » Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:28 pm

AnInconvenientScotsman wrote:
Tero wrote:I want to know what I can use all these other universes for, is there some profit? Can I steal their oil?
In The Grand Design we explain why, according to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence, or history, but rather that every possible history of the universe exists simultaneously. We question the conventional concept of reality, posing instead a "model-dependent" theory of reality.
If they don't have Irn-Bru I'm not interested (Oh, another reason why Scotland pwns all you 'healthy' countries - except you mercans, you're fine)
I love Irn-Bru.
I'm wild just like a rock, a stone, a tree
And I'm free, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I flow, just like a brook, a stream, the rain
And I fly, just like a bird up in the sky
And I'll surely die, just like a flower plucked
And dragged away and thrown away
And then one day it turns to clay
It blows away, it finds a ray, it finds its way
And there it lays until the rain and sun
Then I breathe, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I grow, just like a baby breastfeeding
And it's beautiful, that's life

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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by AnInconvenientScotsman » Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:49 pm

Twoflower wrote:
AnInconvenientScotsman wrote:
Tero wrote:I want to know what I can use all these other universes for, is there some profit? Can I steal their oil?
In The Grand Design we explain why, according to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence, or history, but rather that every possible history of the universe exists simultaneously. We question the conventional concept of reality, posing instead a "model-dependent" theory of reality.
If they don't have Irn-Bru I'm not interested (Oh, another reason why Scotland pwns all you 'healthy' countries - except you mercans, you're fine)
I love Irn-Bru.
It's much more interesting than stuffy science books.
When I feel sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead.
True story.
SUIT UP!
"Dear God, dear Lord, dear vague muscular man with a beard or a sword,
Dear good all seeing being; my way or the highway Yahweh,
The blue-balled anti-masturbator, the great all-loving faggot-hater
I thank your holy might, for making me both rich and white"

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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by Toontown » Mon Sep 13, 2010 9:36 am

Tero wrote:I want to know what I can use all these other universes for, is there some profit?


You can't use them for anything, but they can use you, just as this one is using you now. One of them will probably bring you into existence again some time, just like this one did. And then kill you again, just like this one will.

Tero wrote: Can I steal their oil?
Don't even think about it. All possible monkeyworlds will raise up a great cacophony of screeching and caterwauling even if there is only a loony conspiracy theory in which you steal the oil. You can, however, get clean away with taking large sums of siphoned-off cash from a sanctioned, oil-owning mass murderer, in almost any monkeyworld.

But seriously, there is at least one Everett-branch in which "you" already have stolen the oil, having become a caricature of the Bush-like oil-stealing character in that branch.
In The Grand Design we explain why, according to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence, or history, but rather that every possible history of the universe exists simultaneously. We question the conventional concept of reality, posing instead a "model-dependent" theory of reality.

Yes, I've always been partial to that approach. Took them long enough to get around to it. Among other advantages, it is an excellent way to eliminate the fine-tuning improbabilities. Every possible tuning exists. We are here because this is the kind of universe we would be in. On this planet because this is the kind of planet we would be on. And there is no shortage of them. Heaven really does hold a place for those who pray. Or don't pray. Whatever. Ain't no big thang. A trillion of them are just as easy as one.

It is also interesting that a universe of all possibilities would include a large number of "me's", some of whom would be lottery winners and such. And somewhere out there, there is a "me" whose squeeze is Veronika Zemanova. And that "me" is just as much "me" as this one, which might be a bit difficult for some to grasp, but then, so is quantum mechanics. Don't even try to understand, just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy.

And Toontown looked upon Hawkinge's universe and saw that it was very good...

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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:16 am

Ayaan bought it this weekend.
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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by DRSB » Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:50 am

I bought it just now. Somewhere it was recommended as a book for children. It is a bit more "popular" style than the other Hawking books.

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Re: Hawking 2010 book

Post by DRSB » Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:41 am

"Cosmic Clowning: Stephen Hawking's "new" theory of everything is the same old CRAP": http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/ ... R_20100914

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