Stephen Hawking: 'Heaven is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark'
By LYDIA WARREN
Last updated at 7:56 AM on 17th May 2011
Heaven is a ‘fairy story for people afraid of the dark’, Professor Stephen Hawking suggested yesterday.
As well as saying there is no heaven or afterlife, the renowned scientist said that our brains switch off like ‘broken down computers’ when we die.
His comments upset some religious groups, already angry at his statement last year that the universe was not created by God.
Professor Hawking’s latest remarks came in an interview in which the theoretical physicist told how he had learnt to live in the shadow of death since being diagnosed with motor neurone disease aged 21.
The disease, which is incurable, was expected to kill him within a few years. Instead, he said, it ultimately led him to enjoy life more.
The 69-year-old Cambridge University academic 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.
‘I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail.
‘There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.’
[snipped]
.....................................
No comments:
Post a Comment