I find it more than curious that in my FB news feed today, I have so far seen nine posts questioning his non-belief in a supreme being and only five bemoaning the huge loss to mankind and the intellectual void that is the result of his death. It's as if there is great cheer that, in the opinion of the believer, he finally got what was coming to him. Science man rots in hell. It makes me quite sad.
Just as the Pope said that if science shows us that our beliefs are wrong, we must change our beliefs, Professor Hawking said that while there is no way to prove the absolute negative that there is no God, such would be a logical fallacy, there is nothing we have so far observed that would require his hand. Indeed Professor Hawking, as a scientist, never dealt in absolutes, only probabilities. There is a possibility that everything that could possibly ever happen is actually happening right now in the multiverse. There is a possibility that aliens will com down from space some day and give every person of Hispanic heritage who is less than 5 ft tall a complete butt check at precisely 4:03 PM. You can't prove that wrong. It's entirely possible, if also highly improbable. In the case of the existence of a God, when you die, you can't come back and tell us, and we can't conduct recorded exploration beyond our own death, therefore, God is still a belief. But as Professor Hawking has said, the evidence for that shows a low probability. His personal belief, which he stated as such, was that the brain is a biological computer that will simply shut down upon failure, and the vessel will return to it's basic elements. He never called it an absolute, only a belief. The absolute was that there is to date no discovered scientific evidence of God's hand in the universe.
Why would people mock such a man, an honest man, an intelligent man, a man of integrity, a man who fought his own battles every second of his life and still only dreamed of advancing our understanding. This is a man who had the uncanny ability to not only push the bleeding edge of scientific discovery and theoretical physics, but he could explain it to you and I also. He could explain it in a way that was logical, understandable, and exciting. He is the reason that hundreds of children chose science as a career path. He has influenced scientists, governments, and school children alike. Why would someone mock him over a belief? Because of his mortality, there are things we may not know. The universe has lost a champion.
If there is a God, may Hawking rest in peace. If there is not, the professor found the highest value in the living of his life, which he viewed as the greatest reward.
