Postmodern Encounter Series - Hawking and the Mind of God

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Features: Hawking demonstrated, through his own life, the truth of what John Milton once said: "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." He proved, with his thoughts, Hamlet's line: "Though I be taken in the cabin's corner, yet there's nothing in't that's not in all the world." Stephen Hawking has reached a unique position in contemporary culture, combining the renowned achievements in the remote world of theoretical physics with the fame usually reserved for movie stars and rock musicians. However, Hawking's specialized work is being challenged in its conceptual scope and mathematical details, to the extent that, apart from a few experts, understanding its significance appropriately goes beyond the comprehension of most people. So, how did the scientist Stephen Hawking become the icon Stephen Hawking? Hawking's theories often place him in intellectual territory that traditionally belongs to religion rather than science. In the conclusion of his best-selling book A Brief History of Time, he explicitly acknowledges this, where he states that his ultimate goal was to understand the mind of God. Hawking and the Mind of God examines the quasi-religious implications of certain key themes in Hawking's work, which not only illuminate the phenomenon of Hawking worship itself but also shed light on a broader debate: how scientists present themselves in the media.