Stephen Hawking may be one of the world's biggest brains, but he sure has been a downer lately. First he tells us that, yes, aliens DO exist, but they want to kill us. And now he wants us to know that if we don't abandon Earth—we're doomed!
Here's some of what he had to say Friday:
"Our only chance of long term survival is not to remain inward looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. We have made remarkable progress in the last hundred years. But if we want to continue beyond the next hundred years, our future is in space. "It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load. ...What do you think? Do you agree we need to get off Earth ... or die?
"If we are the only intelligent beings in the galaxy, we should make sure we survive and continue. But we are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history. Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth, are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill. But our genetic code still carries the selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million. That is why I'm in favor of manned, or should I say 'personed,' space flight."
(via kurzweilai)
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