In a refinement of his previous statements about how understanding the origins of the universe might allow us to "...know the mind of God," Stephen Hawking will argue in an upcoming book that "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist." (My emphasis added)
The phrase "spontaneous creation" will, I predict, be the latest scientific terminology to be attacked and misinterpreted by creationists. Expect them to trot out their tired arguments about eyeballs and jet planes not appearing randomly. I like that Hawking and his co-author, physicist Leonard Mlodinow, deliberately use the words "creation" and "design" as part of their discourse about the absence of a creating god. Nice touches! And he references the law of gravity (not the theory of gravity.) We'd love to include you, God, but we can't. It's the law!
I have to admit I will enjoy the fireworks that will certainly ensue.
The book, titled "The Grand Design," is set for release next week. I will probably buy a copy to complement my unread copy of "A Brief History of Time." I've read a lot of books about science and science history, but I am too much of an amateur to make it through "A Brief History of Time." I hope the new volume is slightly more accessible.
It sounds quite provocative. Here are some quotes gleaned from this Reuters preview:
It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.
That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions -- the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass, far less remarkable, and far less compelling evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings.
Bold ideas, indeed. Even using the God image metaphorically, it's my understanding that theoretical physics had only speculated as far back as the point just after the Big Bang occurred, but not far enough to describe what caused it, leaving a smidge of pre-spacetime for God to occupy. (Remember, I'm an amateur, so my understanding is probably out-of-date, and could be completely wrong. If so, I'm hoping the new book will smarten me up.)
It sounds like Hawking is poised to nix the God idea for good.
This should be fun!