I've always believed that I could have been as smart as Stephen Hawking if I were him, instead of me.
In honour of his life, you won't hear about his biggest blunder, but you should. It illustrates the humble nature of a huge intelligence.
It centres around black holes, and I don't mean my appetite for bbq.
Hawking initially said that everything, including light, gets sucked into a black hole and disappears forever. I know, kinda sounds like your VISA, doesn't it?
Problem is, this violates the law of conservation of information, which states that all information in the universe is here forever. The universe is not an iMAC and you can't delete stuff. If the universe were a dryer and you put your socks in it, they would all come out dry. Think about it – impossible to lose a sock.
To express it more scientifically, "stuff ain't going nowhere."
The only exception might be when you delete my blog. Many in the scientific community and beyond are hoping my blog disappears forever.
In his never-ending quest for truth, Hawking lost a bet and admitted he was wrong. He discovered "Hawking Radiation".
I'm not sure where Mr. Hawking is now. Maybe in that big black hole in the sky. And we are left hoping other prominent people can admit when they're wrong.
