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Physicist Stephen Hawking Baffled by Donal Trump's Popularity

clownboy said:
What I said was entirely accurate - he never had to work a day in his life. He has done some work, but it has been work entirely of his choosing. He has never owned or run a business. I doubt he has clue one of how to.
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How many herps could a derp herp herp if derp herp could derp herps?

I mean...what? You do realize, do you not, that one doesn't simply wake up in the morning and demonstrate that information entering a black hole is not entirely lost as previously thought?
 
clownboy said:
Yes, I do. Do you? In fact his ALS caused him to be mostly supported by the state before he graduated Oxford. He has never run a business of any kind.
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This is also fairly inaccurate. Like I stated earlier, Hawking refused to live off the state and became an example and inspiration to those handicapped who felt they could not work.
He has and continues to work in his field. He's been a professor, writer, physicist, scientific engineer so just because he doesn't go and operate heavy machinery or dig ditches all day doesn't mean he doesn't work or hasn't worked.
 
cabse5 said:
Smartness or dumbness doesn't enter into the equation of a favorable politician's ratings. A politician (or pundit or fan) might be the smartest in the room but if they wish to, for example, defend the world, hike tax rates to their highest levels to give the people more or provide any combination in between their IQs drop precipitately.

For me, the smartest politician is the one who concerns themselves with the health and welfare of the country. The politician who strictly attempts to fulfill their ideology is a terrible politician no matter their IQ. Same for judges. Judges' IQs drop precipitately when they strictly attempt to fulfill their ideology.
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A person's ideology is based on a world view. A world view is a vision of the best way forward given an understanding of how the world works. No profession understands how the world works better than a theoretical physicist. Donald Trump and much of conservative ideology is based on a world view which contrasts with the very physical basis for our existence as interpreted by physicists.

To me and Professor Hawking ( I am making no comparison there ) Trump, his supporters and their ideology contradict reality from a scientific point of view. A simple example is free market capitalism. The end result of which is guaranteed failure based upon the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Our success can only be temporary if we continue alone this path.
 
Russell797 said:
A person's ideology is based on a world view. A world view is a vision of the best way forward given an understanding of how the world works. No profession understands how the world works better than a theoretical physicist. Donald Trump and much of conservative ideology is based on a world view which contrasts with the very physical basis for our existence as interpreted by physicists.

To me and Professor Hawking ( I am making no comparison there ) Trump, his supporters and their ideology contradict reality from a scientific point of view. A simple example is free market capitalism. The end result of which is guaranteed failure based upon the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Our success can only be temporary if we continue alone this path.
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A theoretical physicist understands how the universe works with math and science, primarily. A theoretical physicist who claims they think they know, for example, how much to tax or which bathrooms to build using math and science is woefully inept. The theoretical physicist is neither book smart nor street smart in politics. If a theoretical physicist still insists on providing opinions in politics like our Mr. Hawking, they are ideological opinions - not based on any expertise they may have. Don't even pretend to assume Mr. Hawking uses the same mental processes to determine a solution in theoretical physics as he does politics.
 
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cabse5 said:
A theoretical physicist understands how the universe works with math and science, primarily. A theoretical physicist who claims they think they know, for example, how much to tax or which bathrooms to build using math and science is woefully inept. The theoretical physicist is neither book smart nor street smart in politics. If a theoretical physicist still insists on providing opinions in politics like our Mr. Hawking, they are ideological opinions - not based on any expertise they may have. Don't even pretend to assume Mr. Hawking uses the same mental processes to determine a solution in theoretical physics as he does politics.
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Can you provide an example of Hawking acting stupid or saying stupid things outside his realm of expertise? I'm going to guess not.
 
Cardinal said:
Can you provide an example of Hawking acting stupid or saying stupid things outside his realm of expertise? I'm going to guess not.
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What expertise would Hawking have in subjects outside his expertise? I'd say he would have incredibly less expertise. I can't give an example of Hawking going outside his expertise to saying something 'irrational' but the possibility of this happening goes way up compared to his treatises on theoretical physics. Statistics back me up, ya know.

As a sided note, Donald Trump has very little expertise in government except for the spending part and the success of programs part from his business experience.
 
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cabse5 said:
What expertise would Hawking have in subjects outside his expertise? I'd say he would have incredibly less expertise. I can't give an example of Hawking going outside his expertise to saying something 'irrational' but the possibility of this happening goes way up compared to his treatises on theoretical physics. Statistics back me up, ya know.
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Until you can demonstrate Hawking acting or speaking irrationally outside of his realm of expertise, Hawking remains one of the world's smartest humans rather than the idiot savant that neurosurgeon (whose name I already forget) was.
 
Cardinal said:
Until you can demonstrate Hawking acting or speaking irrationally outside of his realm of expertise, Hawking remains one of the world's smartest humans rather than the idiot savant that neurosurgeon (whose name I already forget) was.
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Show me where Hawking is an expert in politics. Maybe he wants to feed the whole world. Heck, maybe he only wants to feed himself. Either way, he ain't no expert. Him (and you) pretending Hawking is an expert in politics is ludicrous.
 
cabse5 said:
Show me where Hawking is an expert in politics. Maybe he wants to feed the whole world. Heck, maybe he only wants to feed himself. Either way, he ain't no expert. Him (and you) pretending Hawking is an expert in politics is ludicrous.
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I didn't say he was an expert in politics. I said there's no reason to assume that once he leaves his realm of expertise he turns into an idiot, which is a conclusion you're automatically leaping to for some reason that is clear to nobody but yourself. There is no reason to believe he's another Ben Carson (I looked him up), who really did turn into a borderline retard every time he spoke on anything outside of neurosurgery, and even then his beliefs on evolution were mighty odd considering he was a doctor.
 
Cardinal said:
I didn't say he was an expert in politics. I said there's no reason to assume that once he leaves his realm of expertise he turns into an idiot, which is a conclusion you're automatically leaping to for some reason that is clear to nobody but yourself. There is no reason to believe he's another Ben Carson (I looked him up), who really did turn into a borderline retard every time he spoke on anything outside of neurosurgery, and even then his beliefs on evolution were mighty odd considering he was a doctor.
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You're constructing a strawman argument, here. You're making up an argument then attributing that argument to me then arguing against it. I didn't say Hawking wasn't smart. I didn't say Hawking was an idiot in politics. I said Hawking doesn't know any more than you or me about politics. He's not an expert of politics. Maybe you also want to take the advice of Dale Earnhardt Jr. about cooking since he's such a good stock car driver??
 
cabse5 said:
A theoretical physicist understands how the universe works with math and science, primarily. A theoretical physicist who claims they think they know, for example, how much to tax or which bathrooms to build using math and science is woefully inept. The theoretical physicist is neither book smart nor street smart in politics. If a theoretical physicist still insists on providing opinions in politics like our Mr. Hawking, they are ideological opinions - not based on any expertise they may have. Don't even pretend to assume Mr. Hawking uses the same mental processes to determine a solution in theoretical physics as he does politics.
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I think you miss the point. Professor Hawking is not stating a political opinion. He is baffled by the fact that a so called educated society can turn it's back on science. To vote for Trump is to endorse his science denial.
 
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Russell797 said:
I think you miss the point. Professor Hawking not stating a political opinion. He is baffled by the fact that a so called educated society can turn it's back on science. To vote for Trump is to endorse his science denial.
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What is the scientific denial Trump portrays?
 
cabse5 said:
You're constructing a strawman argument, here. You're making up an argument then attributing that argument to me then arguing against it. I didn't say Hawking wasn't smart. I didn't say Hawking was an idiot in politics. I said Hawking doesn't know any more than you or me about politics. He's not an expert of politics. Maybe you also want to take the advice of Dale Earnhardt Jr. about cooking since he's such a good stock car driver??
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You don't know what Hawking does or doesn't know about politics. And until you demonstrate otherwise there isn't yet any reason to take your word for it.
 
Cardinal said:
He's already called global warming a hoax.
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Global warming caused by man advocates are in scientific denial. No one knows what has caused cyclical warming (or cooling) of the earth. Again, political ideologies come into play.
 
Cardinal said:
You don't know what Hawking does or doesn't know about politics. And until you demonstrate otherwise there isn't yet any reason to take your word for it.
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You seriously want me to ague against this? I'm having a hard time typing from my outbursts of laughter. You seriously want me to prove Hawking isn't an expertise in politics? When has Hawking ever proven he is an expert in politics? That is the question that should be answered. Note: just because he agrees with you (or me) doesn't mean Hawking is an expert. Can't stop laughing...
 
cabse5 said:
Global warming caused by man advocates are in scientific denial. No one knows what has caused cyclical warming (or cooling) of the earth. Again, political ideologies come into play.
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You asked how Trump was a science denier and I told you. The fact that you share his ideology is not relevant to his science denial.
 
cabse5 said:
You seriously want me to ague against this? I'm having a hard time typing from my outbursts of laughter. You seriously want me to prove Hawking isn't an expertise in politics? When has Hawking ever proven he is an expert in politics? That is the question that should be answered. Note: just because he agrees with you (or me) doesn't mean Hawking is an expert. Can't stop laughing...
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Speaking of straw men...
 
cabse5 said:
Global warming caused by man advocates are in scientific denial. No one knows what has caused cyclical warming (or cooling) of the earth. Again, political ideologies come into play.
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So Professor Hawking, and I would venture to say every prominent scientist in the world, are in science denial because they endorse the conclusions of climate science? The desire to kill the EPA is anti-science. The NASA Earth monitoring program is systematically being depleted by congressional conservatives in denial of the essential nature of that research.

Just because you are uncertain of Earth climate drivers does not mean the scientists are also.

American conservatives also deny biological evolution in disproportionately large numbers compared to independents and liberals.
 
cabse5 said:
You seriously want me to ague against this? I'm having a hard time typing from my outbursts of laughter. You seriously want me to prove Hawking isn't an expertise in politics? When has Hawking ever proven he is an expert in politics? That is the question that should be answered. Note: just because he agrees with you (or me) doesn't mean Hawking is an expert. Can't stop laughing...
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I'm honestly not sure where this line of debate started but why does he need to be an expert?
Most of the people that we hear from on a day to day basis concerning the Presidential candidates are the furthest things from experts.
No. Hawking is not a political expert. But he is a very smart man and I can't imagine him being naïve or unable to grasp basic political workings.
The only thing I can say is that in the same course of saying he doesn't understand support for Trump he answers his own question. Trump appeals to the lowest common denominator, especially being the reality tv candidate.
You don't have to be a political expert to shake your head and go "I don't get this man and his supporters".
 
cabse5 said:
Smartness or dumbness doesn't enter into the equation of a favorable politician's ratings. A politician (or pundit or fan) might be the smartest in the room but if they wish to, for example, defend the world, hike tax rates to their highest levels to give the people more or provide any combination in between their IQs drop precipitately.

For me, the smartest politician is the one who concerns themselves with the health and welfare of the country. The politician who strictly attempts to fulfill their ideology is a terrible politician no matter their IQ. Same for judges. Judges' IQs drop precipitately when they strictly attempt to fulfill their ideology.
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There's a term for that type of practical politics - realpolitik. Trump has that down in spades.

The other politicians want to, for example, introduce democracy to the rest of the world or give the world all the social advantages of being an American at the expense of America. Ideological fools.
 
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