Humans have a choice: leave Earth behind or face extinction. That's the future of the human race through the eyes and mind of famed physicist Stephen Hawking, widely considered to be the greatest theoretical physicist since Einstein.
In an interview with Big Think, Hawking made the dire prediction that, unless humans leave Earth and colonize space, we are doomed to extinction. The cause: war. Hawking points out to past instances, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, and warns that such threats will multiply in the future. On this point, Hawking is undeniably right. Back in the 1960s, world-destroying technology was the preserve of the global superpowers. Now, terrorists are seeking nuclear weapon producing material for themselves and anyone with a little know-how and/or a lot of malice can get a hold of warfare-grade bacteria and unleash a plague on humanity.
Scary times, indeed!
However, Hawking, who describes himself as an optimist, also said that, if we survive as a species for another 200 years, he foresees the threat of extinction diminishing as we spread out into space.
This is not the first time Hawking has warned of species-threatening dangers. In 2006, Hawking made a similar statement to the effect that we must leave Earth or face extinction. Earlier this year, he also made a statement that humans should avoid trying to contact aliens (which he believes almost certainly exist), citing instances in the past where different civilizations collided, the lesser being wiped out through warfare and/or disease.
So, is Hawking being an alarmist or realist?
There are a lot of ways life on Earth could end, many of which involve humans destroying the planet's capability to support life. However, there are far more catastrophic, natural scenarios about which we can do nothing. Then there is the inevitable, the Sun will eventually expand into a red giant and make Earth uninhabitable regardless of whether the planet is engulfed or not.
Either way, Earth is not forever. If we are to survive, we must journey to the stars from which we came.
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