时间:2024-09-20 05:58:49 来源:网络整理编辑:知識
Stephen Hawking has penned a thoughtful appeal for post-Brexit Britain to reconsider the role that w
Stephen Hawking has penned a thoughtful appeal for post-Brexit Britain to reconsider the role that wealth plays in society, warning that isolationism and envy could even lead to the end of the human species.
In a Guardian essay, the world-renowned physicist made the case for a more comprehensive and generous definition of wealth "to include knowledge, natural resources and human capacity."
Noticing that we're living in "perilous times," Hawking lists all the multiple challenges that the planet and human race face: climate change, food production, overpopulation, the decimation of other species, epidemic disease, and acidification of the ocean.
"Such pressing issues will require us to collaborate, all of us, with a shared vision and cooperative endeavour to ensure that humanity can survive," he says. "We will need to adapt, rethink, refocus and change some of our fundamental assumptions about what we mean by wealth, by possessions, by mine and yours. Just like children, we will have to learn to share."
The cosmologist argues that wealth played a crucial role in Britain's decision to leave the EU, and he highlights how the verdict could be damaging for EU grants to science and research.
Money is also important because it is liberating for individuals. I have spoken in the past about my concern that government spending cuts in the UK will diminish support for disabled students, support that helped me during my career. In my case, of course, money has helped not only make my career possible but has also literally kept me alive.
On one occasion while in Switzerland early on in my career, I developed pneumonia, and my college at Cambridge, Gonville and Caius, arranged to have me flown back to the UK for treatment. Without their money I might not have survived to do all the thinking that I’ve managed since then. Cash can set individuals free, just as poverty can certainly trap them and limit their potential, to their own detriment and that of the human race.
He goes on to explain how he came to see money "as a means to an end" but never as an end in itself. It's an attitude that is becoming more widespread, he wrote:
People are starting to question the value of pure wealth. Is knowledge or experience more important than money? Can possessions stand in the way of fulfilment? Can we truly own anything, or are we just transient custodians?
Redefining wealth and learning to share it is the challenge of our times, Hawking argues. Failing to do so could lead to end of human race:
If we fail then the forces that contributed to Brexit, the envy and isolationism not just in the UK but around the world that spring from not sharing, of cultures driven by a narrow definition of wealth and a failure to divide it more fairly, both within nations and across national borders, will strengthen. If that were to happen, I would not be optimistic about the long-term outlook for our species.
Read the whole article here.
This weird squid looks like it has googly eyes, guys2024-09-20 05:57
周五 克羅地亞vs巴西比分預測 莫德裏奇和內馬爾最後的世界杯(巴西對韓國預測會不會大比分)2024-09-20 05:53
2022 年卡塔爾世界杯 1/8 決賽巴西 vs 韓國 ,本場比賽有哪些看點?(巴西對陣韓國)2024-09-20 05:05
最終 ,西班牙被淘汰 !葡萄牙6:1大勝瑞士!本屆世界杯首個帽子戲法 ,是他上演的→(歐洲杯葡萄牙進16強)2024-09-20 04:36
Pole vaulter claims his penis is not to blame2024-09-20 04:15
【波盈足球】 世足又是PK! 摩洛哥3比0擊沉西班牙首度晉8 ( 摩洛哥,西班牙 )2024-09-20 04:12
【波盈足球】 世足C羅不滿沒先發鬧離隊 ? 葡萄牙足協駁斥 :他付出很多 ( 葡萄牙,美聯社 )2024-09-20 03:45
梅西千場破門 !阿根廷22024-09-20 03:36
Cat gets stuck in the most awkward position ever2024-09-20 03:35
2 :0完勝波蘭!梅西罰丟點球後 ,阿根廷最可怕的一麵展露無餘(阿根廷對波蘭)2024-09-20 03:32
Dramatic photo captures nun texting friends after Italy earthquake2024-09-20 05:53
【波盈足球】 世足葡萄牙迎戰瑞士 C羅竟然被降到替補 ( 葡萄牙,先發 )2024-09-20 05:50
世界杯最後8場!梅西C羅GOAT之爭,內馬爾姆巴佩定足壇地位(明晚世界杯有幾場比賽)2024-09-20 05:30
2022卡塔爾世界杯巡禮之H組 :C羅、巴爾韋德領銜(葡萄牙與韓國的恩怨情深)2024-09-20 04:46
Dramatic photo captures nun texting friends after Italy earthquake2024-09-20 04:36
世界杯首次6大洲晉級誕生!亞洲16強紀錄+奇跡之約 :梅西+C羅決賽(16年歐洲杯葡萄牙奪冠)2024-09-20 04:11
最終,西班牙被淘汰!葡萄牙6:1大勝瑞士 !本屆世界杯首個帽子戲法,是他上演的→(歐洲杯葡萄牙進16強)2024-09-20 04:05
【波盈足球】 世足嗆翻西班牙超爽!摩洛哥球迷11秒羞辱短片爆紅 ( 摩洛哥,巴勒斯坦 )2024-09-20 04:05
Major earthquake and multiple aftershocks rock central Italy2024-09-20 04:04
【波盈足球】 世足C羅不滿沒先發鬧離隊 ? 葡萄牙足協駁斥 :他付出很多 ( 葡萄牙,美聯社 )2024-09-20 03:40