Why Stephen Hawking gave up on a Theory of Everything

The scientist who gave up on truth

In 2012 Stephen Hawking abandoned belief in the ability of science to describe reality, in favour of a model-dependent account of truth. We tend to think it is the job of scientists to discover truths about the universe. Yet, Hawking rendered this an impossible task and came to argue that truth is an illusion. For Hawking, in the end, there was no idea of reality that made any sense. All we have are our models. Written by Paul Hoyningen-Huene.

 

“Model-dependent realism” is a term coined by physicist Stephen Hawking in his 2010 book The Grand Design: New Answers to the Ultimate Questions of Life (co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow). The term denominates Hawking’s overall view of physics. Hawking had already articulated the main idea of this position in his 1996 debate with Roger Penrose (in The Nature of Space and Time, Chapter 7), but here he develops the idea more fully. Before explaining Hawking’s position, we should understand to which problem, situation or question it serves as a response.

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Does human knowledge reach the truth about nature, “the true, undistorted picture of reality” (p. 53 in his book), or does it not?

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The book’s subtitle promises a new answer to one of those “ultimate questions of life,” roughly: how far does human knowledge extend? This question can be understood in various ways, and the specific meaning of the question Hawking addresses is, does human knowledge reach the truth about nature, “the true, undistorted picture of reality” (p. 53 in his book), or does it not? This is indeed a very old philosophical question, and the first important distinction to be drawn is that between those who affirm that such knowledge is humanly reachable, and those who deny that possibility. This disagreement is far from trivial because it concerns, in fact, our understanding of what constitutes reality. To put this main question in slightly different terms: is reality exclusively constituted by mind-independent elements or are there, in addition, mind-dependent ingredients in reality? Note that our everyday understanding of reality clearly belongs to the first alternative: (physical) reality is, as is often stressed, mind independent. This understanding of reality is so deeply ingrained that the absence of mind-dependent elements in reality may appear to be a definitional truth. The label that typically denotes such a position in philosophy is “realism”, qualified sometimes additionally by terms like “scientific,” “structural,” or “entity,” hinting at some specific additional features in the respective positions.

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Kenneth Hughes 13 October 2024

The two reasons in physics given here to debunk reality are not valid.

1. Simultaneity in special relativity is not observer dependent at all, once we accept that time passes at different rates in different frames of reference. This is proven by the Hafele & Keating experiments where atomic clocks show indisputable evidence of this. Time, really does pass slower for a moving entity and this is not observer dependent, but proven by experiment. People can draw all sorts of diagrams to show what one observer might see in a different frame', but ultimately, these are just lines on a piece of paper. If Hawking was serious about his remarks to 'Penrose, then he should remember the cesium clocks in H&K and also how the satellite navigation system works. I take it he used a SatNav?

2. The assumption, in quantum mechanics in the double slit experiment, that the behaviour of light is affected by the observer, is also unfounded. This idea is invoked because we don't (yet) understand the "collapse" of the "wave function", (whatever the wave function is). I see no reason to revert any such absurd thinking as opposed to just simply accepting that we do not yet understand the phenomenon. As a professional Mechanical Engineer, (retired), and an ardent realist, I believe physicists are duty bound to attempt to find a realistic solution to such conundrums rather than simply throw in the towel because they too arrogant to make the attempt or merely find the task too difficult for them. The idea of "Non Realism" is a hideous restraint on free thinking and it is no wonder we have not seen the expected next "Einstein" in the last one hundred years or so.

If you are interested in a realist's explanation of these two issues then either read my book, "The Binary Universe" - A Theory of Time, or, to save yourself the time and money, go to - Academia dot edu Ken Hughes, and read my ten papers there in numerical order.