Does God exist?

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The late Stephen Hawking famously declared that there was no need for a creator. He was an atheist who stated that science offered a more convincing explanation of life and the universe than god or gods. He believed that the universe is governed by the laws of science. In his 2010 book, “The Grand Design” (written with Leonard Mlodinow) he wrote that the Big Bang was inevitable and spontaneous. “Because there is a law such as gravity the universe can and will create itself from nothing……..Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going”.

Interviewed on ABC News Hawking said, “One cannot prove that God doesn’t exist. But science makes God unnecessary. The laws of physics can explain the universe without the need for a creator.”. On other occasions he expressed the conviction that there is no God. “No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. There is probably no heaven or afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe.

Epicurus believed that there might be gods on Mount Olympus, but they spent their time making merry and chasing goddesses. They took no interest in the doings of mankind. This, I suspect, but can’t prove, was a “ politically correct” statement that avoided blowback from priests and believers. In fact, I think he was, privately, an atheist, who laughed at the stories about the gods and preferred a scientific approach to life and the universe.

We can, as Epicureans, support both Hawking and Epicurus, but we must do so respecting the beliefs of others and putting our views forward politely, with a smile, especially for those who are religious but who try to learn and understand physics and modern science, butfind religion is a reassuring comfort.

Learning English

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770,000 people living in England speak hardly any or no English. The British communities secretary Sajid Javid, is promising to expand teaching of English for immigrants. Up to 70% of those needing it are women, mostly Pakistani or Bangladeshi. Javid said that when his mother learned English 15 years after arriving from Pakistan it “transformed her life”.

770,000! I cannot imagine leaving the country of my birth for a foreign land on a permanent basis and not making an effort to learn the local language. There are still cities in Britain where Pakistanis and Bangladeshis only speak their native- born dialects. This must have led to isolation, alienation, self-segregation, potential exploitation and miserable half-lives.

Some men have clearly found it “convenient” to have their wives stuck at home, unable to communicate with the indigenous natives. Many young women have now rebelled, become educated and have successful careers. But the old religious culture persists – women are treated as second-class citizens. I think it is a human right for women to be able to go to classes, learn the local language, and integrate. No medieval-minded man should be allowed to stop them. Sajid Javid is right, even if late in the day. He is, in effect, finally undermining the male domination that is prevalent in poor moslem communities. Good! Epicurus would applaud. You cannot have a cohesive society if part of it can’t speak a word of the language after years of residence in a country.

Being interrupted in full flight

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From Bryn Glover, Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire, UK

“May I report a highly effective way to counter interruptions while talking?

“In the 1980s, I sat on the council of the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs trade union in England. Meetings were always attended by the extrovert and voluble general secretary, Clive Jenkins. He would frequently interrupt speakers during what were otherwise disciplined and strictly non-interrupted meetings in order, as he put it, “to be helpful and progress business”.

“One member, who seemed to be interrupted more than others, developed the technique of instantly stopping speaking and waiting in silence until Clive, with his usual sweet smile of acknowledgement, had finished.

“She would then immediately continue speaking at precisely the same point in the sentence she had been delivering when interrupted. There was never any loss of sense, grammar or syntax. It was as if the interruption had never occurred. This was so effective that it eventually cured Jenkins of his habit. It is a very difficult trick to carry off, but it can be devastating”. (New Scientist, March 10, 2018)

One of the things that always brings me up with a jolt is when you are in the mid-sentence and your listener’s phone goes off, or there is a similar interruption. Then, at the end of the telephone call your listener totally ignores the fact that you were speaking and changes the subject totally, as if you had never opened your mouth.

I fear we are all sometimes guilty of this, myself included – it is probably not deliberately rude, just a matter of lack of attention. Should one simply stop worrying about it, or should one be developing the above technique of resuming precisely where one left off? Or am I a boring my listeners out of their tiny minds? (Will have to ponder that!)

Epicurus was, apparently, a good and attentive listener, whose popularity was based, not only on what he had to say, but the courtesy he showed by scrupulously commenting on the views of others. It helps cement relationships.

The BBC

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On a random day (before the royal wedding) these are the subject headings of BBC News as received on my I- pad:
– Playing fantasy football with artificial intelligence
– “FatTax” row forces New Look price review
– Single, 30,and time to leave home
– Meghan’s father may not attend wedding
– Dealing with a child who won’t sleep
– Kristen Stewart goes barefoot at Cannes
– How to dress a royal groom
– Willow Smith reveals how she used to self- harm
– Scariest moment in my police career
– Are these (photo) Yorkshire pudding or Yorkshire pancakes?
– Cold war over ice cream at school
– House-bound woman crowd-funds for chair
– Arsenal’s medical head, Lewin, loses job

Meanwhile, the world was roiled by the Trump policy on Iran, protestors were being shot in Gaza, autocrats were being elected in countries like Hungary, Turkey, etc, mini-wars against terrorism were popping up all over Africa. Brexit was in its usual chaos, Argentina was going broke – yet again, etc, etc.

What is wrong with the BBC? It used to be the prime newscaster, respected throughout the world. No wonder people get their news from Facebook. You have to get it from somewhere, even if it’s fake.

Charles Krauthammer recently died. This is his view of the United States

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“America is the only country ever founded on an idea. The only country that is not founded on race or even common history. It’s founded on an idea and the idea is liberty. That is probably the rarest phenomena in the political history of the world; this has never happened before. And not only has it happened, but it’s worked. We are the most flourishing, the most powerful, most influential country on Earth with this system, invented by the greatest political geniuses probably in human history.” — Charles Krauthammer

“…..not founded on race?”. “……..”founded on liberty?” Mr. Krauthammer was a very prominent political commentator with a great command of English and political rhetoric, a product of Oxford (I encountered him in his wheelchair at a dinner once, a propos of nothing). Clearly, he truly believed what he said, erasing from his mind the centuries of oppression of black Americans. He seemed totally indifferent to the political corruption caused by money in politics (the result his party’s policies), the emergence of a powerful and ruthless oligarchy, the dissolution of the American Dream, the effects of continual, non-stop and incompetently run wars that have made the country so deeply indebted…. no need to go on. He and his like are blinkered, and while they cannot see the obvious that the rest of us can see, the country will continue on its downward path. The Chinese must be laughing at us.