stephen hawking: the afterlife does not exist

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110516/us_yblog_thelookout/stephen-hawking-says-afterlife-is-a-fairy-story

 

Isn't this a really uncontroversial idea among neuro-blahblahblahs? I remember a couple years ago Time did a big blowout on the advance of brain science, and noted that the most shocking idea to the rest of us was the one and only thing that people who studied this stuff for a living were quite sure of: That when you're gone, you're gone. That's it.

What makes it a headline this time around?

 

I once made a terrible joke about Mr. Hawking.

Someone wondered aloud, maybe HejiraHenry, "I wonder what his IQ is."
Without skipping a beat, I answered, "I dunno. But I know what his time in the 40 is."

 

Well, if you and the eggheads say so, that must make it true. But you're speaking of people who study "this stuff" (the brain) for a living. What about the people who study the soul for a living. They likely have a different take.

 

I'm Catholic.

 

It's sad to be that intelligent yet still a fool.

 

When I die, I'll be sure to tell you if there's an afterlife.

 

I don't claim to be as learned or intelligent as either the scientists on one side of this argument or the theologians on the other, but I do know one thing: this thread is heading for a lock.

 

Terror Management Theory in full force, I see.

 

The afterlife: Stephen Hawking does not exist.

 

Lock, schmock (as Steve Allen would have said). Seems a perfect jumping off point to debate the concept of afterlife: Yes, no, or dunno.
Me: Dunno. Still trying to figure out the difference between living and existing.