Monday, September 6, 2010

Appropriate Handling

Over at Beliefnet, Stephen Hawking's latest shocking claims are discussed:
Stephen Hawking has created a firestorm in his new book, The Grand Design, in which he declares that an intelligent creator was not necessary for the creation of the Universe. This is nothing new - Hawking has long argued against the need for a supernatural being to create the Universe, but in this new book he speaks out with particular clarity, saying that the laws of physics can create the universe out of nothing, it doesn't require God.
Okay, that's a somewhat plodding summary, do go - oh, you ARE going on:
Though not a scientist, I will argue that the creation of the Universe and the planet is a separate issue entirely from the creation of consciousness. Human beings are conscious creatures, and there is growing evidence to suggest that most animals and birds possess a level of consciousness as well. I am certainly not arguing for the Genesis-tale of creation, where a god variously termed Jehovah, Yahweh, and the Elohim (Plural) created the heavens and the earth. But it is difficult to imagine a scenario where conscious beings formed without a conscious intention of some kind.
All right, you're branching out into the ether there and I -
Hawking's Sun is in achievement-oriented Capricorn, and he has a Grand Trine of planets in earth that includes Mercury, Uranus and Neptune. Uranus opens his mind (Mercury) to fresh new insights, and Neptune adds a creative note which helps to raise his mental abilities. Hawking was an underachiever in college until ALS began to rob his physical body of its abilities, after which time he began to work hard and focus all of his energies through the mind. He is now thought by some to be the smartest man in the world.

Uranus in Hawkins chart conjoins Saturn, a combination that requires a balance of one's radical and individualistic (Uranus) nature with the more structured rules of Saturn. Often individuals with this combination of planets tend to embrace one over the other and a war between the two impulses can result. Hawkings was first diagnosed when he was 21 years old - an age at which transiting Saturn forms a square to Saturn in the birthchart at the same time that Uranus squares the natal Uranus. This is a big time of change for every human being, but with Saturn and Uranus conjoined in the birthchart it took on greater force and likely drove all of his focus towards the aspect of his personality which worked well, which is the Grand Trine involving Mercury.

11 comments:

Hamish Mack said...

"Porter!" I shouted to nearest man
"What is that Green locomotive, there"
"Oooer sir" he replied "That's the Flying Scotsman, a right Grand Trine, beggin' you pardon, Mister"

Substance McGravitas said...

Helllloooo, mikey, ASTROLOGY.

mikey said...

He just wanted to prove he could name the planets. Although, the point stands - it's a long leap from not being a Planetary Scientist to not being a Cosmologist...

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Porter, I shouted to the barkeep.

P.S. I buy that Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter on occasion. It's pretty good!
~

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

The Yeastie Boys!

25 Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black
Yeastie Boys
Wellington, New Zealand

Anyone willing to do a taste test?
~

mikey said...

The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay if they'd put fifteen more miles behind her...

tigris said...

ALS and a conjoined anus. SAD.

But it is difficult to imagine a scenario where conscious beings formed without a conscious intention of some kind

It really isn't.

Smut Clyde said...

Anyone willing to do a taste test?

If you have any questions, I can arrange for them to be passed on to a bottle of PKB.
Dominic down at Hazhigo Zaki stocks the Nøgne Ø Porter from time to time.

I have tried Coconut Porter and it was interesting but I am far from convinced that it really counts as beer.
Also it is designed to be drunk on a beach in the shade of the palm trees, with surf rolling in a few metres away, and Courtenay Place on a cold wet night isn't really a close facsimile.

mikey said...

Courtenay Place on a cold wet night sounds lovely and exotic and just a little bit dangerous. You check to make sure there's a round in the chamber and then slide a little closer to the fire, balloon snifter of a rough old-country Armagnac held thoughtfully in your hand reflecting the flames as the gusty winds tear at the back door...

commie atheist said...

Astrology is a science, amirite? It's like Astronomy, except with an 'l' and a 'g' instead of 'n' and 'm.'

But it is difficult to imagine a scenario where conscious beings formed without a conscious intention of some kind

Well, that makes as much sense as Megan saying "We're not like bonobos, because we're not like bonobos." Just as convincing, too.

Substance McGravitas said...

It's gods all the way up.