Stephen Hawking spoke about the dangers of the modern period of human development

74-year-old prominent English scientist Stephen Hawking admitted that the current picture of the world terrifies him, because according to the physicist, the Earth has entered one of the most dangerous phases of its development.

He wrote about this in his column for publication. The Guardian.

Economic inequality, unemployment, forced migration, populism, environmental problems - all this, according to Hawking, should make everyone think about where we are going and why we can go somewhere wrong.

The scientist argues that the current situation is based on the economic consequences of globalization and technological growth. Due to the automation of production, the number of jobs is reduced, leaving opportunities to develop and earn only for representatives of the creative class and managers. And this further increases economic inequality. At the same time, he said, the gap between government officials and ordinary people is growing ever faster.

The scientist believes that the UK decision to withdraw from the EU and the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election is an expression of the anger of people who were thrown by their own leaders.

“As a theoretical physicist from Cambridge, I lived all my life in an extremely privileged place. The small group of researchers with whom I have worked all these years, is sometimes tempted and calls itself the real elite of the scientific world. Taking into account the fame that came to me along with the books I wrote, and the isolation that was forced by my illness, I see my own ivory tower growing. Therefore, I feel that the growing rejection of the elite in Britain and in America is directed at me personally, ”said Hawking.

He believes that the spread of the Internet and social networks provokes an increase in inequality.

As an example, he cites the situation in sub-Saharan Africa, where people’s telephones are more common than access to clean water. Watching the pictures of luxury on Instagram, people from villages in pursuit of her move to the cities. And then abroad. As a result, economic migrants are an increasingly serious challenge to the economy and infrastructure of the countries where they come, undermine tolerance and contribute to the growth of political populism.

“The Internet allows a very small number of people to make a lot of money. We live in a world of growing financial inequality, where not only the standard of living is being lost - people's very ability to earn a living is being lost. It’s not surprising that people are looking for a way to make some kind of new deal - and that’s how they see the election of Trump and leaving the EU,” Hawking said.

All this leads the physicist to the idea that the most dangerous moment in human history has come.

“Right now, humanity needs to work together, more than ever. We are faced with environmental challenges, climate change, food production problems, epidemics, ocean acidification. We have come up with technologies that will allow us to destroy our planet. But we haven't yet figured out a way to leave it. Perhaps in a couple of hundred years we will go to the stars and create our own colonies. But for now we only have one planet, and we must work together to protect it,” the scientist emphasized.

For this, in the opinion of the physicist, barriers between countries should be destroyed, and not built. Most of the resources are in the hands of a small number of people, and they will have to learn how to share them. Not only workplaces disappear, but also entire industries, and you need to help people retrain. And since countries are not coping with the growth of migration, it is necessary to support global development in order to become good everywhere - this is the only way for millions of people to seek prosperity in their homeland.

“We can do this, I’m generally a huge optimist. This will require elites - from London to Harvard, Cambridge to Hollywood - to learn from the events of the past year. And above all, find out our measure of humility,” Hawking concluded.

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