My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.
If we find the answer [the unified theory], it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for we would know the mind of God.
Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?
The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?
The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired.
We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.
To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.
When one's expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.
The old paradox: Can God make a stone so heavy that he can't lift it?
I put a lot of effort into writing A Briefer History at a time when I was critically ill with pneumonia because I think that it's important for scientists to explain their work, particularly in cosmology. This now answers many questions once asked of religion.
If we do discover a complete theory, it should be in time understandable in broad principle by everyone . . . . Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people be able to take part in the discussion of why we and the universe exist.
I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.
It is no good getting furious if you get stuck. What I do is keep thinking about the problem but work on something else. Sometimes it is years before I see the way forward. In the case of information loss and black holes, it was 29 years.
It matters if you just don't give up.
