When I gave a lecture in Japan, I was asked not to mention the possible re-collapse of the universe, because it might affect the stock market. However, I can reassure anyone who is nervous about their investments that it is a bit early to sell: even if the universe does come to an end, it won't be for at least twenty billion years.
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"I think the universe is a beautiful place, and I'm very lucky to be able to explore it."
"The universe is full of wonders, and we are lucky to be a part of it."
"Cosmology is the study of the large scale structure of the universe, and how it has evolved over time."
"I believe that the universe is infinite, and that there are an infinite number of universes."
"The universe is a great place to be, and I'm glad to be a part of it. But it's also a very dangerous place, and we need to be careful."
British theoretical physicist whose Hawking radiation work and A Brief History of Time (1988) brought black-hole physics to a mass audience while he lived with ALS for 55 years. Closely associated with Roger Penrose (his collaborator on singularity theorems) and Carl Sagan (fellow popularizer who wrote Brief History's foreword). For an intellectual contrast, see William Lane Craig, American philosopher of religion — Craig's Kalam cosmological argument depends on the Big Bang requiring a divine first cause; Hawking's no-boundary proposal was specifically designed to remove the moment that would require one — the cleanest cosmology-vs-natural-theology contrast in modern thought.
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Science affects real-world anxieties, even irrational ones. Hawking uses dry wit to expose how humans project short-term economic fears onto cosmic timescales. The universe's eventual end, billions of years away, is utterly irrelevant to today's financial decisions. He gently mocks the absurdity of letting astronomical speculation influence markets while reassuring that existential cosmic dread is thoroughly premature.
Hawking's entire career balanced rigorous cosmology with public accessibility and sharp humor. His work on the Big Bang, black holes, and universe expansion made him uniquely qualified to discuss cosmic endpoints. His wit was legendary — he used comedy to disarm intimidating physics concepts, and this anecdote perfectly captures his ability to make cosmology both approachable and amusing without sacrificing scientific precision.
Hawking delivered lectures like this during the 1980s-90s, when Japan's economic bubble and global financial anxiety were prominent. Simultaneously, theoretical cosmology was entering public consciousness through his 1988 bestseller A Brief History of Time. The tension between Wall Street volatility and cosmic timescales reflected a broader cultural moment when science was becoming mainstream entertainment yet still triggered irrational public fears.
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