Stephen Hawking, the physicist whose bodily paralysis turned him into a symbol of the soaring power of the human mind, feared a race of “superhumans” capable of manipulating their own evolution. Humanity, he wrote, was entering “a new phase of what might be called self-designed evolution, in which we will be able to change and improve our DNA. “Nevertheless, I am sure that during this century people will discover how to modify both intelligence and instincts such as aggression,” Hawking wrote. “Once such superhumans appear, there are going to be significant political problems with the unimproved humans, who won’t be able to compete,” Hawking reasoned. Hawking, whose exploration of gravity and black holes marked a transformation in modern physics, proffered answers to a number of other mysteries.

Source: National Post October 16, 2018 03:00 UTC