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Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

Stephen Hawking (attributed)

Mind

The story behind the card

The line circulates widely under Stephen Hawking's name, but no one has found it in his books, papers, lectures or interviews, and quote researchers treat it as a modern saying that borrowed his fame. A similar line, 'It is not the strongest of the species that survives', is often credited to Charles Darwin; it actually comes from a 1963 paraphrase of Darwin by the management professor Leon Megginson. Hawking's real record fits the spirit better: he publicly admitted scientific bets he had lost, such as his 1997 wager with the physicist John Preskill over whether black holes destroy information, which he conceded in 2004.

Türkçe oku
Zekâ, değişime uyum sağlama yeteneğidir.
Stephen Hawking (atfedilir)

Bu söz Stephen Hawking'in adıyla her yerde dolaşır, ama kitaplarında, makalelerinde, derslerinde ya da söyleşilerinde bulunamamıştır. Alıntı araştırmacıları onu, Hawking'in ününe yaslanan yakın tarihli bir söz olarak görür. Benzer bir cümle, “Hayatta kalan en güçlü tür değildir” sözü de sık sık Charles Darwin'e mal edilir; oysa işletme profesörü Leon Megginson'ın 1963'te Darwin'i kendi cümleleriyle özetlemesinden doğmuştur. Hawking'in gerçek tutumu sözün ruhuna daha çok uyar: Kaybettiği bilimsel bahisleri açıkça kabul ederdi. Örneğin kara deliklerin bilgiyi yok edip etmediği konusunda fizikçi John Preskill'le 1997'de girdiği bahsi kaybettiğini 2004'te herkesin önünde açıkladı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Stephen Hawking
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