The Grand Design By Stephen Hawking – Is There No Room For God’s Existence?

I could not help but to feel somewhat devastated after reading “The Grand Design”.  There is nothing wrong with the book.  In fact, it is one fine book.  A concise yet accessible read on the scientific theories and models from the past all the way to what we have today in an attempt to answer the laws that govern our universe.  I felt somewhat devastated because there was this huge void in my soul (which I can imagine if Hawking was to read this, he would tell me that soul does not exist).  When I first read the media review on “The Grand Design”, I was skeptical.  I thought it was the media wanting to grab our attention with skewed claims.  But the media is right about two things.  One, there is no room for God in the design and existence of our universe.  I would not go as far as to quote Hawking in saying “God does not exist”.  Because he did not write that.  What he says is that throughout the history of our universe, going back all the way to the singularity (i.e. big bang), there is no God.  And beyond that point, it is not a timescale that is of interest to us because time does not exist.  Does it mean that God does not exist?  I think it is meant to say that God – whom some of us come to know as the creator – according to Hawking does not play a role in the creation of our universe.  And Hawking has reminded us on how our notion of God has changed over time.  Maybe we are still finding what God is.  Maybe the scientists are still searching for the grand design (that will come into light after the M-theory is confirmed via observation).

Two, our universe creates itself from nothing.  This piece of information is probably the climax of “The Grand Design”.  The negative energy of gravitation plays a role in balancing out the positive energy needed to create matter.  Overall, the total energy of the universe remains as zero.  And since the gravitational energy shapes the time-space, it allows the time-space to be locally stable (like bodies such as stars and black holes) and globally unstable.  Spontaneous creation is the reason why we exist, why there is something instead of nothing.  And according to the book, God plays no part in that spontaneous creation.  Looking at the theories and models that arrive to this conclusion, I must admit that this concept does sound convincing.  Having said that, I wish Hawking and Mlodinow would spend more time to explain more on the negative gravitational energy, perhaps with more illustrations.  While the authors appear to accuse the scientists of the past to tweak the models in an attempt to make them fit, the way how the modern theories are modified (such as the dropping and resurrection of the cosmological constant) seems to be of little difference to a layman reader such as myself.

Beyond these two claims that have caught media’s attention, as someone who has studied science, “The Grand Design” is a joy to read.  A book that helps to revise on what we have learned in the past.  The laws of the universe are a fascinating topic.  Light was thought as particle, then as wave, and then as both particle and wave.  Buckyballs constructed using carbon atoms have found to exhibit mind boggling behavior of being able to acquire information of the slits in a screen in front when they are shot from a source (1999).  From Newton’s classic theory to quantum theory, from Einstein’s special and general relativity to the modern day string theory and M-theory, “The Grand Design” is a mind blowing read on how far we have come – scientifically speaking.  The fact that I being science trained probably explains why reading this book was a breeze.  But with the diagram illustrations and simple to understand and at times lighthearted writing style, this book should appeal to general readers as well.  It is quite an entertaining read as this book is not all about theories and observations.  There are mentioning of the historical events and the legends and rituals of the past.

I was momentarily devastated because I understand that science at the theory and model level can be cold.  For lack of better words, the laws are indeed cold hard facts that are aligned with the expectations and observations around us, under a certain set of conditions (for example, Newton’s theory works best for objects of our daily lives and quantum theory works best at the minuscule level).  Models are created by man in an attempt to explain our universe.  Under the conditions that are set within these models, I can accept why there is no room for God’s existence.  And if our universe within the realm of multiverse contains countless of possibilities happening at the same time, there is no room for miracles either.  So, what does the theologists got to say about this?

I do not believe that science can explain everything in life.  I have not yet seen how, for instance, love can be modeled and explained.  Where does compassion come from?  What makes one person forgive another?  I have not seen how science can create beautiful literature that inspires.  I would rather choose to believe that people whom I love and I have something special going on, than to think that all these are merely random encounters and one of the many possibilities that exists in the universe.  And I would rather choose to believe in the existence of faith and hope.  Science, in its pure essence, seems too cold to me.  Lastly, not to discredit the authors – because they are highly regarded in their respective fields – as a layman reader, I am still not seeing what the grand design is.  What we have today is a theory (M-theory) that suggests how this grand design comes into light.  A theory that has not been proven wrong so far and a grand design that is yet to be observed.  This book is still a major read not to be missed.  However, read it with the right perspective.