Stephen Hawking, along with a group of eminent entrepeneurs and scientists, is setting off on a hunt for Africa’s intellectual talent:
“The world of science needs Africa’s brilliant talents and I look forward to meeting prospective young Einsteins from Africa,” said Hawking.
It’s awesome that he’s doing this. The reasoning here is that all humans are equally capable of intellectual pursuit, just that some have environments that lend themselves better to doing so than others. Africa is a region that especially needs this kind of intellectual reinvigoration because it’s these kinds of things, not just the same political mess endlessly rehashed, that can bring tangible change.
The stories of moneyless but bright children being offered opportunities by Hawking’s programs are touching—even more so when they juxtapose them with James Watson’s views on African intelligence. We need more of this kind of news nowadays.
This ties in nicely withyesterday’s post: so much undicovered territory. But Maybe the search for Einstein is not the right aim; what did he bring to the world except the atomic bomb?(Seemed a funny thing to say at the time. Now not so much.) Instead maybe a search for a new Stephen Hawking? He seems to have the world’s best interest at heart…
