Peter Sellers once played a very simple gardener, who was mistakenly thought to be extremely intelligent--it was because of that fine dividing line between genius and insanity
Such is the case with Professor Hawking. He is heralded as "the genius of Britain," and yet some of his beliefs border on the insane, or at least they are very weird.
He believes the scientific impossibly that nothing created everything (Sir Isaac Newton called atheism "senseless and odious"), that there are space aliens, and that if we (us six billion plus human beings) don't start living in space, we will become extinct within a century.
Not only does he have this insight way back into our origins, into deep space, but he also has a unique knowledge of the afterlife.
He knows that Heaven doesn't exist.
John Lennon wasn't so sure. He said to pretend there's no Heaven. That's easy if you try. Then he said he hoped that someday we would join him. No doubt when he wrote those words, he wasn't thinking about where he would be, someday.
Notes:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/02/stephen-hawking-big-bang-creator
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7107207
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7935505/Stephen-Hawking-mankind-must-move-to-outer-space-within-a-century.html
