Democracy 2.0

I recently finished reading Stephen Hawking's new book, The Grand Design. The book is a bit underwhelming, I was expecting more clarity of the fundamental questions the authors (Caltech professor Leonard Mlodinow is a co-author) have been posing. Apart from the profligate universe Mr. Hawking writes about (his theory claims that our universe is just one of infinite number of universes), I was struck by two other implicit themes:

1. The ability of scientists to constantly re-assess their theories and modify them in light of new evidence or advances in other fields of science. Mr. Hawking himself modifies many of his theories from his previous blockbuster book A Brief History of Time (still an endearing read), including a single big bang event as the point of origin of space, time and our universe
   
   
2. The lessening impact of the advances in fields such as cosmology and particle physics on the intellectual life of today. Galileo, Newton and Einstein's theories (let alone landmark advances in other branches of science such as Freud and Jung's theories of our mind and consciousness and Darwin and Wallace's theory of evolution) had a much deeper, far-reaching impact on the intellectual, religious and political life of the previous centuries. By comparison, the work of Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose doesn't seem to set the coffee houses, university campuses and airport lounges abuzz. (Even though Feynman, Hawking and Penrose are excellent
   popular science writers). Is cosmology and particle physics becoming too advanced for modern intellectuals to fathom? (Hawking's latest book contains no single equation, and is interspersed with several lame jokes).

I hope to return to theme b) some time later. For today, I'd like to briefly discuss the first theme.