Stephen Hawking: "How can human race survive?" (#169, Topic Q)

Recently, Stephen Hawking, Cambridge University's well known mathematics professor, posed a question on Yahoo Answers on the internet: "In a world that is in chaos politically, socially, and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?" Later, on his way to China to deliver a series of lectures, he stopped by Hong Kong where he seemed to answer his own question: The survivial of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there's an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy Earth. This answer strikes me as bordering on escapism; in any event, it is a natural answer by a physical scientist. Back in 1988, Nobel prize winners held a conference in Paris, and a similar question was posed. Their answer: Follow Confucius's teachings. This answer is not only down-to-earth, it is also more engaging and much more constructive. It is perhaps another reason why Confucius Institutes are being built around the world to allow people to learn Chinese and be exposed to Confucius's teachings. According to AP (quoted in CNN.com today, 7/7/06), a posting on Yahoo Answers generally gets less than 10 answers; Hawking's question solicited over 17,000 responses by noon today. Were I to send in a response, I would echo the Nobel laureates' sentiment by asking citizens of the world to follow Confucius's teachings.