Summary

The author recounts a brief encounter with Stephen Hawking that had a profound impact on their life.

Abstract

The author shares a personal story about meeting Stephen Hawking while studying at Cambridge in 2001. The encounter was brief, but it left a lasting impression on the author. They describe how the experience fundamentally altered their perspective on life and taught them the value of humility. The author reflects on the significance of the moment and how it continues to influence their actions and decisions.

Opinions

The author believes that their encounter with Stephen Hawking was a transformative experience that fundamentally altered their perspective on life.
The author feels that humility is always the smart play and that it is ludicrous to act as though someone else is not worth their attention.
The author values the memory of their encounter with Stephen Hawking and has a framed photograph of the moment, which they treasure.
The author encourages others to pay forward acts of kindness and humility in their own lives.
The author reflects on the significance of their encounter with Stephen Hawking and continues to think about and decode what it meant for them.
The author invites others to visit them and share their own insights and experiences.

Meeting Stephen Hawking Changed Me

This is a story that I have not told outside of a few very trusted friends because it always has the exact opposite effect I intend.

With few exceptions, it just hits the wrong way.

I have learned that people either respond to it with a defensive posture of having every single interaction become a pissing contest about how smart they are, or alternatively, the relationship suffers because they think I’m trying to tell them how smart I am.

I don’t like either of those outcomes. Trust me; I’m not saying I am Dr. Hawking. Proximity to greatness does not equate to greatness.

Yes, I have an actual framed photograph of the moment.

No, I have not nor will I ever put it on the internet.

The picture was taken in 2001. I was fortunate enough to be studying at Cambridge (Gonville and Caius College) where Dr. Hawking had an office.

He only came and went in the dead of night with a litany of people flanking him.

I was given the opportunity to have a few brief moments in his presence. It still feels surreal.

As you may appreciate, there are no accidental meetings in a guarded vestibule in the middle of the night with the most valuable/intelligent person in the world where one has a physical camera in their hand.

The memory is one I treasure and it fundamentally altered how I thought about life. It was extraordinarily heavy for a 21 year-old in a foreign country.

It was my first time abroad. I made the trip to Cambridge alone and it was so far out of my laconic comfort zone I’m not sure how it happened.

Two decades later, I’m still thinking about and decoding what it meant.

The man who figured out the universe gave me, a young American jackass with bleached blonde hair and earrings, a moment of his time.

I try to pay that forward in my own life. If he was not too important for a pause with me, it is clearly ludicrous for me to ever act as though someone else is not worth my attention.

The brief moment I had with Dr. Hawking taught me that humility is always the smart play.

If you’re ever in my neighborhood, drop by and have a coffee on the porch and I’ll try to tell you what I’ve figured out.

Keep writing, friends.

Thanks for reading.