Stunning and humbling viewing experience

STEPHEN Hawking

THE MOST “unexpected” show on TV these days is “Genius” on National Geographic Channel—for the simple reason that its host, Stephen Hawking, is totally immobile.

Even his speaking voice isn’t really his own, being the amplified product of digitized aural technology. That improbable and even “impossible” technical feat alone makes his science show a should-see production.

It’s also an inspiring testament to the indomitability of this brilliant man’s will—not just to exist, but also to continue sharing his observations and discoveries with viewers, for the decided good of mankind.

In terms of the content, the show is similarly valuable, because Hawking is able to educate many viewers in the basic tenets and most recent developments in the advanced sciences.

A recent telecast had him and his on-cam team striving to clarify how the heretofore mysterious process of evolution and evolutionary selection works.

The show did this by having its core group of on-cam resource persons and “guinea pigs” trace the process back to its earliest start, with simple organisms initially competing with each other for continuance beyond the first step in the life process.

What makes one organism go on to the next phase, while many others are stopped in their evolutionary tracks?

Experiments and “genes” involving the “guinea pigs” effectively dramatized the relevant factors involved in natural selection, with organisms most prepared to adapt to new situations and stimuli evolving and gaining additional capabilities that helped assure their continuing survival—and progression.

Another telecast went as far back as the formation of the universe, by way of the so-called Big Bang.

It was a stunning and humbling viewing experience, because it showed how truly tiny we humans are in the universal scheme of things, where our planet is just a speck in the cosmos!

If our entire world is contextually so small and insignificant, why are we such self-absorbed and self-important insects who think that the universe exists for us—and even owes us a favor.

Thanks to Hawking and his show’s production team for enabling us to arrive at such “contextualizing” insights.

Teachers and parents should motivate young viewers to catch the show, so they can benefit from its detailed demonstrations and enlightening “games.”

The host may be immobile and speak in an artificial disembodied voice, but “Genius” lives up to its title and is a valuable learning and teaching tool.

Most people in Hawking’s immobile state would just give up and accept their fate—but he continues to enlighten and embolden us with his brilliance and courage—truly a superhero for our amazing times.