This discussion on Stephen Hawking, black holes, and the universe in general was very enlightening because in all honesty I have never spent much time researching or learning about any of these things. It amazes me how intelligent the people that work with these ideas are because these concepts are so dense and most of which we cant actually prove or experiment with. I also found it super cool that Dr. Mathur has had multiple personal experiences with Stephen Hawking. Also I am interested to see how the string theory tends to hold up as they believe that right now it is the most accurate theory explaining the creation of our universe and it will end. I hope to see some things that I am able to connect with Stephen Hawking or the development of any of these theories while abroad.
I relate to your post, Adrian, as these are not issues that I spend much time thinking about. Sometimes the world we live in is so immediate that the origin of the universe is not a topic that we tend to ponder. It was nice to get a view into that world. I appreciated the analogies and drawings that made the talk understandable for those like me in much different fields.