Stephen Hawking: To Survive, We've Got to Be Nicer

Stephen Hawking has made it clear that he's worried about the future of humanity, and now he's offering a few suggestions to save it, CNET reports. First: Let's try to be nicer to each other. "The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression," the scientist said last week, per the Daily Mail. "It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory or partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all" through nuclear war. There's an alternative, however: "The quality I would most like to magnify is empathy. It brings us together in a peaceful, loving state."

That state might do best on another planet. "I believe that the long term future of the human race must be space and that it represents an important life insurance for our future survival, as it could prevent the disappearance of humanity by colonizing other planets," Hawking noted. The comments were made in London, but Hawking's presence was felt in Hollywood last night when Eddie Redmayne won best actor for his portrayal of the physicist. "Well done Eddie, I'm very proud of you," Hawking posted on Facebook, as ABC News reports. (More Stephen Hawking stories.)