Author-ity

This week, talking with a friend of mine we have discussed about authority; about the authority to spread opinions and ideas upon every possible issue.

The starting point for this talk was Stephen Hawking's last book "Brief Answers to the Big Questions" in which he states his opinions about existential questions due to a lifetime dedicated to science - physics and cosmology.

As Stephen Hawking is a so important physicist, he surely has legitimation and authority in explaining how a black hole works - and not only that. But...

The question posed by this friend of mine was if Mr. Hawking really had the authority to state his points of view and do it as these were the absolute truth.

I had to think about my blog and some of my posts. What authority do I have? When I suggest something, it definitely is because I really believe in what I'm saying and mostly depending on personal experiences. Nonetheless, if I present my thoughts here on the world wide web and give everyone the possibility to comment them, certainly there also is space for some debate. 

What I want to transmit to you with this post is that you should always try to get to the bottom of what you listen to, to get to real sources and not to take everything you hear as it is.