Stephen Hawking had a powerful message: even when everything seems impossible, there is still a way.

In spite of everything

Stephen Hawking became a world-renowned theoretical physicist, despite being diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease) at the age of 21, early in his adult life. He gradually lost his mobility and speech. Confined to a wheelchair, using a text-to-speech interface to communicate, he was able to say without restraint that

"No matter how difficult life may seem, there's always something you can do and achieve. The important thing is not to give up".

Perhaps this path was not the one he had imagined, nor the easiest, but one on which he was able to learn, grow and fulfill himself.

Of course, the possibility of success in spite of circumstances may always exist, but the fact remains that Hawking had an exceptional personality and uncommon intelligence, which enabled him to occupy the most prestigious positions in cosmology and mathematics, with all the benefits that went with it.

Tackling the impossible

The idea of perseverance that he communicates is one of the traits of his personality that has enabled him to solve some of the most complex problems. He formalized the equations for the dynamics of black holes, which before him were considered unfathomable mysteries, almost by definition: in principle, nothing comes out of a black hole, not even light! So it was difficult to imagine their behavior and evolution, but he succeeded.

"If, like me, you looked at the stars and tried to understand the meaning of what you saw, you too began to think about what makes the universe exist".

In short, his goal was simple but ambitious: a complete understanding of the universe, why it is the way it is and why it exists from a physical point of view. This ambition led him to write books such as "A Brief History of Time" and "The Universe in a Nutshell", in addition to his highly theoretical theses such as "Properties of Expanding Universes".

In adversity

"Before my condition was diagnosed, I was very bored with life. There was nothing that seemed worthwhile".

But as soon as he realized how precarious his life was, and that he might have something to do with his own before he died, he threw himself wholeheartedly into his studies. Even as his physical condition gradually deteriorated, his analytical, comprehension and visualization skills grew alongside his reputation, attracting collaborators such as cosmologist Roger Pemrose (the same man who proposed the first aperiodic tessellations) and a great deal of media attention, culminating in the film The Theory of Everything and a series (Genius) whose aim of popularization particularly stimulated him.

Would Stephen Hawking have become Stephen Hawking without adversity? That's an open question, but it doesn't detract from Hawking's message of perseverance. At the very least, his story encourages us to see adversity not just as resistance or an obstacle, but as part of the problem to be solved, or as part of the game to be taken into account in our strategy and organization.

While it's often impossible to solve everything on the first try, it's always possible to make progress along the way, to find a loophole, to get help. Often, a little progress opens up possibilities you never imagined at the outset. The idea is not to give up, since discouragement is only a sign that something needs to change.

Beyond his discoveries and contributions to science, his example is perhaps the best message of hope for human beings.

Illustration: ShutterStock - 381199540

References

Stephen Hawking, físico teórico: "Por muy difícil que parezca la vida, siempre hay algo que puedes hacer" - TN
https://tn.com.ar/sociedad/2026/01/10/stephen-hawking-fisico-teorico-por-muy-dificil-que-parezca-la-vida-siempre-hay-algo-que-puedes-hacer/

Stephen Hawking - Biography - https://www.biography.com/scientists/stephen-hawking

Properties of Expanding Universes - Hawking, Stephen W - University of Cambridge
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/68bed7b6-e2dd-4d95-a207-1c81215e5c78
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/251038

Roger Pemrose - Acromath - https://accromath.uqam.ca/2010/01/roger-penrose/

Warning signs of a tipping point - Thot Cursus 
https://cursus.edu/en/34914/the-warning-signs-of-a-tipping-point

The theory of everything - Trailer - 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Cl_KOO-sE- EN