Hawking Talks About His ‘Biggest Blunder’ and ‘Why Do We Exist?’

Famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking said his previously held belief that everything swallowed by a black hole never escapes is the “biggest blunder” of his career.

Delivering a lecture in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Hawking also said that the key to understanding the universe and where humanity fits in lies in M-theory, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“To understand the universe at the deepest level, we have to understand why is there something rather than nothing,” Hawking said. “Why do we exist? Why this particular set of laws, and not some other? I believe the answers to all of these things is M-theory.”

M-theory unites the five 10-dimensional string theories, and posits the existence of 11 dimensions. Though M-theory is a work in progress, Hawking told the group he believes it provides the most promise in leading to a unified field theory, which would unite the four fundamental forces of physics.

Speaking at the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, Hawking linked the work being done there in microscopic cell biology to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to using M-theory for humanity’s survival. Hawking himself suffers from ALS and speaks through a computer he controls with facial movements.

“We must continue to go into space for humanity,” he said. “We won’t survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet.”