4
Gödel, Hawking and the Foundations
of Physics
4.1 Alice in Gödel-Land
The little girl was exhausted due to the long journey she had
completed from her home to Gödel-land. However, because of
the excitement of being in such a new and strange place, she
found she was unable to settle down.
“Mom”, she said, “I can’t sleep.” To emphasise the point, she
sat up, fluffed her pillow and tossed her head back down on the
bed with a dramatic thump.
Her mother hid a smile; she knew where Alice was heading.
“Do they have bedtime stories in Gödel-land?” Alice asked, as
though the idea had just occurred to her.
“Of course, they do. Which one would you like?”.
“Little Red Riding Hood.” It was her favourite – for the
moment.
“All right, but you really must try to sleep. We’ve got a busy
day tomorrow.” It was Alice’s first visit to Gödel-land, and her
mother had many treats planned for her. She settled back and
her mother began the story. “Once upon a time, a little girl,
whose name was Cinderella, lived with her two older step-sisters
…”.
“No!” interrupted Alice. Her mother paused, and regarded
her daughter, who was struggling to sit up again. “Mom, I
© The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Barrett and P. P. Delsanto, Don’t Be Afraid of Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63409-4_4
61
Gödel, Hawking and the Foundations
of Physics
4.1 Alice in Gödel-Land
The little girl was exhausted due to the long journey she had
completed from her home to Gödel-land. However, because of
the excitement of being in such a new and strange place, she
found she was unable to settle down.
“Mom”, she said, “I can’t sleep.” To emphasise the point, she
sat up, fluffed her pillow and tossed her head back down on the
bed with a dramatic thump.
Her mother hid a smile; she knew where Alice was heading.
“Do they have bedtime stories in Gödel-land?” Alice asked, as
though the idea had just occurred to her.
“Of course, they do. Which one would you like?”.
“Little Red Riding Hood.” It was her favourite – for the
moment.
“All right, but you really must try to sleep. We’ve got a busy
day tomorrow.” It was Alice’s first visit to Gödel-land, and her
mother had many treats planned for her. She settled back and
her mother began the story. “Once upon a time, a little girl,
whose name was Cinderella, lived with her two older step-sisters
…”.
“No!” interrupted Alice. Her mother paused, and regarded
her daughter, who was struggling to sit up again. “Mom, I
© The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Barrett and P. P. Delsanto, Don’t Be Afraid of Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63409-4_4
61