Platon Instagram – stephen hawking. “Professor Hawking’s physical condition during the session must have been extremely challenging for him. As far as I could tell, one of the last functioning muscles in his body was around his right eye. In this picture you can see a sensor has been fitted to his glasses to monitor movement. Thus, he can direct a cursor over each letter in the alphabet on a computer until he makes a selection: LETTERS – WORDS – SENTENCES – PARAGRAPHS. The world’s greatest free mind is imprisoned in the most fragile and limited body. By the end of my sitting he was clearly exhausted. Just keeping his eyes open was a mountain to climb. Knowing he had given his all, I asked if he could slip me a single word of wisdom – one word about life from Professor Stephen Hawking was bound to be prophetic. His nurse explained that when he is tired his powers of communication are less accurate. She suggested that we let him be. As I packed up to leave I heard beeps coming from the professor’s tablet monitor. We all turned to see him moving the cursor over each letter. ‘HE’S TYPING!’ With each beep we all leaned in with anticipation – He stopped at the letter ‘W.’ “I doubt that is accurate,” said his carer. Then the search for the second letter began – BEEP BEEP BEEP until the letter ‘O.’ Once again his nurse seemed doubtful. “W – O, it doesn’t mean anything.” Then his beeps began for a third and final time. BEEP BEEP BEEP – all the way back to the letter ‘W’ again. Before the nurse could interpret, it hit me, “Oh my God,” I shouted. “He typed the word WOW!” My heart raced as I squeezed his hand, “Thank you professor,” I whispered. Despite this man’s overwhelming adversity, he still believes in the mighty power of WOW. How lucky I am to receive such an important philosophical lesson in optimism. In the face of life’s challenges, a courageous human being looks at the world with wonder. Professor Hawking, I salute you and the power of WOW.