Stephen Hawking has disgraced himself.

Having for years insisted that no information could escape a black hole, he has now turned completely around.

And instead of being properly ashamed of having been wrong, and listening respectfully to those who were right, he’s bragging about having changed his mind, as if that were somehow an accomplishment or a mark of intelligence. “I want to report that I think I have solved a major problem in theoretical physics.” I mean, how pompous — how utterly French — can you get?

Professor Hawking has a lot to learn both from George W. Bush, who can’t remember ever having been wrong, and from the anti-war bloggers who keep chanting “I told you so I told you so I told you so.” Changing your mind in the face of new facts and new analysis is a sign of weakness, and being right now is unimportant compared to having always been right.

If he has any decency left, Hawking will resign the Lucasian chair in favor of someone who knows what he thinks and who sticks by his guns.

Update: Yes, that was supposed to be a joke. Gregg Easterbrook, on the other hand, seems to actually think that scientists who change their minds ought to be embarrassed about it.