How Carl Sagan "Predicted" 2020... in 1995
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- Did Carl Sagan see 2020 coming 25 years ago? Here's why some people think he did.
A certain excerpt from The Demon Haunted World has gone viral countless times in the last few years, often being called prophetic and frightening. What does it really mean, though? Did Carl Sagan predict the future? Science denial, conspiracy theories, power disparities, media influence, and authoritarianism were all things he showed great concern over, but did he have sufficient reason for concern in his own time?
This Demon Haunted World review and discussion is my way of continuing the mission of Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and their peers. As Sagan wrote just before his internet-famous words in DHW, "Not explaining science seems to me perverse.
When you're in love, you want to tell the world."
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What stands out to you most in this quote? I imagine most of us see this quote from the lens of our own hot-button issues and project our own ideas onto it. However, there can still be real value found here if we try to keep each other skeptical through discussion.
Before getting to my main point, if I may add another relevant quote to the discussion:
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked"
So, interestingly, I have never run across any of these headlines which try to claim Sagan as their own (the same way people do with Orwell in general), but I am deeply familiar with the quote (which I often pair with 5:57), as I own a hardcover version of the book and have blogged this very quote myself a few times (the last time being a few months ago, when #ShutDownSTEM was trending amidst the protests and I realized all my old political buddies, even the ones sharing Sagan's profession, believe science/academia is racist... yeah). The ugly truth is the demons of mythmaking have no political home. Conspiracist memes drift from left to right and right to left, the "9/11 truth" and antivax movements are keen examples of this. Indeed, unlike most people, I don't politicize the quote as a "take that" against the Left or the Right or Trump, as I see every side as likewise guilty in letting the demons of delusion haunt our world and plunge us back into darkness. Between conspiracy beliefs shared in social media, ideological agendas in media and academia, biased studies, observational studies, all the "a new study shows" clickbait, fake news, cults of personality, denialism and polarization, on top of increasing geopolitical tensions and a global pandemic and societal breakdown, we are living in the "interesting times" of that one ancient Chinese proverb/curse.
Unfortunately I'm not very optimistic as of late, hence I must note the dwindling of our movement and its eviction from its few homes. In the past decade, atheism and skepticism has been successfully drummed out of the Left during what we'll call the Atheism Plus schism. You've all seen it before I'm sure, the "Harris and Dawkins are Islamophobes" atheophobic sentiment that now haunts the Left. So-called skeptics which uncritically accept every single unproven tenet of Intersectionality like a Jesus freak accepts everything about Christianity.
Thus as someone who's always leaned "left" (as Sagan himself did) I must stress the deep regressive attitudes that have overtaken the Left and turned it into the very thing we once opposed―religious fanaticism, bigotry, authoritarianism, witch hunts, tribalism, anti-evolutionism. Can you believe that atheism and skepticism is now associated by these people with rightwingers and racism and reactionary politics, when atheists consistently score as very liberal and high Openness in surveys? Worst of all, most of the time I see people on Twitter self-identifying as "atheist" they mean to say "anti-evangelical, I still believe in exotic religions", and by "skeptic" they mean to say "uncritically believing whatever I see on my news feed".
What is the cause of all this? What is the cure? All I know is that a breakdown in trust of institutions leads the people to seek "other ways of knowing", and the growing corruption of institutions earns them that mistrust. If our institutions hadn't lied to us so consistently for the interests of a few, or impoverished so many in wealth and health, we would not be in the mess we're currently sliding deeper and deeper into.
Ultimately, Carl Sagan was right. We have entered a New Age―of darkness. And every side, left, right, center, up, down, is equally guilty of it.
And thanks to channels like GMSkeptic for keeping their own channels relatively nonpartisan and staying skeptical despite all these hot-button issues which today haunt our world (without much evidence to support them, of course... 😅)
@The Greater Good He probably doesn't have a cameraman to infect.
The audible link in this comment and the description don't work for me. The tab will open and immediately close. I haven't seen any other comment with this problem but incase it is not just me, something might be wrong with the link.
Of course it could be just "Monkeys And Typewriters" as far as predicting the future goes....
@@TritonTriangle I'm having the same problem.
"Think about how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
Exactly
I think about this a lot
@MRL 71 I FEEL this.
Love George Carlin, and really miss him.
That was a joke.
If you actually believe it then you may be the actual half.....
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
― Issac Asimov
What a Marxist!
Bernie Family do you just comment the same thing regardless of the comment?
@Bernie Family Thanks for showing your ignorance.
It's not just the US. Every coutry in which political power did not shy away from feeding and using ignorance as a tool for easy control, has this problem.
@peaceful protester Lol what? You are exactly what Carl Sagan warned against. It doesn't matter if you are fighting for justice, you're still a pea brained sheep.
Remind of another quote I keep seeing travel around.
"The Simpsons weren't unusually prophetic, we just haven't addressed any of our issues since the 90's."
Yeah, I came across that one on YT, I think it was Ben Burgis.
High school should be four years of learning how to think critically; an inoculation against the algorhythms that are forever attempting to, and succeeding in, running our lives.
That’s what I taught my boys (or, tried to at least).
I had to pull them from school to home school them myself because they were already so far ahead when they began even, they were being used to tutor other kids- constantly. Kids several years older than them no less.
I had enough after 3rd grade when I had learned they were correcting their teachers often as well.
But once they began hs and then college at 14...they told me that the young adults were utterly oblivious as to what life was about and how come their parents never taught them properly, about just how to ‘live life’?
They insisted there was no excuse in a two-parent household especially, since I had taught them by myself.
(Then they wanted me to travel across the country to teach a ‘life lessons’ course until they added it to the curriculum.)
Right.
Obviously I hadn’t taught them enough about how organized educational institutions aren’t actually ‘teaching’ children about life truth nor an accurate historic past even.😐
Though they ended up learning it all on their own, within weeks of starting...and became quite depressed over it.
Ultimately? Those PhD professors of theirs ended up using them to tutor the most advanced classes of physics and astronomy classes which jc had...AGAIN.
So idk if all of my hard work even helped them. It seems they more just acclimated to the system...
instead of remaining true to themselves. 😢
✌️
@AwakeAmericanow. Couldn't agree more. The biggest danger to our civil rights and freedoms is gullible and, I'm sorry to say, stupid people. It's the mindless masses who enable these bastards and this has been true since the beginning of time.
I’d rather “think critically” than learn “critical thinking skills”.
Yeah, but then how would you get those young people to go and kill brown people?
@AwakeAmericanow. The US school system is based on the Prussian model which was created to mold children into obedient factory workers.
People take comfort in reality being predictable.
not sure why tho
& thinking fantasy is real 🙄
Tell that to Cassandra...
Personally I don't take much comfort with the climate change predictions. On the contrary, for this case I think it's more comfortable to think that reality can't be predicted.
@@MegaLuros they can't be predicted accurately. Predictions that climate change would end life on Earth by 2018 have obviously debunked themselves.
This is an incredibly minor contention, but as an artist and animator I feel I need to make it.......
Beavis and butthead was more a satire of the same thing Sagan was criticizing than anything else. That's why the revival failed - we already have prominent figures in real life who make Beavis and Butthead seem like Einstein and Tesla.
That's one problem with satire, sometimes those that it's criticizing enjoy it unironically, and those who would agree with the criticism don't perceive the satire and criticize it for precisely the same reasons it's satirizing.
@@ulti-mantis Exactly... which is why so many articles from The Onion or The Babylon Bee get passed around unironically. I wish I had a nickel for every time one of my dim-witted relatives linked me an article like that.
Yeah, but I think we can give Sagan a pass for not 'getting' Bevis and Butthead ;)
This part of the quote always annoys me, because I got the irony of Beavis and Butthead as a dumb 14 year old, but Carl missed it. Mike Judge went on to make Idiocracy, after all.
@@jimmy21584 Chances are that he never actually watched it. Complaining about it not so much about Bevis and Butthead as it was a short of shorthand at the time. He's basically just referencing an old meme ;)
We live in a time where literally the entire planets knowledge is at our fingertips yet at the same time peopple are more pathetically uneducated than ever before.
The more easy something is accessible the more people don't value this gift
yeah Nic that is so true, people are stuck in their phones looking at the wrong stuff
This is, sadly...very, very true. It boggles the mind how we can have complete access to the world these days - yet stupidity seems to proliferate at an unchecked rate.
The end times, is their preoccupation, no time for distractions, like the earth burning up, tend to make mountains of molehills and molehills of mountains
Proportionately to the complete body of human knowledge? yes. In absolute terms? Absolutely not, the average human today knows much more about the world than the average human 100 years ago
The old saying, "ignorance is bliss" seems to have become the current global anthem.
Exactly, and then Logically were led to ask what is causing the need for people to seek this bliss? My thought is it's mainly capitalism and really any existing system of exploitation that's ignores the fundamental function of a human what he needs to thrive and not merely survive.
Thank you for saying "global" where more shallow thinkers would say "the US".
It always was stop acting like its only now
@@apollo6519 acting?
More like "my opinions is always the correct one and passion is strength".
Nothing wrong with Dumb and Dumber and Beavis and Butthead but you gotta know when to switch it off and pick up a science book or something
Balance things out
Idiocracy isn't supposed to be a documentary
I don't think Dumb and Dumber and Beavis and Butthead were promoting stupidity. They were making fun of it. Making fun of stupidity in comedy is a very old tradition. I don't know why Sagan would think that it was a sign of a declining respect for intelligence.
Who would pay to watch a Beavis and Butthead movie when you can watch Trump and Pence for free?
@@jeremywvarietyofviewpoints3104 I assume that Sagen just didn’t find them funny, and made the conclusion that the only people who would actually find it funny are uneducated ignorant people.
Idiocracy’s writer is also the creator of Beevis and Butthead. Small world, eh?
I wish i could have watched Beavis and Butthead with Carl Sagan sitting next to me. Him shaking his head in disapproval would only make me laugh harder.
_“The consequences of scientific illiteracy are far more dangerous in our time than in any that has come before."_ (Carl Sagan, 1995)
Thats most state legislature in plain sight, full of far right evangelists
@@brianlaroche8856 yes
They did not listen, they're not listening still, perhaps they never will.
I think both the right and the left engage in this supplanting of science and reason with superstition. If you dont believe me, read any gender oe ethnic studies journal and see what paltry studies constitute paradigm shifting work amongst our intellectual elite. Look at how nonsensical gender theory or climate doomerism has run roughshod of any attempts at reason.
@@brianlaroche8856and men who think theyre women
Sagan had a such a beautiful and timeless way with words. One of the most underappreciated humans ever. The sad fact of the matter is, the majority of the population have no idea who he is.
Sadder still is the likelihood that even if they did know about him, far too many would be unable to find significant meaning in the things he said.
Gofres _
The sad fact of the matter is Carl Sagan did not know the Almighty God! For his lack of knowledge!
@@lindahibbs5906 why does he, or anyone, need imaginary friends? Grow up.
I agree I am not an American.I barely know him.
@@lindahibbs5906 Which god? Have you ever listen to Sagan's responses when asked about god?
Hi. Just discovered your channel and love it already. I'm 62, raised Catholic and turned away from that aged 16. Leaving your religion leaves a massive gap in your life and I completely understand why so many people are afraid to do that. It was Carl Sagan who made me realise that gap was ingnorance (of literally everything). The man was a shining light in a tumultuous and superstitious world. And The Demon Haunted World became for me a manual of how to be in the world. It affected how I raised my kids and how they're raising theirs today. I can't describe the importance of this book. Read it, you'll never look back.
I think both the right and the left engage in this supplanting of science and reason with superstition. If you dont believe me, read any gender oe ethnic studies journal and see what paltry studies constitute paradigm shifting work amongst our intellectual elite. Look at how nonsensical gender theory or climate doomerism has run roughshod of any attempts at reason.
See, "Idiocracy". I used to watch it and laugh, now it only makes me cry.
Ironically from the mind of the creator of Beavis and Butthead which Sagan mistook for unironic propagation of ignorance.
I know right???
Indeed
Me to, i remeber when it was first released (not a big hit) people thought yeah right. Now i watch it.on amazon and think fuk me.
I have 2 cans of Brawndo for reals. 😂
And we are afraid to drink it because our cousin that bought them and tried one said that it gave him Massive Diarrhea. So we just keep them just cause ..
The Thirst Mutilator!
I call these times The Dim Ages: The age when knowledge makes most unhappy, and ignorance is not unfortunate, but a deliberate choice.
There's already a term for that; Decadence.
@@hemidas I forget who said that the USA is the only country that has gone from barbarism to decadence without an intervening period of civilization. I don't think it was either Oscar Wilde or Bernard Shaw, it might not have been an Irishman at all.
Oh heavens! I just checked with the Duckduckgo search engine, and it *_was_* Oscar Wilde!
it truly is The Dim Ages
The elites are becoming intellectually inbred and social mobility is decreasing. This will cause a new Dark Ages.
Take what small comfort there may be left
Seize what you love, and damn all the rest
Panem circenses; credulous descent
A Gadarene charge into *Endarkenment*
--Anaal Nathrakh ("Endarkenment")
Imagine having a science center in every neighborhood instead of a church.
It'd be cheaper as well
That sounds so cool 😃
Yes they would pay taxes as well not like religious organizations.
You better have a very big imagination.
Or disguise the church as a science center...
The creationism museum in my town has a double helix sculpture in the front to draw people in.
"In a Time of Deceit Telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act!"
George Orwell
What is the truth?
While brilliant, Dr. Sagan was no Prophet. He was merely expressing concern over trends that anybody could see if they'd just pay attention. The Year 2020 didn't hit us out of the blue. Many people have seen it coming, and been trying to warn us about it, for quite some time.
Thank you Stephen. Anyone who has a hypothesis will end up testing it or dropping it. Curiosity is something you can run with or let go and I guess Sagan can hazard a "guess" (prophesize.)
Prophesizing is just what extrapolation looks like when you can’t see what’s being extrapolated
Anybody can make guesses about the future. It's just that some are better at it than others. Being informed really helps.
I saw it coming when John McCain chose SaraH Palin as his running mate
Enochthefreestyleprince predicted in summer 2019 that there cud b a virus in 2020.
Back in the mid 1800's a wise man said -- "There's a sucker born every minute".
Now that's down to about every 10 seconds.
A P. T. Barnum is quoted every minute; or every ten seconds. Gregg Oreo greggoreo@gmail.com
He also said "the people want to be fooled" and he was right.
P. T. Barnum at his finest.
Now, in quite a few cases, suckers being "born" does not only come from the womb. It can also come from the act of listening to misinformation for too long.
Ironically... that is about the rate that Americans are dying of covid.
I’m more and more convinced these days that the way to save the world will be education.
Yeah, while I've felt that's been the solution for a long time, the big problem is that the path of least resistance is to believe what we want to believe and what's easiest to understand (i.e. facebook). Proper education takes a ton of time and effort in comparison.
The above arguments are all great, but one more factor is worth mentioning.
Most people only exercise the leisure of reflection when they don't have pragmatic problems to deal with. Social unrest or disconcerting events that persist for decades can produce a distrust of all social constructs in general. I think that is where many nations are now, particularly the US. Once the cycle of distrust has a seed, it easily spreads to other related areas such as the educational institutions, and eventually engenders a distrust of conventional knowledge in general. In short, if you can't trust the effectiveness, and therefore the validity, of established institutions and conventions, then everything else is thrown into doubt. Thus, something like a distrust of sociopolitical structures can gradually lead to a distrust of the scientific community.
People don't always realize how socially invested the human species is, and when that interdependence is disrupted by distrust our whole world paradigm is thrown out of balance.
I've believed this for a while. Sadly teachers are paid less and less🙃🙃
I think we can inspire cultural change in the way we think about learning and thinking. It doesn’t necessarily have to be compulsory education for the change to occur. A great book, or great educational film could turn the tide. I believe you can simultaneously teach people how to critically think while also inspiring them to learn about the world and universe, I think those two things go hand in hand. It’s a problem of psychology and I think we can get there. I don’t necessarily think you need some specially designed, compulsory public school curriculum. I think a spark can be ignited in people that sets them off on a path of curiosity-guided education and methodological commitment to truth.
I think getting people to be committed to truth is more than half the battle, and there’s a tangible process involved even though it’s not totally clear on the psychological level, but scientists will obviously tell you it is real and there is a material process. If we can bottle it up and give it to society, I think change will happen very quickly. I’m of the belief that a literal, deeply-embodied, cognitive and emotional commitment to truth is the gradual path to enlightenment. Once one truly commits to that-to truth, over opinion, emotional bias; caring more about what is true than what they *think* is true-they find it’s not about what they know that makes them rational or smart, or gives them a well-adapted approach to world around them. It’s how you think.
If there were truly a tangibly cognitive-methodological switch that could be flipped (I think generally once people commit to truth, developing methodical thinking is a gradual result of doing so), I think almost overnight people would feel “enlightened.” Within a few weeks they’d discover more truth about the world than they’d probably learned their entire life prior to that.
Derreck Walls Can you share some examples of this type of cycle occurring in history? I feel like we don’t have much basis for this occurring, it’s totally a new phenomenon to be occurring the way it is in this age of information. This is why I think some radical, paradigm shifting cultural change is needed, if not inevitable.
Though that’s probably wishful thinking that the change is inevitable, I do think it’s possible, and I think the change would be simply earth shattering to our entire lived, conscious experience on this planet.
war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength
- George Orwell, 1984
A true prophet, along with George Carlin I guess.
One of my favorites from George Orwell in Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Another interesting distortion of language and basic concepts just like Newspeak in "1984".
"In a Time of Deceit, Telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act!"
George Orwell
Forgot one.
Hate is love.
@Sir Sleepy The social sciences are pretty lame, but they are still important for society. They deserve respect just like engineering students.
"Even in the developing world, where I spend lots of time doing my work, if you tell them that you're from MIT and you tell them that you do science, it's a big deal. If I go to India and tell them I'm from MIT, it's a big deal. In Thailand, it's a big deal. If I go to Iowa, they could give a rat's ass." - Kip Hodges
In general, Asian countries elevate the Sciences above the Humanities. This explains why Cambridge is seen as `more prestigious` than Oxford.
I say both are equally important.
@@threethrushes
Are you implying that Iowans would have been more impressed by Cambridge? Maybe if he'd played _sports_ there.
My school at Zimbabwe is more prestigious than both Cambridge and Oxford.
@@Bill_Garthright However, between the 16th and 18th centuries, pineapples were so expensive and rare that they were often displayed like fine works of art.
Silly quote. A farmer doesn't care because he has no use for it in his direct life. Go to Iowa state university and it suddenly matters again. Though you'd be competing with a bunch of other people doing the same thing for people's attention. Go to a farmer in India he'll tell you to go to the university.
I once met Carl Segan, as a middle schooler working with my science teacher at the planetarium and observatory on Montesano. He was a giant to me, frighteningly intelligent, kind, charismatic, every bit the person he portrayed in front of the camera when in the real world, and I only regret that I only knew him that one time. He was wonderful, even to a dumb little science and sci-fi geek of those times, and his passing was a great loss in both the fields of science and education activism. I think Neil has done a wonderful job carrying on Carl's torch.
I am immensely envious of your interaction with the doctor. He is one of my biggest heroes and I'm sad I was born after he passed away. For as long as I live I'll work my hardest to make the sort of impact he did.
I really do love Neil, but he's no Sagan in my opinion.
@@stevenjames5874 I really wish I'd been far more than a dumb young teenager, I was far too overawed to say much to him, he was a hero to me, a bright and shining star of a man.
@@GiggleBlizzard No one could have been Carl but Carl, as we are all unique individuals due to all we have ever gone through, however, you are correct that Neil just doesn't have Doctor Segan's raw charismatic aura, though he is very nearly as smart as he was.
@@randallkramm2726 I can only imagine as a child our heroes are like unreachable giants. It's good you have that memory to cherish forever
"The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe" by Steven Novella et al, is a more up-to-date starting point and reference for learning the tools of skepticism. Sagan is amazing, but modern skepticism has realized that you can't just science people up by educating them when they are ignorant. There are psychological mechanisms in play that prevent conspiracy theorists and anti-science ideologues from accepting the truth when it is simply shown to them. The Skeptics' Guide encourages more effective approaches. Often you can't just reason someone out of an ideology that they didn't reason themselves into. They need to be guided through the tools of skepticism to come to their own realizations in the flaws of their thinking and in the way they have been manipulated (often without ill-intent) into coming to incorrect conclusions. It's a slow process, not simply a bombardment of scientific facts.
Skepticism is questioning everything. Anybody who is a skeptic would question absolutist assertions like the unequivocal claim that "God does not exist" that "the Big Bang created the Universe" that "Darwinism is fact" etc.
Very true, you can guide a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
@@user-ei9ns9hq6b But your 3 quotes at least have some non self-referential evidence backing them. I have yet to come across an argument for the existence of God that holds up under scrutiny. Now, I do think it behooves scientists/skeptics to admit the limits of human knowledge. What caused the big bang or happened before? I don't know. It's okay to say I don't know. As for evolution, it's the explanation that best fits the fossil record. If you have an argument against evolution that is not "god done it" I'm interested in hearing it.
@@yzettasmith4194 the evidence you speak of is not only inconclusive but would also be questioned by skepticism
Useful thanks.
Im not an animal rights activist or anything. But Ive worked in Sled dog racing for a while now and I wish to create content talking about the good and bad parts of sled dog racing. Ive seen alot of what I would label abuse and questionable practices from famous winning mushers. Its just the way the sport operates. But im not good at verbalizing it in a way that doesn't make me sound like just another tree hugger. Im trying to work on that.
"They need to be guided through the tools of skepticism to come to their own realizations in the flaws of their thinking and in the way they have been manipulated (often without ill-intent) into coming to incorrect conclusions"
Easier said than done. Im looking at how ineffective the 2017 documentary "sled dogs" was, and other groups like peta. Even though everything they say checks out in my experience haha.
Its not really a malicious thing in sled dog racing. These aren't bad people. But I truly think something needs to be done. It effects a great many dogs. THOUSANDS of dogs on chains for racing alone. Theres lots of holes. A cultural shift is needed in the professional mushing community. Its not even a big one, a few hundred people maybe.
I have a unique perspective on this. I studied film production and history in college, I have worked with animals my entire adult life mainly in rescue settings. And now I am a professional dog musher and have traveled around and seen how the world of mushing operates for the past three years. I am a leading expert in the world of dog mushing? As much as any one. Why not?
Its my opinion that making Dog Sled Racing illegal is the best course of action for the well being of most dogs involved but IDK how to prove that to anyone. Even though im probably literally the most qualified person on the planet to do so. Its a strange feeling.
I scanned some of the comments, and naturally most of them are about this video's content. But I want to comment on the presenter, who is so intelligent, articulate, and informed that he did real justice to Sagan's insights.
He is among the best on RUclips. The only person I've donated to.
Ive seen this comment before
i think u responded to a bot
The Demon Haunted World should be a required reading in every public school.
But it could be considered as religion.
@@ASMRyouVEGANyet no it can't. Education is not religion.
Good luck getting that to happen in Demon Haunted America.
--- Especially in Texas, Iowa, and Kansas. It should also be required reading for all Democrats who think that wind turbines are environmentally desirable, and that nuclear isn't. "Ionizing radiation" is now demonised although we know that in measured amounts, it can _cure_ cancer. There is also at X-LNT.org evidence that contradicts the EPA advice that four picocuries/litre of radon is lethally dangerous. It appears to be associated with lower lung cancer rates than one pCi/L .
Along with 1984 and Brave New World, it might help the sheep see thru the programming
“The cosmos is also within us; we are made of star stuff; we are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”
Carl Sagan
Amen
One of my favorite Sagan quotes. Thank you.
I am made from the dust of the stars
And the oceans flow in my veins
Here I hide in the heart of the city
Like a stranger coming out of the rain ....
If I could wave my magic wand.....
Presto
Neil Peart RUSH
"Spaceship Earth, guys!"
Carl Sagan, theologian
"I think therefore I am........ the universe in contemplation of itself".... Descartes and Sagan ...... no statement is more profound
Demon-Haunted World fully pushed me over the edge into being an atheist, it was-and still is-such a milestone book for my faith deconstruction.
Sagan's personal intellectual integrity was an inspiration to me when I was deconstructing my religious indoctrination. His calm, nonconfrontational arguments made me feel, unlike most athiests, that he was confident that my faith was an error, not that he hated me because I was an idiot. I try to emulate his educational non argumentative demeanor now when I engage with theists, and I have never gotten into a heated argument using that guideline.
Thank you, Carl Sagan.
Nice! It's not easy to outgrow religious indoctrination. There are growing pains, but at least you get to grow up! I have not read this book yet, thanks for inspiring me
Most people deconstruct their deity based religious upbringing and reconstruct into a non deity based religion. How righteous are the reformed.
@@HalJikaKick Cool.
@@HalJikaKick What is a non diety based religion?
I chuckle when hearing people ruminate about the good old days. I cringe when people take a few notes out of context from the entire melody. Unfortunately for society, countless humans have short attention spans along with long winded irrational opinions. Sagen did his best to help us breathe the fresh air of science. Bravo, Carl! Many thanks to your eloquent thoughts and this RUclips channel.
I have some hope for the future.
Aged 4 or 5, I had a poster on my wall, that had a funky diagram of the solar system and some key numbers about each planet (size, orbital radius, orbital length, day/year duration) and I memorised them all.
When I was 12, I got a laptop and started spending my days watching educational youtube videos, and just searching for answers to the questions I had about science.
I discovered Carl Sagan, I discovered Stephen Hawking. I started reading their books, and by 13 I'd decided I was going to be an Astrophysicist.
10 years later, I've got my master's degree in Astrophysics, and now my only focus is on getting accepted to a PhD programme in Astrophysics.
Without that poster, regular internet access and great scientists and science communicators, I wouldn't be where I am.
My journey is proof that it works. The best we can do is to carry the torch by trying to encourage others to take an interest in science.
No no no! Knowing facts about the solar system doesn't make you a wiser and better leader. The ancient Jews and Greeks believed the Universe was a giant glass snow globe, but they formulated rules for human behavior, freely debated great issues of justice and mercy, and laid the foundation for civilization that we ignore to our peril. Teaching our kids that we are randomly mutated apes, has led us to hate and despise our parents, act WORSE than apes, because at least apes are controlled by instincts, while we are not. If you take away instinct only religion has the power to keep us under control!
Now, get a life. There is actually mystery and paradox and beauty and suffering and power and responsibility and love and hate still totally inaccessible to 'science'.
@@Pacdoc-oz Well and succinctly said, tho I wouldn't have told him to "Get a life", he obviously thinks he has one!
I had the same poster, then years later I was told that one of the planets was junk science and it was removed.
You probably had the poster 2.0 version as mine was waaay before youtube, the internet, personal computers, cell phones, Etc.
I have to teach myself astrophysics because I can’t learn anything in a classroom due to autism.
The problem with all the good stuff available on the internet is that it is mixed in with all the crap. And much of the crap is promulgated in very convincing, authoritative voices. Unless you already have some skill at telling bullshit from education, it's not easy to know which you are watching.
Critical Thinking skills need to be taught as soon as possible to kids.
@@0816M3RC people who think critically question the claims of so-called " experts " like the CDC because critical thinkers know that to trust the "experts" unquestioningly is succumbing to the fallacy known as Appeal to Authority.
@@protestssopeacefulweneedad2017 Then you have clusters of idiots who gather together for parties and then wonder why they all get infected.
@@0816M3RC Critical thinking, and a comprehensive education across many disciplines.
One cannot Google one`s way through life...
Google: is the earth flat?
0816 M3RC
Nothing wrong with getting infected. That’s part of life.
Always had nothing but respect for Carl Sagan. He wasn't just a teacher and a scientist. He was a science facilitator. He introduced it to you, showed you how it worked and explained it in such a way that even as a child I could understand it.
The world became a bit of a darker place when he died.
The advertisement before this was a woman in a hijab trying to justify superstition. Wow.
The advertisement before this was freedom and rights for black people. Wow 🤣
I got no ads. Lucky me. lol!
@@AfroGaz71 I just found it ironic. 😂 Neither lucky nor unlucky.
@@shawnellemartineaux6212 I never mentioned your luck. I said "lucky me." Lol
Weird
Man, do I wish Carl Sagan was still alive. Christopher Hitchens and George Carlin as well.
A man after my heart!!!
Not Hitch though; he jumped the shark with his anti-Hillary and pro - Iraq war bullshit
@@Matt-fs1yy by all means cancel him, he would not mind.
They are. Inside You! ;)
@@steveosullivan5262 lol
I’m reading “The Demon-Haunted World” right now for the first time and was blown away by how almost prophetic it is to today’s world!
Well I haven't read it but I would guess that a lot of it depends on an understanding of history. Many smart people see patterns in society and accurately correlate contemporary events with historic events.
SpeakerWiggin49 The nice thing is that Sagan provides a pretty exhaustive view of historical points to support his assertions. Completely worth a read. The audiobook is actually on RUclips for free too.
Yuri Bezmenov provided a far more prescient account of the world we see in 2020...
m.ruclips.net/video/IQPsKvG6WMI/видео.html
@@elgatofelix8917 Yeah I don't listen to terrorists. Might check that link out if I'm bored later.
@@SpeakerWiggin49 says the Marxist-Leninist supporter of Soviet terrorism.
Carl Sagan was in a class all his own when it came to explaining complicated subjects. He was also well versed in many subjects besides his main focus. Carl Sagan is Mr Roger's for adults who I also loved as a child and I'll be 54 in November. That's not to say Carl couldn't communicate with kids because I think he enjoyed that the most... sharing knowledge with an enthusiastic audience. I miss Carl Sagan.
Many skilled professors are teachers are like him and many have the potential to become like him, and I absolutely miss him myself, men like him are real life alchemists.
Carl Sagan’s “the dragons of Eden” was the first hardback book bought for myself.
I have a recently acquired pet peeve that falls under this umbrella. It annoys me to no end when people get angry because I used a word or words that they don't know. Like I'm the asshole for having a bigger vocabulary. Then when I define the word for them (which I'm fine with doing) they say 'why didn't you just say that?' Then they tell me that nobody uses that word so I shouldn't. They expect me to dumb myself down for them because so much of society does that for people now. The reason that this bothers me so much is because virtually ALL of the words in my vocabulary I learned from hearing other people use them and instead of lashing out and rebelling against it I learned the word and integrated it into my knowledge base.
You need smarter surrounding people
You described the relationship between my older brother and me to a T. He even says charming little numbers such as "using big words doesn't make you smart", which is a clear indication of his own insecurity.
@@stevey822 If someone said that to me I'd have to say that using big words does not make you smart, but being smart makes you use big words.
@@DaveC9000 That was pretty much my response!
Have you ever been threatened with physical violence because of your vocabulary? I have been.
Sagan describes the innate fears I've been worrying over for 30+ years now. It's here, yes here right now, and there's damn little I can do about it. All I have is to try to convince others and to vote it out of my life. I agree w/ this video's sharp and pointed message. Almost every word! Sagan and others like Issac Asimov have been pointing to it for 60 or more years.
My favorite Sagan quote is a one word response he offered to someone's unproven hypothesis: "maybe." He didn't avoid the truth and run from it, he faced it head-on, as we all need to do, but too few of us seem to bother w/. Learning is never easy especially when we block the truth w/ preconceived notions, all based on mythical cult generated vaporous 'observations.'
I'm an educated person who, by circumstances outside my personal influence, was forced to grovel for intellectual air among the grossly uneducated. My only escape from these unthinking multitudes is to find purpose and real intellect in the Internet; which isn't always on top of the massive pile of postulated conspiracy theories ever present.
After 2 3/4 years I'm able to free myself, into a new setting, among thoughtful people. Yay!
I must say, it's purely oppressive how organized ignorance can quash or put down the critical thought of someone wanting to question the ubiquitous darkness enveloped in stupidity. You just can't fix 'stupid' -- unless it wants to breathe real fresh air -- that's a rare thing. Fortunately I've found a way out of it. I'm handicapped w/ incomplete quadriplegic issues, I'm stuck in a wheelchair. I can't begin to thank fortunate events that removed me from a kind of virtual imprisonment right here and thriving in 2020. A dark ages that grasps and explains the present political situation.
I'm so glad some of us embrace learning. Great video ..best I've seen on RUclips to date. Kudos!
I'm disabled too. Luckily the country has been quite kind to me. (After the initial struggle!) I'm a former nurse and, GGoodd !!!! You think so much like I do. Thank God for my 'Mac,' I'm free to explore on line. So many are so shallow now.
Enjoyed your thoughts. Thank you!
@@briobarb8525 Thank you very much my dear.
You are a very intelligent person with a very intelligent heart.
@@jogriffiths5766 you guys Set The Pace and I learn from ya'll.
You speak intelligently and articulately. That alone was enough to get my interest, but it's your analysation of the material that won me over.
He has a PhD.
analysis
@@hhiippiittyy Analysation. I meant what I wrote.
@@AsheOdinson
Cool.
Just googled it. Had never encountered the word before, and obviously then hadn't recognized the subtle distinction in meaning between analysation and analysis.
Good day sir :)
Hate to be the grammar troll, but it's analyzation, with a Z...
Carl Sagan was a gift to humanity.
A gift from who? HMMMMM!?
@@DanDan-fu6sd It's a saying showing appreciation for his works, not a directed statement of fact.
But I feel like being facetious... He's a gift from the flying spaghetti monster.
Perhaps a gift from the "universe" would be more appropriate. Don't worry, I'm with you 100 percent. Spaghetti is only good on a plate with meatballs. @@phant0mwolf421
Sagan: "[W]e slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition..."
Some people: Carl Sagan predicted 2020!
Sagan: That's what I was talking about.
Oh, I've noticed...
Lol no kidding
Yeah, Sagan being turned into Nostradamus rather than a man pointing out troubling trends and where they will lead is sad.
Good one 🤣
'i don't want to believe, I want to know.'
Exactly, so
Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World is a must read, now more than ever. I read it last year and it struck me to my core.
Do you feel that it's a very difficult read? I'm a somewhat intelligent person, lol, but if it's too deep in science, it's hard for me to wrap my head around. And I am not young. I am ( 52 )
@@lisamichels1825 try it. What have you got to lose?
Here's to hoping my library has the e-book, it sounds like a fascinating read.
Can someone please nominate Carl Sagan for a Nobel Prize? Possibly the award he deserved the most, but was never awarded.
A nominee must be alive to receive a Nobel prize. That ship has sailed.
@@artteacher71 I know, but it was a nice thought though:(
For what? Physics?
"Question Everything" Advice Mr. Sagan gave me as a teen.
Joe Strummer said the same thing and added "Know your rights."
So are you questioning the lies in this video
But why?
Including yourself!
Funny how the very people that tout that mantra “question everything” get the most irritated when someone does just that.
Studying psychology at University at 29 years old helped me get out of the Mormon church and, therefore, change many of my beliefs.
Please, get rid of ALL of your beliefs.
That’s awesome. Being able to undo that level of group conditioning from a very young age is definitely a sign of intelligence. Not many people can recognize they are wrong especially when every authority figure in their life has always said they are not. That requires flexibility of thought.
Also your frontal lobe doesn’t finish developing until you’re 25 so maybe it’s better you were exposed to these ideas at 29 rather than 18.
@Anna Harry do you mean a Mormon college like BYU? Or do you just mean in general?
So, basically you traded one set of cultish beliefs for another? .🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭
“We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.”
― Carl Sagan
Are you an Indian? I have seen your comments in various indian left wing RUclips Videos
Bernie Family that is not how racism works. You are clearly trolling
@peaceful protester Obvious equivocation fallacy is obvious.
@Bernie Family Yes, you are indeed an obvious troll. You've made that quite apparent in your mischaracterization.
@Bernie Family That'll teach you to attempt making a point through parody on youtube! I gather that you were responding to the OPs quote by getting at just how much today's woke-ists are an obstacle to progress - not enough "embracing what is true rather than what feels good." Now, begone, troll!
Raised in a scientific household , even dinner required a dictionary and could lead to curiosity.
Are you trying to make yourself seem better than the drooling raving masses? Seems pretty condescending. Especially since given the scenario where you are in the middle of this mob you would in fact begin drooling and raving as well, if nothing more than to seem “part of the group”. So please continue to tell us how much better you are than these ignorant people.
@A B I said nothing about myself so yes I guess you are right. However I would counter with me not caring what you or anyone really thinks about me. Perhaps that makes me a fool, but a fool who is content all the same.
@A B So then why do you care? I find this fascinating how I reply to such a condescending comment with the same level of condescension and you say how horrible I am, when you are in fact now doing exactly what I am being accused of. Fascinating how the mind works... or doesn’t in this case. At least I knew what I was doing from the outset while you just feel better about yourself from vanquishing the mean troll. Just lovely.
I am legit jealous. The world needs more of that. I wish my family had done the same. Curiosity.. Knowledge.. My God this whole planet needs to cherish them. You had a cool household 👍
@@ciotie101 poop lol ahahahh AHAHAHAHAHAH
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence- Carl Sagan
@PLAGUE. INC জ্বি, মনে আছে। আমার কোরা আইডিও এখন ব্যান হয়ে গেছে। আর হিন্দুধর্মের সাথে আমার কোন সম্পর্ক নেই। তবে আমি এটা জানি যে, তারা সুযোগের অভাবে অসাম্প্রদায়িক। এরাও মুসলিমদের মতোই।
@The Greater Good Who's he going to infect? Just stay 6 feet away from your screen.
Wasn't that Christopher Hitchins?
"He who stands on the toilet, is high on the Pot".
--- Confucius, 500 B.C.
@PLAGUE. INC maybe my memory is bad but I recall him saying both quotes. Oh well doesn't really matter. I just read about your situation and I can only wish you well and safety.
Ah, the nineties, from Beavis and Butthead to Garbage's "Stupid Girl."
Btw, the U.S. was losing manufacturing and technology back in the eighties.
Thanks Obama. I mean, Reagan.
I remember the 'Buy American' campaigns and they only slowed the inevitable.
To be fair, "Stupid Girl" was a condemnation of stupidity, not a celebration.
There's a much better 90s song called "Stupid Girl", by the RENTALS, a synth rock side project for half of Weezer.
It was unavoidable, look at UK, they invented the textile industry, but now the textile are done Asia. With time the technology gap, narrows, and the competition is done on prices. To remain competitive a company might reduce wages, hard to when prosperity raised prices,or invest in technology, which is risky and few managers do it. If it worked till now ,why change,? See Kodak example. Usually the new start up bring change, but how to compete as a start up with giant corporations. So the problem is more complex than a simple political decission
You can’t imagine how influential Carl Sagan has been for my life. I used to watch the series Cosmos translated to Spanish and broadcast by an educational channel in Colombia 🇨🇴. I read some of his books (e.g. el mundo y sus demonios, Contact communication with extraterrestrial intelligences, pale blue dot ) back in 1997 and earlier...I became biologist, then master in behavioral ecology, then I obtained a second master in neuroethology at Rutgers NJ, now I’m finishing my PhD in neuroscience at URosario in Bogotá, Colombia. I believe he ignited my curiosity back then.
Watching the world fall into a new dark age is truly depressing! I take comfort in #NatureBatsLast
Carl Sagan really make you shoot for the stars... I wish some smart person did that for me too 🤯
I can really relate to your story! My mom showed me Cosmos translated to Spanish on RUclips when I was 14, and it was so completely life changing for me that I decided to move from the Dom. Rep. to the US to study Astrophysics. Now I'm an applied physics undergrad with a concentration in astronomy at Appalachian State University. He, as you put it, ignited my curiosity back then.
Hearing you guys say this about Carl would make him so proud if he knew , he gave me a life long fascination with the cosmos too , I was young in the UK when cosmos was first broadcast on TV & it blew my mind , it made me want to be the first man on mars , well that's not happening now but I hope I live long enough to see it . He was a very influential man & will never be forgotten for his positive contribution to our species .
I took your advice and just finished reading "The Demon Haunted World". I t was great and has instilled in me new appreciation for Sagan. I have always been familiar with him but never read his books. Thanks both for recommending the book and your excellent videos!!!
I first recognized Sagan as a scientific prophet when I was in high-school back in the 70s. In this book, he uncovers what drives the darkness in human nature and how skeptical (critical thinking) gives hope for the future of our planet and all mankind.
Once God is rejected, there is no such thing as "darkness". All there is is survival of the fittest which when applied to human behavior is survival of the most ruthless. There is no darkness or light. Things just are.
@@Goodkidjr43 fun fact Charles Darwin never said survival of the fittest. The actual quote is - “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
I had to read "The Demon-Haunted World" in college. I loved the book so much. My dad's a big Sagan fan and I grew up watching the original "Cosmos" series. I also read all of his other books including "Contact." My dad is still Christian, but he is definitely a believer in science. I was brought up to love science. I'm not good at it, but I understand the basics. My 10-year-old daughter wants to go to Mars when she grows up and watches every launch she can. Sagan was an amazing man. I wonder what he would say were he still living. What kind of educational shows could he produce with a platform like the internet?
Well she probably won’t be able to until she in her sixties. And even that mite by to soon.
I would like to believe he would have made Cosmos anyway. In reality though, he would have made it better. :)
Incidentally, it’s even worse than Carl Sagan could have have imagine. With our political systems more divided than ever and busting at the seams, there is no checks and balances so we are guided by complete and utter tribalism from our leaders. While we have more access to education than ever before, we have algorithms that send us down rabbit holes where we get alternative facts. That is the scariest part of all, facts are no longer facts.
@Goggle products
I’m a third gen mason. It isn’t what you think dude. It’s just a bunch of guys basically drinking beers at a club to get away from their wives for a while. We don’t do anything about the future. I wish I had that power! You are deep down a rabbit hole and I don’t think I could pull you out.
@Goggle products bad troll
Let’s give it a name; Trump. Sure others dabbled but Trump took it to an obscene level
The US is like a ship with no captain with a bunch of unqualified people jostling to drive.
@@jmaniak1 Yes. When a country chooses an entertainer over competence then this is what happens. The idea that the President should be someone you can have a beer with is ludicrous. President should be the best of us, better than average. Sure they should also have a moral compass. Instead we got a man who can barely string a coherent sentence in his native language. I am not here to defend Biden either. At this age he is well past his prime. American decline will continue and her enemies continue to win.
Great to hear such a well composed "discussion", bravo, you're helping restore sense and hope for humanity. Important work!
wow, he's almost as good at it as the simpsons.
LMAO
But the Simpsons of course are truly prophetic because they operate outside the realm of logic and empiricism.
Drew, I've been hooked on your calm, intellectual demeanor.
I personally get frustrated and ANGRY at anti-intellectualism and it's hard for me to remain calm when dealing with irrationality. You have taught me a lot and thank you.
Case in point, I had a rational, calm, and reasoned argument with a flat earther the other day. It was a unique experience that you armed me to handle.
"Keep the people poor and stupid. NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM" --Megadeth
🤘🏻
What does that Latin phrase mean?
@@beta511ee4 New Order of the ages it's the United States third motto
I remember watching The Cosmos when I was in kindergarten and first grade and becoming fascinated by black holes, pulsars, and all the weird and wonderful phenomenon in our universe. Now I am going to NASA's L'Space academy and I'll be completing projects for the Lucy mission to the trojans this summer!
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
Holy fuck that's terrifying on a level I never imagined I would be able to or need to comprehend. You just described every far-right American.
Best quote I've read to date. Ty. trumpists are forever decrying communism but are totally totalitarian. They don't like a two party system, want their leader to control the governors, the courts and the election. Communist or fascist that's totalitarian government control, not democracy.
The exact situation right now in the USA. Frightening, to say the least.
This is the second video I've seen of yours (first one being the tesseract video). I was really touched by your humility in expressing where you started in your beliefs and how you got there. It takes so much to share those things especially to an audience that is often arrogant and seldom admit fault. Even in your call for people to be nice to each other in the comments, I get such a healthy vibe from your sentiments and sense a genuine thirst for knowledge and a desire to share it with folks. Best wishes to you and your channel and may it continue to grow and inspire and inform people in the same way the shows you watched taught you!
I love how passionate you are about what you so clearly explain and clarify to us, and it's great to see Carl Sagan (one of the most influential and visionary intellectuals of the 20th century) and as one of your inspirations. Keep it up man!
When I was in elementary school we had an hour a day dedicated to science, and I
I’m 41 for reference. Same school today teaches 1/2-1 hour a week of science
What are they spending more time on instead of science?
18 years ago when I finished high school we had standard grade and higher grade and you had to pass all 7 subjects which included 2 languages and mathematics, if you failed you had to redo the entire year. Now apparently it is more important that the children get their certificate then that they get the knowledge. They now even have a lower grade and they only need 30% in 4 of the subjects, so they can fail both languages and mathematics and that is good enough. Less than half of them pass their first year in university, because the universities here are not yet under government control, but soon I guess doctors will only need to show up to get their degree. :-(
@@DrunkenUFOPilot Indoctrination.
@@josefj.cfourie198 I want to ask "Holy smokes, what third world country are you talking about?" but I know this question does not need to be asked.
@@DrunkenUFOPilot I'm from South Africa.
Carl helped me to change my life in a way that I didn't even know I was starving for. The seeds of rational thought were planted in my brain in 1975, probably earlier. They sat there until 1980 when I became addicted to Cosmos. He was the first academic to come down from the ivory tower and speak to everyday people like me. My entire life has been a journey toward self awareness. Carl lives forever in our hearts and minds.
Every person alive should watch all of COSMOS. Mind expanding!
I also grow up watching Crash Course and SciShow, Thank you Green brothers, and everyone involved in the making of educational videos!
I’m an “old” person who is doing just that. As a 74 year-old Baby Boomer, I have kind of turned into a “late blooming” hippie type, which I was certainly NOT, when I was the ‘right age’ to do so! Fifty + years have enabled and driven me to Revolutionize my attitude and approach my life in turning around my understanding and curiosity and interest into a stubbornly rebellious senior citizen who, to “maintain my brain” into thinking, mentally, much younger than my physically aging body. Initially, I thought of my father who, as an older man in his late 70s, began to display what was later diagnosed as Alzheimer’s dementia. Having read that the possibility exists that approaching the Senior Years without Exercising Your Brain cells (neurons) regularly, can possibly contribute toward some type of dementia, not necessarily genetic(?), as you continue the aging process without stimulating your memory with new information and mnenonic (?) tricks to jog your mind’s in and output is not good. So, I started on the road to the creation of neurons to replace the old and dying cells. This does seem to work fairly well, so far. It’s also fun and challenging and never boring, as I continue to sort of “quarantine with corolla”, and masking when going out. ☺️
I'm sorry, I want to understand what you mean by "doing just that" What exactly? BTW, Daniel Amen studied the brains of older people with young brains, and says the best ones did in fact use gingko biloba (hope I spelled that right) to increase blood circulation to the brain.
@Suzanne Brown I love your post. I note that I am never bored and I feel that my mind is years younger than my chronology of 68 years. I tend toward being overactive mentally; it is through meditation that I can slow down, in fact. There is so much yet to learn and not enough living left to learn it in. Welcome to your latent hippie years! (My "hobbies" are Astrophysics and Quantum Mechanics these days. That rabbit hole is enjoyably deep and I have been following Carl Sagan since 1977.) Great "meeting" you here on the RUclips.
Science has proven masks do nothing , but yet the” experts “ like Fauci have been wrong for the last 9 months.
@@waltk7624 shut up lunatic
@@waltk7624 found the flat earther.
This is an excellent video snd you did an outstanding job on narration. Your views are well researched snd spot-on.
Really well done!
He didn't "predict" the future. He saw the writing on the wall and was concerned about the start of the United States of America's cultural decline he was witnessing.
That’s called a prediction bro
Being a person of science and math, since I was a youngster, Carl Sagan became my go to scientist to read. Since he’s been gone Neil de Grasse Tyson has taken his place.
I think part of todays problems with people and science is that schools failed to teach them about science. What I mean is that they should have been teaching kids how science works; how results are attained, like double blind studies used to determine a new drug’s worth. Not just memorizing important dates of scientific discoveries!
Once again you have hit the nail on the head, great points well made!
I'm a Carl Sagan fan, and you sir deserve 10x more views, great job.
" What the mind doesn't understand
it either worships or fears "
Or "rejects".
The list of things I fear is much shorter than the list of things I don't understand. The list of things I worship is comprised of one thing.
Your quote is silly.
Then the mind needs to develop a few more categories. Like I don’t know and may never know. Or here’s a list of topics I should learn more about. Or maybe I’m asking the wrong questions. And so on.
I just did a project over Carl Sagan, had no idea who he was till about 2 weeks ago. He’s an interesting dude.
I used to love watching his Cosmos videos.
This is awesome, because he really was a scientist who made science approachable to average folks. So the rest of us want to think critically as well.
Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" is an enjoyable romp through the history of science, showing *how* we know what we know. Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science" is a fun look at how and why science gets distorted for gain.
I’ve given away so many copies of Byron’s book. I’ve read it three times, and I still enjoy it. Packed with fascinating things about our world!
How exactly is this a prediction when it started almost one hundred years ago? It's just something that repeats over and over again.
How exactly has the internet's influence "repeated over and over again"?
@@rikk319 Straw man. Don't do that and maybe you will be able to answer your own question.
@@howtheworldworks3 Straw man: an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument.
I asked a question, not made a misrepresentation of your proposition. Unless you're against being questioned, you should have the capability of explaining yourself. It's called the free exchange of ideas.
@@rikk319 I answered you question with what you did but you don't seem to care about that. I never said anything about the internet's influence. You added that to straw man me. I was talking about the scientific, political and economic relationship between people of the early industrial age witch keeps repeating it's mistakes over and over again. That's why it's predictable.
@@howtheworldworks3 Then you should have stated your position clearly.
I read the Demon Haunted World in the nineties when it came out. It continues to influence my thinking to this very day. It's probably one of the most important non-fiction books written in the late twentieth century.
Cosmos and Demon Haunted World got me into a degree in physics and ,while im painfully working through my upper level undergrad courses, i still try inspiring others into learning more about science.
Good luck!!!
Cheers to that!!
slipping into? we've been in darkness a long time and now we're finally coming towards a climax since more and more people are starting to use their brains.
Nah man, the light of our connection and access to facts on a scale as never before creates shadows more in contrast than ever before.
@@SpeakerWiggin49 I guess its better to say the light and dark are both increasing.
@@House_of_Green I'm not refuting you, I'm just gonna say it's better to say something more sensical that is consistent with the facts.
I don't see much evidence that humans used to be rational and now are becoming irrational. Whether humans on average are becoming more or less rationally are hypotheses that need testing rather than being accepted uncritically. I don't know how you would test it on a world wide basis. Also we must remember that research on Americans doesn't necessarily reflect the whole world.
@@jeremywvarietyofviewpoints3104 I think the western world is on the edge of a new enlightenment with both tech and social norms and right now the old ways are fighting for relevance and survival.
Prior to the 80s and the massive tax cuts to the obscenely rich, a university education was actually affordable and not something you had to spend the first half of your career paying off.
@Tessmage Tessera Yup. We can thank Reaganomics for the deployable state of infrastructure and advanced education.
I graduated college in 1979. My part time waitress job was enough to pay for it.. I also got a small student loan, grant and scholarship, all together totalling $6000. This was in the California State College system subsidized by our taxes, so that anyone who wanted a college education could afford it. After that, state governments whittled away at the subsidies and colleges turned to high paying foreign students. Our education as a nation has been on the decline ever since, and it shows.
The Cult of Reagan initiated the destruction of America, and the destruction of education was a strategy, not just a side effect of tax cuts. The anti-war riots of the 60’s shocked America into the realization that education was regularly graduating leftists who refused to fight the wars. This could not be allowed, so education had to go, liberalism had to be vilified. And now we have an astonishingly militarized, astonishingly poorly educated society, and everyone is wondering how we got here. How? Step by step. (Source: lived through it all)
Are you implying that the “obscenely rich” own the colleges? That’s not the problem the problem is that college acts more as a business and less as a service.
Also I humbly submit that while the cost of a university education is massive, the value for many programs is negative. A lot has been written being universities having become centers of indoctrination of PC and leftist politics, not science, i.e. a life of poverty and, uh, well, stupidity. If I had to to do over again, I would have avoided university and gone to one of the wealth of technical colleges that lead to apprenticeships and a solid career and future. That was long ago for me. But Youth is still wasted on the young. :-)
I miss Sagan so much! When I was a kid I used to watch him on PBS regularly! He was a fantastic ambassador for science, and he was taken from us way too soon! Simply a brilliant class act!
Sometimes I under appreciate the amount of knowledge I’ve accumulated watching RUclips. Not just trivia and incoherent facts but gaining an actual perspective on global politics and economics and science and media. Just take caspian report or economics explained for example. Those are the types of channels that teach you fundamentally how the world works and you don’t even realize it.
Thing is,you really have to compare with other things if you want to actually learn,because he may be wrong by mistake or on porpuse,he may not even be wrong,but showing you only one perspective,this happens a lot woth economics and politics
@@kaparg why is that your profile picture
@@Dalpidar ah,yes,because THAT is the important thing here
His book "Cosmos" is on display standing in front of my other books on my bookshelf.
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." ―Isaac Newton
A humility lacking in today's generation of academia! 😿
@@richardscathouse No way! There are plenty of brilliant and humble folks doing good work today.
Wow kid, you missed Sagan’s whole point
This was recommended to me randomly today and man this is best thing i have seen in years.
Ahh, yes, this is where Physics Girl, Dr. Becky, Joe Scott, Smarter Every Day, Curious Droid, Scott Manley, Anton Petrov....and GM Skeptic come into play. I have a customer in his mid 80`s who loves the internet and said he`s learned more now in his eighties than he EVER did in school. As a 1955`er...same here!
Fun fact: I predict that tomorrow at 9 am, will be exactly 9:00 in the morning
Thank you Einstein, very cool.
Not really. You forgot about time zones.
David Weber When did I say a place
@Albert Einstein
I’m gonna travel at near the speed of light and tomorrow at 9 AM for my frame of reference (aka in about 21 hours) will be YEARS later for your frame of reference on Earth. Checkmate Einstein, you got owned by your own theory.
@@onthecover5042 LOL, it's like the Bible. I can interpret and you can. You used the first person, so when you said 9 am it is clear (hahahaha) that you are saying it's 9 am in your time zone. This is why I always question a lot of these 'intelligence tests' on RUclips and elsewhere - they always assume the test taker is understanding the context they are presenting, and they oftentimes are not.
I work for PBS. Thanks for the shout out!
This started in the 80's and that's how we got here
Earlier than that.
Thank you! This was needed to be heard. Carl Sagan had an amazing mind. 😃
“We have become so accustomed to our illusions that we mistake them for reality.”
― Daniel J. Boorstin
I was a Christian for my entire childhood and young adult life. I found my heart-path in Paganism after I graduated from college and spiritually, I have never been happier or more fulfilled. But I treasure the scientific perspective, and in many ways it forms the basis of my beliefs and worldview - for me, my spirituality is a channel for my own sense of awe and wonder at the world science describes and illuminates.
You can still be a Christian and believe in science as well. I was similar, devoted Christian, turned to science as the way of explaining the universe. Then came the pondering question of explaining consciousness. It’s real, but none of the senses can verify it. So instead of explaining how it or anything else works or is created, I realized that consciousness, is the beginning. And consciousness is what creates “reality,” or the universe and science so that we can make sense of it all. consciousness complexes the world we know by adding smell, taste, hearing, seeing, feeling. And this is how I found god again. 😎👍🏼
Another passage from Demon Haunted World on p. 413 of my copy says:
If we're absolutely sure that our beliefs are right, and those of others are wrong; that we are motivated by good, and others by evil; that the King of the Universe speaks to us, and not to adherents of very different faiths, that it is wicked to challenge conventional doctrines or to ask searching questions; that our main job is to believe and obey-then the witch mania will recur in its infinite variations down to the time of the last man.
I find a hunger in youth that want to know, that question beliefs of their parents. My generation is haunted by the need for denial and holding on to false truths that reinforce their belief systems. I was lucky in that Carl was one of my hero’s. His works like Cosmos and his books open the mind and allows freedom to question and learn. My hope is that I may pass this on to my grandchildren, that they may help create a better day.
My 10 year old had a free writing assignment at school a few years ago and I loved that without prompting, she picked Sagan as her subject. I largely credit SleepySheep's lofi style music remix of Sagan (pondering the origins of the universe and how to make an apple pie) that peaked her interest in the man since I often had that song in the shuffle at home.
Yeah, Sagan really nailed it-he was a true sage
No sage. Just wise.
You would be surprised, Drew, that science denial is also a thing among scientists with respect to disciplines other than theirs. It's a huge problem!
That is interesting. Do you have any examples?
@Rebecca Leeman it's not surprising that some creationists have science degrees. However I have heard but not confirmed that they are more likely to be engineers, lawyers and dentists rather than biologists.
@@jeremywvarietyofviewpoints3104 I'd love to give examples but it might not be wise to do so. I've seen criticism to 5g, to global warming, and even to aspects of the current pandemic. I also know personally quite a few creationists in many fields of STEM.
In the end, it is hard to go through the papers and see the data for yourself, and perhaps one would rather stick to their preconceived opinions instead of looking at the research. I know for the general public it is a matter of "oh, but the science says so" as if it is this infallible institution, but when you start playing the science game you see there is some degree of political influence and bias in what gets published and which research gets funded. So I can see how a scientist can have a hard time believing some of the academic literature, especially the more recent (less than 40 years old) bits, since you know in your field of expertise how things are not really black and white to begin with.
@Rebecca Leeman I wouldn't exactly call it their "knowledge".
The "Young Earth" lot who still believe the 6000 year age deduced by Ussher, Archbishop of Antrim, really have no excuse. Although the staunchly Christian William Thomson, born in Belfast one county away from Antrim and elevated to Lord Kelvin (in honour of the river of Glasgow University) blamelessly underestimated it at 40 _million_ years rather than the 4500 million we now know, he DID show that Ussher's _young Earth_ estimate was four orders of magnitude too small.
Besides that, decent estimates of how long it takes light from the naked-eye visible Andromeda galaxy are in millions of years, so the Genesis story is preposterous, and if there is a Creator, insulting to Him, Her, or It.
Or even Them!
@@jeremywvarietyofviewpoints3104 I have read that even among the scientific elite, those least likely to believe in the existence of "God" are biologists. I think I know the reason. They are more intimately familiar with the cruelty of Nature than the rest of us.
"first quote… not a prediction because… second quote ssys…"
But the second quote shows Sagan was talking about what is happening and following that to its logical conclusion in the future. How is "sooner or later (it's) going to blow up in our face" not a prediction?
I particularly like your use of the word "prediction" rather than "prophecy".
@@albertrogers2506 Prophecy is divine knowledge. I'm pretty sure Sagan was atheist so to try to interchange the words would be more than just dumb.
@@Blackmark52 I recently did a little re-reading of some of the "Old Testament" prophets when I'd read a particularly filthy passage quoted by one of my fellow FB atheists. It accused the prophet's fellow Jews of behaving in a manner like copulating with horses.
Long ago, I'd concluded that Hosea was a wimp, Ezekiel wrote Hebrew science-fiction, and Amos was a socialist. The latter charged "Ye have made the shekel great, and the ephah small" -- meaning you overcharge, and give short measure.
Sure enough, a few dips into the prophets, and I concluded that some of the Jewish exiles in Babylon, which the Assyriologist Irving Finkel at the British Museum reckons as one of the most advanced civilizations of its day, were attempting to assimilate into the culture they were stuck with, and that the "prophets" were furious with them.
@@albertrogers2506 "one of my fellow FB atheists"
I don't think you are responding to my comment because I have no idea what point you're trying to make. But I did read your post and wonder what the hell an FB atheist is. Hope it's not someone that thinks they're an atheist because Facebook.
@@Blackmark52 I was too brief. My comment was about what low quality "divine knowledge" (as you rather neatly put it) prophecy is. My phrase "fellow FB atheists" refers to Facebook groups that I attend to share with other atheists.
To my absolute horror, my evangelical Christian mom told me that had she known "better", she woulda home schooled me. I really dodged a bullet there. It would've meant not understanding basic science and thinking of the Bible as history. I cannot imagine! She thinks the pandemic and wildfires are "End Times" prophecy coming true, not man-made, but God's will. I would be telling you right now that we don't need an environment because God! It rattles my brain how different my life would be.
You are not alone...
@@Mitchery Thank you!!
Right there with ya. Some of my peers aren’t so lucky...
All I can say is OMG - good luck Max.
Ironically, all these problems with the Earth can't be solved in time to save the earth. The corruption of mankind means that there will in kind be corruption of the earth and there is by no means any way to fix this earth with our puny human understanding of Science.