"What Carl did was he reunified skepticism with wonder-and never one at the expense of the other, but always in equal parts. I think that what we all long for is something that could raise goose bumps, could make you feel something in your heart without requiring that you lie to yourself" (Ann Druyan, speaking about the legacy of Carl Sagan in an interview in Astrobiology Magazine.
In another interview she says "Carl felt this way and we learned this together— the impulse to find something sacred… there’s nothing foolish about that or necessarily reactionary about that. It’s the supernatural aspect that is corrosive...And so, yes, informed worship— but not worshipping some primate projection, some alpha in the sky, no" (Ann Druyan, transcript of an interview with Point of Inquiry. She sagely recommends that language about 'worship' and 'spirituality' be reclaimed from fundamentalists and irrationality rather than surrendered or jettisoned.
For those unaware of it, today is the Carl Sagan Blog-A-Thon. If you are reading this and don't have a blog of your own, just contribute a comment here or elsewhere. There is now a meta-post with links to the various Carl Sagan Blog-A-Thon posts.
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2 comments:
I love me some Carl Sagan, but he did have this tendency to look at anyone who didn't share his worldview as something of a barbaric uneducated peasant. In fact, I think he once used that very word.
Assuming he wasn't being facetious, it's kind of a disturbingly tempting view to take. "My view is based on glorious evidence, and anybody who disagrees with me must be a superstitious fool." I often have to rein myself in on that one.
His occasional condescending quirks aside... it's really great to have an example like Sagan of a scientist who isn't totally disillusioned and disgusted by the chaos of reality as he sees it. So many scientists do their work because they appreciate the world around them, but for some reason they didn't become the stereotype.
Alas for that. But yay for Sagan!
Cobalt, I'm startled by your characterization of Sagan. Evidence ranks. Please show us Cobalt, where Sagan said either of these things.
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