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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
 Posted - 11/09/2015 : 18:00:42
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Happy Carl Sagan Day:It is practically impossible to think about where we would be today without the observations, visions, and eternal wisdom of Carl Sagan. He was, and remains to this day, as central to the craft of modern science communication as Albert Einstein was to the theory of General Relativity. Even in death, and especially in the digital age, Carl Sagan remains a force for science literacy, rationality, and critical thinking. Humanity continues to reap the rewards of the seeds he had sewn.
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- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2015 : 11:09:15 [Permalink]
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My favorite Sagan essay:
The Burden of Skepticism
Here is my favorite passage from The Burden of Skepticism.
| It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. Obviously those two modes of thought are in some tension. But if you are able to exercise only one of these modes, which ever one it is, you’re in deep trouble. If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. You never learn anything new. You become a crotchety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the world. (There is, of course, much data to support you.) But every now and then, maybe once in a hundred cases, a new idea turns out to be on the mark, valid and wonderful. If you are too much in the habit of being skeptical about everything, you are going to miss or resent it, and either way you will be standing in the way of understanding and progress. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones. If all ideas have equal validity then you are lost, because then, it seems to me, no ideas have any validity at all. |
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Happy Sagan Day
