Thank God for Carl Sagan
Jan. 18th, 2007 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragojustineDragons of Eden, Carl Sagan
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan
Thank god for Carl Sagan. These books are certainly products of their time, and dated (The second one refers to the mass movement away from religion in America...), but also timeless. Sagan was a polymath, one of those rare people who thinks broadly, deeply, clearly, logically,
and creatively all at once. It is a sheer joy to read something from someone so clearly immersed in and enthusiastic about the life of the mind, the pursuit of science, and the evolution of human knowledge. This is the religion that resonates with me. Childlike wonder,
rigorous thinking and a determination to rely on evidence characterize everything he does.
Dragons of Eden is an exploration of human intelligence, of the evolution of the brain. It is a wonderful and rare achievement to be able to make our own evolutionary history exciting, wondrous even. It leaves you wondering how the idea that man is an animal, descended
from animals, could ever have been seen as insulting or demeaning, instead of marvelous. None of this information is new; indeed it is all quite dated, with many advances and some debunkings since this was written. However, the very mindset- that we can strive to understand ourselves and our minds through the prism of evolution- is what makes this valuable.
Sagan's thinking is rigorous, yet he is willing to venture into the arenas of myth and symbolism, willing to see insight and metaphor there. Once again I am startled by what a wonderful myth the garden of Eden turns out to be. It may be the single most powerful and
versatile story of Western tradition (as much as I love the fall of Lucifer, Eden seems more widely applicable), enhancing meaning wherever it is used.
The Demon-Haunted World is yet another book whose main value lies in its mindset. Science here is empowering and enlightening, the greatest achievement and joy of mankind. This vision is so markedly different from that taken in most of American politics and popular culture that even for someone who already espouses it, it's breathtaking. "The siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms,"- perhaps the bravest and most audacious statement of this belief I've ever read. The book covers a huge territory, from UFO abductions (and the best description of sleep paralysis in that
context that I've ever read) to astrology and pyramidology. All of it is calm, non-sensationalistic, relatively non-insulting, and powerfully persuasive.
Thank god for Carl Sagan!
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan
Thank god for Carl Sagan. These books are certainly products of their time, and dated (The second one refers to the mass movement away from religion in America...), but also timeless. Sagan was a polymath, one of those rare people who thinks broadly, deeply, clearly, logically,
and creatively all at once. It is a sheer joy to read something from someone so clearly immersed in and enthusiastic about the life of the mind, the pursuit of science, and the evolution of human knowledge. This is the religion that resonates with me. Childlike wonder,
rigorous thinking and a determination to rely on evidence characterize everything he does.
Dragons of Eden is an exploration of human intelligence, of the evolution of the brain. It is a wonderful and rare achievement to be able to make our own evolutionary history exciting, wondrous even. It leaves you wondering how the idea that man is an animal, descended
from animals, could ever have been seen as insulting or demeaning, instead of marvelous. None of this information is new; indeed it is all quite dated, with many advances and some debunkings since this was written. However, the very mindset- that we can strive to understand ourselves and our minds through the prism of evolution- is what makes this valuable.
Sagan's thinking is rigorous, yet he is willing to venture into the arenas of myth and symbolism, willing to see insight and metaphor there. Once again I am startled by what a wonderful myth the garden of Eden turns out to be. It may be the single most powerful and
versatile story of Western tradition (as much as I love the fall of Lucifer, Eden seems more widely applicable), enhancing meaning wherever it is used.
The Demon-Haunted World is yet another book whose main value lies in its mindset. Science here is empowering and enlightening, the greatest achievement and joy of mankind. This vision is so markedly different from that taken in most of American politics and popular culture that even for someone who already espouses it, it's breathtaking. "The siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms,"- perhaps the bravest and most audacious statement of this belief I've ever read. The book covers a huge territory, from UFO abductions (and the best description of sleep paralysis in that
context that I've ever read) to astrology and pyramidology. All of it is calm, non-sensationalistic, relatively non-insulting, and powerfully persuasive.
Thank god for Carl Sagan!