>>> LAST THING BEFORE WE GO >>> LAST THING BEFORE WE GO TONIGHT IS A NEW APPRECIATION OF CARL SAGAN THAT SO MANY PEOPLE FIND WAY OVERDUE. ARMED WITH FOUR DEGREES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO -- TRY THAT IN YOUR SPARE TIME -- HE WAS AN ASTRONOMER, SCIENTIST, ASTRO PHYSICIST, A GENERAL PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL. HE TAUGHT AT HARVARD AND KORNELL AND WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME ALMOST BY DEFINITION. JASON JOHNSON CALLED OUR ATTENTION TO THIS CLIP ON SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY. HERE IS CARL SAGAN ON JOHNNY CARSON, CALLING OUT A NEW MOVIE CALLED ""STAR WARS" FOR ITS FAULTY ASSUMPTIONS AND LACK OF DIVERSITY. >> "STAR WARS" STARTS OUT SAYING IT IS ON SOME OTHER GALAXY. >> RIGHT. >> AND THEN YOU SEE THERES PEOPLE, AND STARTING IN SCENE ONE THERE IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE HUMAN BEINGS ARE THE RESULT OF A UNIQUE EVOLUTIONARY SEQUENCE BASED UPON SO MANY INDIVIDUAL, UNLIKELY RANDOM EVENTS ON THE EARTH. IN FACT, I THINK MOST OF THE BIOLOGISTS WOULD AGREE IF YOU STARTED THE EARTH OUT AGAIN AND JUST LET THOSE RANDOM FACTORS OPERATE YOU MIGHT WIND UP WITH BEINGS AS SMART AS US, AS ETHICAL AND ARTISTIC AND ALL OF THE REST, BUT THEY WOULD NOT BE HUMAN BEINGS. THATS FOR THE EARTH. ANOTHER PLANET, DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT, UNLIKELY TO HAVE HUMAN BEINGS. >> ARE YOU SAYING ON ANOTHER GALAXY IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THERE WOULD BE -- >> IT IS EXTREMELY UNLIKELY THERE WOULD BE CREATURES AS SIMILAR AS US. OTHER THINGS, THEYRE ALL WHITE, THE SKIN OF THE HUMANS IN "STAR WARS" ODDLY ENOUGH IS SORT OF LIKE THIS. >> RIGHT. >> AND NOT EVEN THE OTHER COLORS REPRESENTED ON THE EARTH ARE PRESENT, MUCH LESS GREENS AND BLUES AND PURPLES AND ORANGES. >> THEY HAD A SCENE IN "STAR WARS" WITH A LOT OF STRANGE CHARACTERS. >> YES, BUT NONE SEEMED TO BE IN CHARGE OF THE GALAXY. EVERYBODY THAT SEEMED TO BE IN CHARGE OF THE GALAXY LOOKED LIKE US. I THOUGHT THERE WAS A LARGE AMOUNT OF HUMAN CHAUVINISM. I FELT VERY BAD AT THE END THE WOOKIE DIDNT GET A MEDAL ALSO. ALL OF THE PEOPLE GOT MEDALS, AND THE WOOKIE WHO HAD BEEN IN THERE FIGHTING ALL THE TIME DIDNT GET A MEDAL. I THOUGHT IT WAS AN EXAMPLE OF ANTI-WOOKIE DISCRIMINATION. >> HOW ABOUT THAT? CARL SAGAN, ADVOCATE FOR WOOKIES EVERYWHERE. AS THE NOTED ASTRO PHYSICIST RON POPIA WOULD SAY, WAIT, THERES MORE. CARL SAGAN COULD NOT HAVE PREDICTED 2021 BUT HE DID SEE IT COMING. HE WROTE THE FOLLOWING BACK IN 1995, AND WE QUOTE. I HAVE A FOREBODYING OF AN AMERICA IN MY CHILDRENS OR GRANDCHILDRENS TIME, WHEN THE UNITED STATES IS A SERVICE AND INFORMATION ECONOMY, WHEN NEARLY ALL THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES HAVE SLIPPED AWAY TO OTHER COUNTRIES, WHEN AWESOME TECHNOLOGICAL POWERS ARE IN THE HANDS OF A VERY FEW AND NO ONE REPRESENTING THE PUBLIC INTEREST CAN EVEN GRASP THE ISSUES. WHEN THE PEOPLE HAVE LOST THE ABILITY TO SET THEIR OWN AGENDAS OR KNOWLEDGEABLY QUESTION THOSE IN AUTHORITY, WHEN, CLUTCHING OUR CRYSTALS AND NERVOUSLY CONSULTING OUR HOROSCOPES, OUR CRITICAL FACULTIES IN DECLINE, UNABLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WHAT FEELS GOOD AND WHATS TRUE, WE SLIDE, ALMOST WITHOUT NOTICING, BACK INTO SUPERSTITION AND DARKNESS. THE DUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA IS MOST EVIDENT IN THE SLOW DECAY OF SUBSTANTIVE CONTENT IN THE ENORMOUSLY INFLUENTIAL MEDIA, THE 30-SECOND SOUND BITES, NOW DOWN TO TEN SECONDS OR LESS, LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR PROGRAMMING, CREDULOUS PRESENTATIONS ON PSEUDOSCIENCE AND SUPER STATION, BUT ESPECIALLY A KIND OF CELEBRATION OF IGNORANCE. ROLL THAT AROUND FOR A WHILE. THOSE WERE AMONG HIS FINAL PUBLISHED WORDS. HE DIED TEN MONTHS LATER.
