James Randi Speaks: Carl Sagan

good morning good afternoon or good evening whatever the case may be folks i find it difficult to believe that dr carl sagan has been dead now for some 13 years i'm reminded of them just about every time i open a book access an internet site or discuss scientific matters with colleagues he's been on my mind recently because of the heavy attrition rate of my friends my heroes are all passing away isaac asimov dick feynman so many who have inspired and encouraged me over the years carl was very much aware of the need for science education for everyone not because he expected that everyone would become a scientist but because he felt that every citizen should know at least to some degree how the real world functions i couldn't agree more in my own work i daily come upon persons who have no knowledge whatsoever about the simplest of scientific ideas and even less about the technology that has resulted from science they adopt mystical ideas to explain what they experience and that naivete makes them easy prey for others who can and will take advantage of them years ago while working with dr sagan briefly at cornell university on a course titled critical thinking i commented on the high percentage of asian students that i could see were on campus carl told me that the greatest distinction he had found between western and asian students was that many of the western students were satisfied to work for a passing grade in their classes but the asians expected that they should obtain perfect grades not just satisfactory ones that is an excellent work ethic and it should be preached to every student in my opinion in his book the demon-haunted world carl expressed how important an education is in today's civilization he wrote we've arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements transportation communications and all other industries agriculture medicine education entertainment and protecting the environment profoundly depend on science and technology we have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology this is a prescription for disaster we might get away with it for a while but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces we in america 300 years ago to our great shame underwent a period in which we blamed innocent individuals we called witches for troubles and calamities choosing to believe that these persons mostly women used supernatural powers to cause these problems we hanged these innocent citizens at the same time that our brothers in england france italy germany and spain were burning them alive as punishment carl sagan pointed out that in those earlier times there were reasons for fear and superstition reasons that should not be part of our mindset again in the demon haunted world in 1995 he wrote i worry that especially as the millennium nears pseudoscience and superstition will seem year by year more tempting the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive where have we heard it before whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused in times of scarcity during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us then habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls the candle flame gutters its little pool of light trembles darkness gathers the demons begin to stir i cannot tell you how much those words of dr sagan have affected me in a manner far more eloquent than i could ever have managed he expressed my thoughts and i hope that you being able to experience his writings will also feel that he spoke for you i sincerely hope so the message of this great man cannot grow old we must recognize that despite our becoming more mature more rapidly in so many ways we must be always vigilant it's been said before to forget history is to be forced to relive its errors these demons in which carl spoke are still out there somewhere waiting for their opportunity we cannot allow them to come back to life our greatest enemy by far is ignorance we have the weapons to defeat it and we are increasingly able to do so teachers of the quality of carl sagan exist in every culture and every city and village and every school and home all over this planet that we call home to nourish those teachers to encourage them to assist and support them should be one of our greatest our most important goals when all people are armed with knowledge and can organize to oppose and banish hunger poverty disease distress and discouragement those elements cannot flourish and those are the demons of which carl sagan wrote and spoke i'll leave you with this short tale some years ago i was seated in my office reading on my computer screen with great amusement a joke about astronomy that had appeared on the internet i laughed and suddenly froze looking at my left hand which had begun to reach for the telephone folks i had been about to call carl and tell him about this amusing story well i have absolutely no belief in an afterlife like carl sagan i am a realist but if it were possible to survive this life and if carl had been able to do that i'm sure that he would now be out there in the cosmos he's so loved and respected chasing an interesting comet or testing the temperature of a galaxy because his work survives them and we can enjoy it learn from it and most importantly add to it i can feel carl sagan was many things but his greatest accomplishment in my opinion was that he could teach he did it painlessly convincingly provocatively he not only knew his subjects but he loved them in the classic way that all great teachers have followed he had a firm modulated voice and a superb matter of expressing his thoughts a manner that was both poetic and colorful he could be understood by anyone who would read his words i'm james randy thank you and thank you too carol we thank you for watching this latest episode of james randy speaks for more of james randy and the educational foundation make sure you visit randy.org

Channel: JamesRandiFoundation

Views: 413,498

Rating: 4.871078 out of 5

Keywords: james randi carl sagan, cosmos, astronomy, science, skeptic, rich montalvo, jref

Id: ccReLF6M62Y

Length: 7min 0sec (420 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 26 2009

Reddit Comments

[u/screenager93]

Charles Darwin, he is still alive!

[u/Grooth]

I love James Randi. So much.

[u/Rhomboid]

I ♥ Randi

[u/fachsydachsy]

James Randi is an intellectual hero.

[u/ogcm]

I love this dude, I love science, and I love technology. But, I felt like the whole beginning when he said people who believed in superstitious things were naive and will be taken advantage of. I am Buddhist and I don't feel like my beliefs make me naive or gullible. I feel like my beliefs actually make me more appreciative of learning and accepting everyone more so than if I were any other religion. Just my two cents though. Great video :)

[u/mugwort23]

All very well but do we all have to be 'Asian students' striving for perfection? A work ethic is all fine and dandy but surly its got to be balanced out with a play ethic. I imagine tinkering with cosmic equations was playful and fun for Carl Sagan and nothing like the grim grade grubbing that a certain approach to education can entail.

[u/bitch_be_cool]

Give this man a red hat, Father Christmas.

[u/[deleted]]

I thought Captain Iglo aka Birdseye was dead

[u/Lcar210]

I just realized it was 2012...fuck.