Carl Sagan - The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean part 1

[jakobcornell]

Carl Sagan: "We're going to explore the cosmos in a ship of the imagination, unfettered by ordinary limits on speed and size...it can take us anywhere in space and time"

Audience: Is it the human mind?

Carl: No, it's the Tardis.

[leraisonandtheseason]

His death didn't stop his legacy. He faced the major taboo separating science from truth: The confidence of people. He showed that some religious theories considered the Sun as a god. The Sun, but this will have a decisive role in the outcome of life as we know.

[CYCLEUPHILL]

Carl Sagan is one of my favorite people. He's such an inspiration, and I wish I could have had the chance to meet him. His voice is so relaxing.

[gardenofskeetn]

"we are a way for the cosmos to know itself." when he said that, i had to pause the video and make a comment about how my eyes just rolled back in my head

[Anjreew]

Carl Sagan is Mr. Rogers for adults.

[frusciantefan122]

carl sagan was more critical of religion than god. anyone must accept god is something you cannot prove or disprove. i dont think people should criticise a personal belief in a god, but when you go out and teach creationism to kids and hold up signs saying god hates fags, thats when religion should be put in its place.

[cciemail]

where was the first scene filmed with the ocean shore?

[leraisonandtheseason]

The book is intended to explain the scientific method to laypeople, and to encourage people to learn critical or skeptical thinking. It explains methods to help distinguish between ideas that are considered valid science, and ideas that can be considered pseudoscience. Sagan states that when new ideas are offered for consideration, they should be tested by means of skeptical thinking, and should stand up to rigorous questioning.

[leraisonandtheseason]

EvanMe i agree with you and u see the theory of new fanatism (full of religion) braking the real world we live. Sometimes i still imagine if smarter aliens than human being exist, probably they wouldn't getta have a trace of no agnostic conduct. (thanks for keep sagan teaching alive) Read Sagan book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. I live for progress

[leraisonandtheseason]

there are two answers for ur possibilities' speech kitchenaut: one of them is wrong or both are wrong.

[leraisonandtheseason]

If the truth can be proved, there's no reason to doubt about the science. European civilization lost 1,000 years of knowledge evolution without pacific coexistence between christianity and math, physical or chemistry. China closed itself during the Ming Dynasty about 500 years ago. History showed us these countries surpassed by those openned head more advanced technologically. Human being is too close to be much better than now if the last discovers were placed at the service of good.

[jsb779]

Great video, best thing ever. Audio sounds great too!

[Shinge42]

anyone know where i can download this for free for on my psp or mp3 player?

[leraisonandtheseason]

respecting religions, let's leave the science recover its mission. we're close to discover life abroad the earth and due the genetic progress, well be able to resist against couple of deseases and live beyon one hundred years old with quality of life. The next edge is a challenge to our children! We need discover how to transfer our concient life to special bodies maiden of matter to protect us against the radiation and less gravity of the space. Sagan gave us a hope, we should keep it alive!

[leraisonandtheseason]

...and, thanks to sun, our light will travell through the space and time for hundred billions of years. Think about how late our knowledge is now! we took our entire evolution to start discover the universe that sagan shows us. Sagan gave us a hint how important it was talking about the destruction of ancient Alexandria library. We lost 2.000 years of knowledge evolution because of this. We're a diminished single point in the space and in the science too...

[leraisonandtheseason]

Incredible passion he carried in. the lion teeth flower makes me reflect the universe expansion and supernova explosion, the origin of matter we're maiden of. i stay wondering about the youth of the universe, perhaps after our death we can revive again in somewhere. the universe possibilities of combinations is more gigantic than our own genoma. if our universe were a blob rounded by others, the chance increase so much! Probably, our universe gonna live trillions of years more...

[aetherflow]

So good.

[antonyvt]

carl, i miss you brother.

[josecitomadera]

I wonder why someone as smart as him would approve of taking chemotherapy when taking chemo is a death sentence. There is only a 4% survival rate.

[GronTheMighty]

@josecitomadera Perhaps because someone 'as smart as him' listened to his doctors rather than a random person pulling numbers out of their ass whilst making hasty generalizations across the board :)?

Cancer isn't an ailment you can find cures for in 7-11, chemo therapy is not something you just take nor is it a death sentence in any stretch of the imagination. Survival rates vary greatly between the different types of cancer and therapy, and must be seen in relation to untreated rates...

[josecitomadera]

@GronTheMighty Well, listening to his doctors did him no good. He suffered immensely and died anyway. Next is Steve Jobs who is one step away from six feet under.

[GronTheMighty]

@josecitomadera You don't appreciate that Sagan lived for years after his doctors prognosed him with cancer, and grew to a ripe old age before succumbing.. you shouldn't have the audacity to say you know he would have lived better or anywhere near as long if he had foregone the treatments he got... shame on you!

[josecitomadera]

@GronTheMighty 62 is a ripe old age??? Maybe in the Middle Ages it was. Chemotherapy is garbage. You suffer, last some few years and die anyway. That type of life is one I'm not interested in. I think Sagan should have used his immense intelligence to question chemotherapy and find another way.

[GronTheMighty]

@josecitomadera You might want to consider that perhaps he DID use his 'immense intelligence' as you put it, and found chemo therapy to be not only his best, but his only option.. Hate it if you will, and of course feel free to refuse the treatments should you ever find yourself unlucky enough to be offered them, but don't think that your personal opinion can be easily squeezed down the throat of a dead man!

[josecitomadera]

@GronTheMighty It is the arrogance of Western Medicine to proclaim their medicine has standard and Asian medicine as alternative. In Asia, the chemotherapy model is not the only option as chemotherapy is a Western and European invention.

[GronTheMighty]

@josecitomadera You know what, you're right, Sagan should have gone for snorting tiger teeth powder, rubbing his skin in panda tears and hang up coloured windchimes to combat his illnes.. go back to the cave and worship in the darkness.

[CRISNCHIPS12398]

Sensual seduction, woah oh, woah oh, sensual seduction.

Carl Sagan in da house baby doll.

[pnktout]

HAPPY CARL SAGAN DAY!!!!!!!!

[markevens]

Happy Carl Sagan day! 

[Geeeeoheffeff]

He's like the Mr. Rogers of the cosmos.

[rusk1992]

@Geeeeoheffeff

hell yea i said that too!! hahah

[Zachdudeio2]

i thought at least carl sagan videos would have more views. but nope people are too damn distracted

[skeptoid1974]

Actually, Sagan was admittedly "deeply religious" as confirmed by Ann Druyan in an interview with Ira Flatow on Talk of the Nation Science Friday back in 2007. Sagan did understand the inadequacies of a Judeo-Christian God. His "God" was the governor of the laws of the universe... Sagan is certainly missed...

[timmay301]

WHERE did he get that dandelion seed!

[RaymGhost]

I think someone accidentally klicked on the dislike button

[foleyfresh]

@RaymGhost and 9226 forgot to click the like button

[RaymGhost]

@foleyfresh yeah its some new thing and a good thing..

[valarmanwe]

The furthest known object so far are in the order of seven hundred and twenty six thousand, four hundred and forty million million million miles away. Dig that !

[carpe94diem]

"The Cosmos is all that is, ever was, and ever will be." God! this is like a truly inspirational opening to a wonderful series. Im just a high school girl and i was like damn this is really good. The music just added to the ambiance. Textbooks make these things sound boring, but Sagan puts a new twist on it that i really enjoyed.

[anon7652]

Very, very beautiful.

[RJL738]

Something to think or consider, thanks.

[directorwvp2]

Where does the universe end? And at that boundary's end, what's beyond 'it'? I'ze got to know ... can anyone help me? Am I the end of the universe ... or just the beginning? Please ... HELP!!!

[FretArchitect]

Universe doesn't just end. If you go far enough eventually you'll come back to where you started, at least that's the most modern theory now. Nobody knows.

[deathtap]

Don't panic.

*hands a copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*

[TheBandkanon]

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but it seems as if Science and Religion go hand in hand despite their official differences. Both are only base markers for the infinite possibilities of answers on what could be, could not be, and is.

I think the best way to understand science is to also understand religion. That way we'll have a better grip on what values, however wrong or right, all manners of belief may offer to us.

[SierraSyd08]

Star Stuff.. Really, for a such a "smart" guy he couldn't come up with anything better?

[FurryFenNick]

@SierraSyd08

He just simplified the word so that simple minds could understand it.

[EvanMe]

I don't think Mr. Sagan would have approved of all the "Yeah Science! Screw Religion!" talk I keep seeing on videos like these. While he was skeptical about religion, he called himself an Agnostic and denied atheism as being too close-minded. He wisely said that the idea of an omnipotent God could no easier be disproved than it could be proved.

[maurice]

He still wrote Demon-Haunted World, mocking the entire mindset of folks who allow for any possiblity of a whole list of phenomena, some of which there are evidence for (specially concerning the brain).

[Kujien]

@EvanMe He marked himself as an atheist when seti surveyed him.

[Archigearour]

@EvanMe I cannot speak for Mr. Sagan, but I'm almost certain he would be disaprroving of the murderous effect religion has on curiosity, and the search for truth.

[timmay301]

@EvanMe which is true of all fantasms

[Mankysteve]

@EvanMe But he would have disapproved of arguments from ignorance. Which I think is what your getting at we cant prove it does exist therefore it must exist

[EvanMe]

@Mankysteve That's exactly the opposite of what I'm saying. I was saying just because you can't prove something does not mean it DOESN'T exist. That's not the same thing at all.

[mikekoz68]

@EvanMe He never "denied" atheism, he was an atheist as he lacked belief in any gods. Atheism does not say there are no gods, it is only a lack of belief. Agnostism deals with knowledge and not belief

[EvanMe]

@mikekoz68 You'd be wrong in that view. Atheism, according to dictionary(dot)com:

1. the doctrine or belief that there is no god.

2. disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.

[psychosavant]

@EvanMe

Yes, he did describe himself as agnostic, but an agnostic atheist. I have an incredible respect and admiration for Carl Sagan. However, he was incorrect about disproving God. All one needs to disprove any God is some sort of context to disprove him in. Sometimes, the only context one needs is an action taken by that God. For example, if one could prove that the earth is not 6000 years old, one could disprove a God defined in such a context.

[EvanMe]

@psychosavant Actually no, since it is not possible to prove the earth is older than 6,000 years old. Scientific dating procedures can only measure the effects of aging, such as isotope decay. If God is fully omnipotent, he can easily create a universe that has all the physical properties of billions of years of aging without it actually being that old. Really, he would have to, since if he created the universe in a primordial state, it wouldn't have had the qualities necessary for life.

[aetherflow]

@EvanMe Dinosaurs are older than 6000 years.

[kitchenaut]

@EvanMe

So we have two possibilities:

1) the Earth is 4.6 billion years old, given all available scientific evidence.

2) The Earth is 6000 years old but God created it to have the appearance of 4.6 billion years old as a test of faith, or to some unexplainable end, and it would be impossible to emprically build a case for anything as everything is an illusion created by God, whose real nature and intent are only revealed in bronze age scripture.

Which is the more likely explanation?

[EvanMe]

@kitchenaut My entire point is that it would be impossible to build an empirical case for God's existence or creatorship. By definition, a truly omnipotent God would be unbound by any natural law, since he would have created them himself. Therefore no scientific method could either prove or disprove that he exists, since the scientific method requires that what's being examined is subject to the laws of the universe. You can't use science to prove or disprove God because he's non-quantifiable.

[kitchenaut]

@EvanMe

I think his idea of a God is independent of lowly religion, which is just a system of social control by 'divine' revelation, so the sentiment from many posters on this video is still valid. The Cosmos knowing itself through us is about as good a description of God as you'll find anywhere.

[Magnificoooooo]

@EvanMe It's impossible to be an Agnostic and only that, because either you believe in a God(theist) or you don't(agnostic atheist)

[EvanMe]

@Magnificoooooo Agnostics, by definiteion, believe that IF God exists, he is unknowable. They don't inherently believe that he exists or doesn't, only that we'll never know one way or the other.

[Magnificoooooo]

@EvanMe you don't get it, either you BELIEVE ONE EXISTS OR YOU DO NOT.

Is that a hard concept to understand? Being a nontheist is being a nontheist whether you believe there is no God or if you can't prove/don't care either way.

If you don't care or can't make up your mind, then you don't believe in a God, thus you are atheist.

[EvanMe]

@Magnificoooooo I get what you're saying, you're just wrong. An Atheist is someone who actively believes that there is no God. Someone who can't make up their mind whether they believe in one or not is not the same thing as someone who has made up their mind that there isn't one. Look up "Atheist" and "Agnostic" in any dictionary you want. They are not the same thing.

[Magnificoooooo]

@EvanMe Derp, simple logic is fucking difficult for you isn't it? If you do not know, then you do not believe correct? ATHEIST.

Being an agnostic means you've basically given 0 thought on the subject and should just shut the fuck up and not label yourself as retarded as agnostic.

[EvanMe]

@Magnificoooooo I've never encountered someone as determined to prove an inarguably incorrect statement as you. No. Athiests are not people who simply do not believe in God, they are people who actively believe there is no God to believe in. Or any supernatural force. There are religions out there that don't include a God or gods, but different spiritual/philosophical constructs. These people aren't athiests, but they don't believe in God. Atheists believe in the natural, observeable world only.

[EvanMe]

@Magnificoooooo I will not continue to argue this point with you, since you're the one who refuses to educate himself. All you need to do is go to any dictionary or encyclopedia (and there are hundreds of them on the internet) to see that the terms "atheist" and "agnostic" are not synonymous. Whether you personally think they should or shouldn't be is irrelevent; they aren't, and all the petulent whining in the world won't change that.

[brian12934]

@Magnificoooooo That's not true Magnifico. Atheist means you absolutely outright reject a god. Agnostic means that you do not know if there is a god. I am an agnostic and was once an atheist, after much thorough consideration I realized that atheism is as flawed as religion itself. Both depend on an assumption. Agnosticism is equal to openness.

[Magnificoooooo]

@brian12934 I'm aware of the definitions, but do Agnostics believe in a God? Nope, they do not nor do they reject one but not believing in a God makes you A-theist (without theism)

[brian12934]

@Magnificoooooo Bullshit. I think about this shit all the time. Atheism just means absolutely outright reject a god and agnosticism is to keep yourself open.

[Magnificoooooo]

@brian12934 but do agnostics believe in a God?

I didnt think so, simple logic buddy

[truko100]

@Magnificoooooo

In the words of richard dawkins in 2002 at the TED convention. Atheism is a negative and a negative can not be proven. So we turn to agnosticism which is that either can be true but one is less likely. For example we are agnostics to the belief in unicorns. We can not prove they are not real either but it is less likely they are real.

[Magnificoooooo]

@truko100 do you think you're teaching me something? I know what the fuck agnostic and atheist is buddy

[justinsgil185]

You are absolutely wrong, the question you must ask yourself is, do you believe in magic or do you not. By your logic you must also believe that it is possible that leprechauns and vampires exist, because you cannot prove that they do not.

[brian12934]

@justinsgil185 You must ask yourself, where did all of this matter come from anyway? Did it just poof into existence with some....... magic!

When you can tell me a logical reason for matter existing, I will become an atheist 100%.

[IamBread18]

@brian12934 A quantum fluctuation occurred creating equal amounts of positive and negative energy. This positive energy is the energy and matter we are used to, and the negative energy is the energy driving the accelerating expansion of the universe.

There you go. A logical reason for matter existing.

[drutter]

@brian12934

You're already an atheist. I'm just an atheist to one more thing than you are.

[Magnificoooooo]

@EvanMe thats because you can't disprove a negative retard, disprove that there isn't an omnipotent unicorn with bear claws and a 14 light year long dick. YOU CANT DISPROVE IT CAN U?!?!

[EvanMe]

@Magnificoooooo No more so than I can disprove the notion that, at some point in recent history, someone gave internet access to bridge trolls.

[Sk82beast]

@Eva There must be made a distinction between strong and weak atheism. Agnosticism states that truth value of claims like "God exists" can't be found. But the truth value of even a statement like "Carl Sagan exists" can't be found. Rather, it needs to be though of in terms of probability. Given science, the history of religion, and the pro and against arguments as well as the sheer number of religions, just as plausible, makes the probability of any particular form of the unfalsifiable unlikely.

[Sk82beast]

By the way, modern cosmology tells us that the universe having an "edge" is extremely unlikely.

[gynecolog1st]

@EvanMe It's the internet, what else do you expect other than bed-wetting liberals, who hate religion(as long as it's Christianity) and white people.

[1478bismark]

the COSMOS is all there is, or there was, there will be...

[dehtrim1]

He was sooo far ahead of his time. May his soul travel through the cosmos forever.

[walter0bz]

such a great inspiration - sagan lives on !!

[danilovsky22]

Simply the best!

[calvinhobbesliker]

"in the last few millenia we have discovered.." actually, it's only in the last about 500 years when science finally won out over the evil, stupid, christian church about the earth not being the center of the universe

[Geeeeoheffeff]

@calvinhobbesliker Well there was a few millenia before the dark ages when things were looking just grand. Have you ever heard of the Antikythera mechanism?

[Baconator96]

@calvinhobbesliker Were you molested by a christian church as a child?

[JacobPhilipRenae]

@calvinhobbesliker The church was only powerful from about the establishment of the holy roman empire in 800 CE until the publication of Newton's Principia in 1687. For thousands of years prior, the civilizations of the romans, greeks, egyptians, babylonians, indians, and chinese were all making valuable and significant discoveries and realizations about our universe. And even *during* that period, the chinese, indians, byzantines, and arabs remained unoppressed and scientifically active.

[calvinhobbesliker]

science>religion! :)

[RationalEmotive]

Often when I feel alone, desperate, alienated or simply pissed off, I think of the images of the Cosmos series and Sagan's smile which tells me that there is no reason to be afraid.

Many people have seen "Cosmos" but every human being should have the opportunity to watch it and watch it again in times of trouble or just for pure enjoyment.

The amazing thing is that the world according to "Cosmos" is actually the real thing, daily life however is only a very thin layer over vast nature.

[threedotsdead]

Excellent quality.

[HeroesFail]

You are missed deeply, Carl. His elegant and poetic way of explaining the cosmos is enlightening, and, dare I say, is enough to bring tears to my eyes.

[TheLovePizza]

Thank you so much for this.

Listening to Carl Sagan can quite easily trump any religious experience.

[xyrlocshammypants]

Bishop Carl Sagan?

[TheLovePizza]

I was thinking more along the lines of grand pontiff, or pope.