Carl Sagan on the pre-socratic philosophers (part 1)

[noledgewise1]

Imagine smoking Skywalker Cush with this guy?? Fuuuuuck what a trip!!

[ChrisN3992]

Gotta love the hinting at about 2:05 that Anaximander is still alive...

[TheLostStory45]

recently i watched carl sagan part 7 and the speech touched me so much i couldnt help but tell all my frieds because its true. we as humans have grown to kill other humans unlike any other speices in the past, but weve also gone into new frontiers, explored the galaxy and made techonolgies to save lives, i had already heard pale blue dot before that via story of the year, carl sagan is someone that is my hero, he may have had a script i don't know. but he is a voice i wont forgot.

[mingblack]

Wait.. He is talking about 500-300 BC and that one greek man used a stick to determine the length of the year. Humans have been around for tens of thousands of years and have known about that. Check out the Mayans. This video is outdated. Carl would have not said any of this had he been alive today.

[mingblack]

@mingblack

Humans have a bad habit of knowing something... then forgetting it..

[mingblack]

@mingblack

Agreed.

[AsMat1983]

@mingblack ''Carl would have not said any of this'!?

Carl is also talking about the evolution theory, the atomic theory the first calculation of the circumference of the earth (mayans believed the earth was flat and that it had four corners ) and all these things the ionians first discovered. And you have stuck in the damn stick?? If it is the race matter that bothers you ,don't worry, the ionians were a little bit dark-skinned and would had propably been executed by the nazi's today

[mingblack]

@AsMat1983

Haha, not about skin color or anything like that. Put it this way, the Chinese civilizations, very smart and logical people, go back 6,000 years. Do you really believe they thought the world was flat throughout that entire people. I know our history books like to give credit to certain people and time periods, but how come you believe that no one knew the truth when people living on this planet can see the shape of the sun and the moon is spherical .

[70k3r74m35]

If you told Carl he was a great man he would reply by saying that to suggest such a thing is to completely miss the point. The point is, Carl continues, is that we are all great people, it s what we do with that greatness that counts.

[MrShoeguy]

Get that democrats?

0:06 Political power was in the hands of the merchants who promoted the technology on which their prosperity depended. The earliest pioneers of science were merchants & artisans.

Of course being mentally ill you know that never happens anymore.

[hoosiergambler]

@MrShoeguy

dude wtf are you getting at? why do you direct your comment at democrats? how do make a connection to right/left politics, especially in a context of more than 2,000 years ago?

[paulroxx]

@hoosiergambler quote miners, dude.

[quobcake]

One of the greatest men of the 20th century...



[Bulloxe4]

He had such an unusual way of talking

[westnblu]

3. 18 thats funny them impressive walls r crumbling under carl sagans feet!! haha theres no 'do not walk on these stones' signs anywhere? LOL

[zieben64]

6:08 This is the so called water-bong.

[zcaramouche]

Shakespeare in Julius Caesar (Act V.sc. v) about Sagan:

His life was gentle, and the elements

So mixted in him, that Nature might stand up

and say to all the world, "This was a man!"

[CRISNCHIPS12398]

Sagan was an intellectual beast.

[cyagnusxi]

over where? he was born over where?

[branko1408]

I think that his view on Greek philosophy is biased through the prism of modern science.

[altimita]

lol.. so just because we see it as natural forces suddenly means there is no God? are you f'n kidding me?

[Pilaf1984]

@altimita It doesn't mean there definitely isn't one, but it removes the necessity of one. There MIGHT be a magical leprechaun who turns on your light when you flick the light switch, but the electrical wiring explains it so sufficiently the leprechaun needn't exist.

[44eelz]

u know, this video wouldnt play so slow if there wernt so many goddamn advertisements on all over the screen

[DoctorNociceptor]

Darn people suppressing the Ionians!

[acerb45666555]

i see no reason why the religious would fear science because one could say that if the Creator made the earth and all upon it, then that includes the evolutionary processes as well. all gods plan!

[caesiume]

holy shit those greeks were damn smart

[kepler101]

I love the how there is soo much classical music on this show. This clip had Bach's Air on a G string and Debussy's Des pas sur la neige ( footprints in the snow) near the end.

[WOWJBEOWULF]

Science: doctrine, procedures, standards, guidelines, policy, ways & means, inventions, discoveries, writings & readings, methods & methodology, advancement, refinement, improvement, betterment, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, councils, truth, facts: Science is most defined with the doctrine that proscribes the methodology and proper ways & means, with mechanical and computer technology the science is also defined by standards, as truth is relative to the standard and this is named fact.

[DreamsofMajesty]

scribd (dot) com/nb812

[OuroborosChoked]

Man, if Cosmos could be remastered in HD, it would look AMAZING. Too bad the film stock will probably prevent that from happening...

[ankevson]

@OuroborosChoked yeah I would probably buy the complete series if that happens though

[skydome29]

The pre-socratics were well before time. I still wonder why they are not as celebrated as their predecessors.

[DoubleDutchBust]

4:44

Thepracticalandthetheoreticalw­ew1t

Virginiadidleavenotebutididnot­readit

Thepracticalandthetheoreticalw­ew1t

4:44signed: nut case in a second-1t

[mergus]

3:00 Oh my God, Carl Sagan can teleport!

[LucMoustache1]

J'aime ,ill like it verry much Luc Clymans

[rsronetube16]

I didn't investigate full comments prior but..

I saved this post some time back on my page, & through time when combing my page to review\enjoying\sharing my findings with friends, the still image of this particular favoured continued to stick out because of the chosen still frame of the video(C. Sagan still taken from video. now whether a case of coincidence or deliberate intent i raise this question\comment to the poster of this "SirNewt" & as well as others whom may have noticed this.

[SirNewt]

@rsronetube16 complete coincidence. I haven't specifically chosen stills for any of these videos. BTW, to all, I do plan on posting the rest of the series. I've been crazy busy the past couple years though with no sign of slowing down so I have no idea when I'll get to it.

[Knossos22]

@rsronetube16

As I understand YouTube uses the middle frame of a video to be the still image... Someone figured it out and did a video on how to place one image at the exact middle of a video and so you can then have any still image you want... except in the middle of your video will be this image, that will be out of place. Slide shows can get away with it...

[pervertedmind]

Hahaha, the mountain. I remember that.

[kevinmatthewjones]

Soursourapples you are right the Greeks had an economy based upon slave labour, like most of the ancient civilisations.The great feats of engineering were carried out by slave labour and mathematical and scientific discoveries were a by product of this system. During the Dark Ages, accountancy and book keeping were developed things which really came in to play once Protestantism blew Eurpoe apart (hard to put a definite date on this, but the end of the Thirty Years War is a good place to start)

[Vildasnaga]

man, i am so utterly blown away at how close to the truth those ancient scientists were. Atomic theory,evolution, earths shape and size...

Had their civilization not collapsed, where would we be now? If we hadn't have had to rediscover all the things they already knew?

[soursourapples]

we never rediscovered these ideas, Greek materialism has been with us since Aquinas, and Platonism (and therefore the pre-socratics) has been with us even before that (300AD).

Also they may still have not been technologically advanced, because the increase in technology is a result of capatilism and therefore a result of protestantism.

jerk.

[Vildasnaga]

...i can only assume you're joking man, because that made me laugh hard.

Technological advancement linked to Capitalism? And that to protestantism?

And all this somehow having any smidge of truth or relevance at all?] with the subject?

Also, its a tad bit late to go on appearing to be smart when you just said the ladell trick was fake...

[soursourapples]

yeh why don't you look it up. you think i honestly thought carl sagan was pulling a camera trick? i have one of those ladels at home. you new atheists have no sense of humour. i am an atheist as well, but not a fucking dork.

look into any sociological book about geneology of capitalism and you will see i'm right. start with Max Weber. or even economics for dummies.

[Vildasnaga]

...aand the fool has spoken yet again. Please if you cant man up to being wrong dont try to say you were joking all the time (just makes you look more stupid)

Also, i couldnt give a damn what you are, you seem to think atheism is a club of some sort, hate to break it to you sweetheart but all that means is you dont believe in a god, you're free to a a moron too (as youve so clearly demonstrated for us)

[soursourapples]

well why not google protestant work ethic and capitalism, i dont have to man up at all, YOU need to just click on google, it doesn't have to be wikipedia. its a fact.

what is more of a fact is that technology has arisen because of capitalism. im not getting this off fuckin infowars, this is common knowlege.

research for 5 minutes and come back, and dont just copy and paste from wikipedia in the criticism section of max weber's protestant work ethic and the rise of capitalism.

[soursourapples]

hate to break it to you but you spend all your time losing on magic the gathering. au revoir!

[MrPontiusPilate]

@soursourapples

You're so naive.

[soursourapples]

you must be right

[MagicMalky]

and they got just about everything from the ancient sumerians

[soursourapples]

his demonstration with the ladell is nothing but camera trickery. notice how the camera never shows the act of holding the thumb on top and the water in the same shot. this is just hocus pocus. science indeed!

[seanmd80]

Are you kidding me? He shows the water and the thumb at 6:56!

[soursourapples]

@seanmd80

simple animatronics

[seanmd80]

You are deluded. You can try this yourself at home, it's not magic. Besides, what ulterior motive would Sagan have to fool us? Does he secretly believe that air *doesn't* exist?

[soursourapples]

@seanmd80

water just CANT do that. it defies the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Sagan was the David Blaine of his time, trying to make rational people believe in reason. Pure voodoo.

[Vildasnaga]

Spoken like a true neanderthal.

Now go back to your dark and dank cave or ignorance and stupidity and let the grown ups talk.

[nickharvey7]

This was a great series by Carl Sagan!!

[mikenubian]

Air on a G String by J S Bach

[Icubaybee]

whats the name of the classical piece in the back ground at 5:20?

[rudenoodle]

You can make a throne of swords, but you can't sit on top of it for very long...

[oggecool]

Yes you can. If you have enough of them.

[ItalianBandit]

or if you like things up your bumb tehhehe

[acerb45666555]

the Intellectual and the Warrior..........yes i know, warriors are rough and can be unbearable. but the Intelligentsia cannot survive with Warriors manning the castle walls of our society. but, on the other hand, Warriors need the Intelligentsia or they would still be wearing chainmail freezing theyre asses off around a campire!

[acerb45666555]

can you imagine one of the failed Bush dynasty trying to keep up with someone like Sagan!! that would be great comedy! .......we need superior brains like Sagans in Ottawa and Washington!

[guitarspeare]

@acerb45666555 yep we are stuck with shyster lawyers and snake oil business men. We need a good scientist with a command of economics, or A Doctor with a passion for business managment. No more LAwyers in congress or the white house..

[Athenaikos]

Thank you Carl Sagan; your enthusiasm and energy is ever lasting.

[neothomist1275]

"The early Greek philosophers, some of them still poets, could imagine the vast process of nature producing and dissolving all forms of life, without giving man any special privilege or any special blame...This was the philosophy of the true philosophers...(before) the philosophers scattered into sects." -- George Santayana

[mytimetravellingdog]

why are people like sagen not used to help teach science in schools today.

i ended up choosing to move into the arts despte being good at science. i wasnt inspired by my science teachers as much as i was by my english teachers i wonder how that might have changed if i had read/watched/been inspired by people like sagen and their works

[nlytend1]

that's true, carl got me interested in science as well. i got more from watching cosmos, than from science classes that are way to focused w/ testing and memorizing facts. w/ carl, there is a history behind science and that makes it more meaningful.

[TrisBob92]

Ditto for James Burke:  There is a science behind history.

[maiwandwal]

Carl Sagan u r sadly missed

we need ppl like u to take us forth into another level

[alagon]

nice

[UpNFamish]

We owe the ancient Greeks so much!!!

[ameroffsky]

True we owe a great deal to Ancient Greece as it was the birthplace of Western Civilisation.

Also, besides Egypt and Babylon, the Greeks owed something to their neighbours the Phoenicians, who were among the first major merchant mariners, developed and transmitted the modern alphabet, and whose DNA survives among the people of Modern Lebanon and, to some extent, Modern Syria.

[UpNFamish]

True.But the ancient Greeks were the most curious n imaginative. Their deep desire to understand Nature is still astonishing us all !!!

[KonstantineTheGreat1]

indeed we do.

[SeanBurtonR]

@UpNFamish  Aristotle we could have been with out....don't hassle me... i just don't like traditional western thinking, the aristocracy.

[XXGDUBSXX]

@UpNFamish Only a few of them.

[UpNfamish2]

@XXGDUBSXX The few most important--Ancient Greek Most Curious Minds about the Nature Gave Rise to our Present Day Science Based Civilization.

[XXGDUBSXX]

@UpNfamish2 Of course, though Im not sure what you are referring to by "our". Perhaps we would be better off as a Pilosophicallly based civilization answering the "why's" rather then always the "how's"

[UpNfamish2]

@XXGDUBSXX I forget to mention our Modern Science based Civilizations also need our John Locke type Governments.Again Western Philosophy was based on Ancient Greek Curious Minds about Human Nature and the best forms of Government based on that.Only Religious countries like Saudi Arabia n Iran n some others are based on Theocracy.

[XXGDUBSXX]

@UpNfamish2 What are the best forms of government?

[makedonas86]

0:40 ??? Does somebody know where this is on Google maps???

[richiebabe24]

Pythagorio, on the island of Samos.

[mohfoz77]

EXCELLENT.

CARL SAGAN was the wise man of the 20th century.

he is an inspiration for us. We miss him dearly.

[rayunseitig]

This is a nice video. I'm really not sure who Carl Segan was.

[Quarter32]

Look up Carl Sagan on Youtube, aside from hundreds of program clips there are many speakers talking about who he was and what he did.

[Galaxiaproductions]

what a great man

[mugge321]

Sagan not segan, but i give u 5 stars for the upload.

Love his new yorker accent and slow teacher voice that instill zen and calmness.

May he be reborn as a zen-master, which he was in a way.

[SirNewt]

How in the bullocks did that happen!? Seriously, look at all my other videos, ughh! I'll fix it.

[OsvaldoPaese]

Thanks for posting! Very interesting. I wish we'd have the ambition that the Greeks had.

[wnsyipsp]

This video should be shown to those who believe that science was only possible by the influence of Christianity.

[LothairApoclyane]

I've never heard of anyone believing that..

[wnsyipsp]

I wish I hadn't either. It's a view taken by a lot of Christian apologists.

[SirNewt]

An interesting topic, no doubt. The Renaissance is probably when Western technology went from being merely divergent from other civilizations to being superior. The Renaissance was birthed out of Reformation the Reformation, out of new systematic theologies. The Apostle Paul as half Roman and living in a Greek speaking world argued according to a Socratic method. It is possible that after hundreds of years Greek didactics were revived through the New Testament works of Paul, though dubious.

[SaintSanic]

Christianity is one of the most arrogant and hypocritical religions I have ever seen. Let's not bring it up?

[SirNewt]

And why not? It is an interesting topic. Why did Europe explode in science, mathematics, and music while much of the rest of the world plateaued. Could it have to do with Calvin's and Luther's radical rethinking of Theology? Their writings are very logical and scientific though based on the flaw of taking a single book as perfect truth. Religion was the cornerstone of that culture. Logic prevailing there, could help it prevail everywhere.

How you feel about Christianity is irrelevant.

[Aegialeus]

SirNewt

Sorry but you have all your dates and facts wrong. Renaissance was given birth in Tuscany from Florence out of the decline of Byzantium and eventual fall of Constantinople as the Muslim Seljuk Turks conquered it. Greek scholars started leaving before the fall along with there libraries from the East to Florence. Constantinople before it's fall was the greatest city this side of India to the Atlantic at the time. Venetian accounts is testament to this.

1/R

[Aegialeus]

SirNewt

Carolingian Renaissance started taking root earlier in Northern Europe, from limited Greek works starting to be translated into Latin along with some Latin works that had survived from the Churches book burning parties. Also there was the influence of the limited works Greek works that survived from Muslim book burning parties out of Cordoba, no plays or any literature, ltd. philosophy & no classical arts came of Cordoba but plenty of the sciences did also Persian & Indian works too.

2/R

[Aegialeus]

SirNewt

Of the three the Italian Renaissance was the one that took Europe by storm and gave the Age of Enlightenment the final push it needed, for it to become the glorious age that it became.

By the way Thank-you for uploading Cosmos.

3/R

[SirNewt]

Really interesting stuff there, thanks. You've made me realize how little I actually know about the Renaissance. I'm checking out the Wiki page right now.  BTW in case some of you are wondering, more Cosmos is coming. I even have a whole episode encoded and ready to go up but I've been moving and won't have internet at home for another week.

[marsCubed]

Thank you very much for all the Cosmos you upload SirNewt. It makes the world into a better place that such scintillating and elucidating information is on the web for all to share.

[RideMyBMW]

"This video should be shown to those who believe that science was only possible by the influence of Christianity." - wn

It was. Had it not been for Christianity, all you eggheads would be carpet kissing towelheads today. We battled the islams for 700 years for a reason you gimp!

[ElectricBishop]

Why do you think our number system is known as "Arabic Numbers"... and why are so many Arabic references used for naming celestial bodies.. Just read some literature that has survived Cristian censorship. Enough time on you. bye. enjoy eternity, especially towards the end.

[logosthedestroyer]

The words of a true Christian

[SaintSanic]

You know the "Islams" were leading in science and technology those days, correct? Banks, surgery, hospitals, etc. And we invaded their country because we wanted their land, they posed no threat to us. We were the dishonorable ones, breaking treaties massacring their people. Even after we had gone to war with them they still let the Christians come into their lands unharmed if they were on a pilgrimage. Do not post something if you dont know what you are talking about. The crusades were horrid.

[croscream]

That is all wrong. No such thing ever happened.

[Slaverevolt]

Take the 12 steps to freedom challenge

watch?v=dieHB2wlYlg&feature=us­er

Help open some eyes

[redmark2007]

SirNewt: Great post! Thank you...

[PureLiberalChallenge]

Zeus bless the ancient Greeks!

[PureLiberalChallenge]

Philosophy and science, theory and practice, are one! At least they are when the philosophy and theory are good and true.

Zeus bless the early ancient Greeks!

[URSExelcior]

If the Universe had a ruler, Sagan would definitely be on the list. Maybe second to Chuck Norris.

[leslielove]

i love this show back ion the 80s since 1982

[YOGHDT]

With respect to Archemedis, if he was killed by the Romans, then he could have been a "pre-Socratic" philosopher/scientist, because the Romans didn't rise to their heights until AFTER "classical" Greece had declined greatly... with Hypatia being one of the last great Greek scientists (under Roman jurisdiction in Alexandria), a beautiful single woman, to the end,,,, imagine that,,, yes, Sagan's right: if I could go back in time, Hypatia would be one of the few I would like to meet or observe...

[YOGHDT]

sorry, meant to say "He could NOT have been a "pre-socratic philosopher/scientist"...

[SirNewt]

yes but this isn't abour archemedis

[SirNewt]

Actually, they chopped his head off with a sword.

[HenryDavidThoreauII]

"For ages, men had used sticks to club and spear each other. Aneximander used the stick to measure time." That's one of the most simplistic and profound scripting there ever is! And, then, who was that guy who was SPEARED, supposedly at the beach, when the Romans came upon him, with him being so busing contemplating on his sand activity, rendering him not able to listen to or hear what those barbaric Romans were screaming about?! LOL

[JaboCelt]

Are you thinking of Archimedis who was busy contemplating a mathematical diagram? Legend goes, as he was killed, his last words were "do not disturb my circles!"

[YOGHDT]

Yes, I think that was he... I think there's some silly/not-so-silly survey which put him just right behind Newton and Einstein, as one of the greatest scientists of all times...