One of Carl Sagan's most pertinent messages for humanity

"Those worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the Earth. Each of those worlds is as real as ours. In every one of them, there's a sucsession of incidence, events, occurences which influence its future. Countless worlds, numberless moments, an immensity of space and time. And our small planet, at this moment, here we face a critical branch-point in the history. What we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization, and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidty we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissaince. But, we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet. To enhance enormously our understanding of the Universe, and to carry us to the stars." Carl Sagan explains the immensity of space and time. This clip is from Carl Sagan's Cosmos episode 8, "Journeys in Space and Time."

• Category

  Science & Technology

[SanduskysFinest]

I am a believer in Christ, but to anyone who else is that claims this guy is an idiot or otherwise is way lost. This man was wise and is correct in many aspects, my religious faith does not conflict with realization of how important science is in our journey of life. Just as my faith in science does not conflict with my belief in Christ. Many questions are unanswered with both subjects, but the truth in both will grow as we all do. May God bless and science advance!

[Teslagirl7]

Faith =  gullibility. If you have faith, you have a mindset which allows you to believe anything without proof. How is that good?

The religious comments in here just hightlight how much we need interstellar travel. With it we can build enlightened new cultures throughout the galaxy whilst leaving the faithful behind on Earth to wage holy war on each other and sink into the mediaeval chaos they seem to crave. At least without science they'll never be a threat to us.

[PivotalGreatthing]

But (after a few more swigs of coffee)... in addition, Richard Dawkins himself said that on a scale of 1-7 where 7 is complete atheism, he would place himself at 6.5... Which, by most definitions, describes an agnostic. Honestly, I myself prefer that title, as it (mostly) prevents theists from starting mudslinging contests.

[PivotalGreatthing]

*what the method can infer

Woosh, I can tell my coffee's wearing off...

[PivotalGreatthing]

Thus, it *cannot* be disproven. Even if we know 100% of our existence, we cannot *know* that we've hit that maximum point. 'Religiotards', as you so eloquently put it, will claim a 101% that changes everything. Fantasy, if that is what it turns out to be, escapes that which the scientific method can imply.

[PivotalGreatthing]

Right, there IS zero evidence as of now, as there most likely always will be. What I speak of counts for a mere fraction of a percentage of a chance (say, .000001, if even that). However, some theories suggest that different universes may follow different laws of physics. My comment points out more that faith is convenient, in that it constantly escapes scientific reasoning as reason grows. (cont'd)

[CONTRA449]

Stop reading the cue cards Carl! lol

[myra6312]

You're thinking scepticism, perhaps? Sagan was not a jaded cynic.

[garfieldmircea2006]

Pls go read what cynicism means. Also... it is the only way to venture to the stars.

[garfieldmircea2006]

Who fed you this shit about what atheism is or what it stands for? Let me guess... the religious nuts.

What atheism does is not claim to disprove the existence of a "start" for all things, what atheism does is disprove the idiotic perception of such a thing being able to directly alter the laws of physics by it's own liking(which is what the religiotards believe in, in a nutshell) and all the horrendous claims that its followers make based on ZERO evidence.

[2CSST2]

Having faith in science is a stupid comment. It shows a misunderstanding of what is science exactly. Good for the positiveness behind the idea and with the hope and all that. But the stupidity part is not good at all, which is part of Sagan's message. The current best rated comment shows how much stupidity hangs no matter how much illuminated people as Sagan come by and try to diminish it calmly