The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark in The Transition Movement

May 03, 2014 David Rubenstein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science

This is a marvelous book about the consequences of a population being scientifically illiterate. There are numerous consequences, all of them bad. Most notably, the growth of superstitious beliefs can lead to terrifying witch hunts that grow and grow, leaving a broad trail of torture, execution, mass hysteria and paranoia. Interestingly, Carl Sagan holds up science and democracy as mutually supporting concepts. He cites Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson as examples of l This is a marvelous book about the consequences of a population being scientifically illiterate. There are numerous consequences, all of them bad. Most notably, the growth of superstitious beliefs can lead to terrifying witch hunts that grow and grow, leaving a broad trail of torture, execution, mass hysteria and paranoia. Interestingly, Carl Sagan holds up science and democracy as mutually supporting concepts. He cites Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson as examples of literacy, and science literacy in particular, for supporting democracy. This concept is developed further by Timothy Ferris' excellent book, The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature.

Sagan spends a lot of time explaining the reported sightings of UFO's and aliens. I particularly enjoyed this passage: "Occasionally, I get a letter from someone who is in 'contact' with extraterrestrials. I am invited to 'ask them anytheng.' And so over the years I've prepared a little list of questions. The extraterrestrials are very advanced, remember. So I ask things like, 'Please provide a short proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.' ... I never get an answer. On the other hand, if I ask something like 'Should we be good?' I almost always get an answer."

Sagan also quotes many of the letters that he received, some hilarious, and others quite sad. For example, a tenth-grader wrote, "Our society is doing just fine with what discoveries we are making. It's going slowly, but the cure for cancer is coming right along." A parent wrote, "The problem in science education is that God isn't sufficently honored." Concerning UFO's, "I'm going to lobby my Representative to try to cancel funds for this program of listening for alien signals from space, because it would be a waste of money. They're already among us."

Sagan has some interesting approaches for making science more interesting. He claims that since many kids are interested in sports, there is a wealth of science concepts to teach related to sports. Probability, winning streaks, ballistics, angular momentum, and center of mass are all useful concepts.

Even though this book was published eighteen years ago, it is just as relevant today, as when it was written. In fact, the growth of pseudo-science is still rampant, and scary (thinking about anti-vaccine campaigns, climate-change deniers, exorcism, astrology, ESP, and anti-environmentalism.) Sagan is famous for "popularizing" science, but he writes that it isn't an easy task. For example, a deep understanding of quantum mechanics really does require about 15 years of study of mathematics and physics, and quantum theory is "so resolutely counterintuitive." But an esoteric religion may require a similar degree of study before acquiring a deep understanding. So, how are religions any different from quantum mechanics, when they are both equally mysterious? The first difference, Sagan explains, is that quantum theory works; it makes extremely accurate predictions that can be observed and measured. The second difference, is that religions are "infallible" and rely on faith, while science advances and relies on experience--it never stands still. ...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Brad rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: skepticism, atheism, political, science

If Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion is a nuclear bomb in the atheist arsenal, Carl Sagan's The Demon-haunted World is an anti-personnel mine.

Where Dawkins goes for maximum destruction, piling the misery and mockery on those he's battling, Sagan doesn't even acknowledge his enemy. The Demon-haunted World poses, instead (and very effectively), as a book in defense of skepticism, a book persuading the unskeptical to embrace reason in the form of open-mindedness, the pursuit of evidence, and a thir If Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion is a nuclear bomb in the atheist arsenal, Carl Sagan's The Demon-haunted World is an anti-personnel mine.

Where Dawkins goes for maximum destruction, piling the misery and mockery on those he's battling, Sagan doesn't even acknowledge his enemy. The Demon-haunted World poses, instead (and very effectively), as a book in defense of skepticism, a book persuading the unskeptical to embrace reason in the form of open-mindedness, the pursuit of evidence, and a thirst for asking questions of everything.

To this end, Sagan takes on some of his favourite topics -- witch burning, demonic possession, science illiteracy, repressed memories, psychology, parapsychology, superstitions, UFOs and alien encounters -- and pokes at them with his skeptical stick to show us how a good skeptic (or good scientist) gets to the heart of an issue. He offers lessons in detecting fallacy (or "baloney," to use Sagan's technical term) and how to avoid it in our own arguments. He make a case for the importance of being skeptical of ourselves, our leaders, and our most cherished beliefs.

And underneath it all is a carefully mounted attack on theism. Sagan avoids detonating his explosives himself. He piles the dirt and camouflage on his landmine, hiding it with the skill of an old campaigner. He offers supposedly clear paths through the field, hoping that more than one will unwittingly trip the explosives and blow their belief systems to pieces.

I wonder, though, if Sagan's plan is too subtle to really make a difference. I wonder if Dawkins' preference for arguments of mass destruction is more effective. I felt like a sapper in Sagan's minefield. Aware or the landmines, appreciating their design, loving the patterns in which they were laid, but certain that most of Sagan's targeted personnel would simply wander through the field, unscathed, beneficiaries of their own dumb luck.

Whether Sagan's weapons have taken any theist casualities or not, it is a wonderful book about skepticism. A wonderful reminder to be ever vigilant. A book I can't wait to pass on to my children.

But it also made me just a little sad. I wish he'd been around when the Patriot Act was drafted. His voice would have been an important voice of dissent, and perhaps the USA wouldn't be as deep in the shit as they are. ...more

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Jul 05, 2019 Michael Jandrok rated it it was amazing

So if we take the Wayback Machine to the year 1995, you will find me out of college, working as an operations manager in retail despite my lofty aspirations to anthropology and later, nursing, as career choices. But I had a family to support, and the money was good even if the hours really sucked. What the hell does that have to do with this review? Well, I was involved in an awful lot of hiring and firing decisions when I worked for Foley’s (later Macy’s), and I noticed something interesting. M ...more

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Dec 29, 2016 Barbara rated it it was amazing

I love Carl Sagan and his writing but, though he's offering new insights to me and suggesting arguments I can use to help others, I am already of the converted. It's true that we believers in the scientific method still benefit from being preached to - it keeps our spirits up and keeps me, for instance, harassing AGW denialist policitians. But Carl Sagan is not for them - they couldn't handle the cognitive dissonance even if they could get through such a long book.

On a more personal level, being ...more

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Feb 02, 2009 Amanda L rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, yay-science, philosophy-once, current-affairs, astro, 2009

Sagan makes an elaborate case for the tendency of culture (particularly American) away from science with pseudoscience and articles of faith without evidence filling the role instead. He argues that this is ultimately destructive and that we especially must be concerned about those in positions of power who lack an adherence to the truth and facts. Perhaps, when reading between the lines, he makes a case for cultural de-evolution and the apparent diminishing of intelligence and inquiry with each ...more

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