A Warning From Carl Sagan on Scientific Ignorance

Published On: January 1, 2014
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Views: 1999

ClimateCrocks.com: Just before his death, Carl Sagan warned us about the perils of a technological society where fewer and fewer people know, or care, what science says.

Related Isaac Asimov on the Greenhouse Effect

About the Author: Chris Machens

Chris Machens
Chris covers the broad spectrum of climate change, and the solutions, with the focus on the sciences. Climate State – we endorse data, facts, empirical evidence.
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    MEJ0RVIDⒶ
    MEJ0RVIDⒶ
    December 13, 2013 4:46 PM

    totally agree… so many warnings and ppl tend to ignore them… science
    became the new god. a nice quote:
    Life would again have to make superhuman efforts, “as in a battle”, to
    break open for himself a path through the truths created by the sciences
    which dream of being but cannot see it in waking reality
    ― Lev Shestov

    Mari Thomas
    Mari Thomas
    December 13, 2013 6:08 PM

    Extremely interesting and some of the same things have been concerning me
    for a while :/ .. I feel like we are approaching a tipping point on this
    issue :(
    via upworthy
    http://www.upworthy.com/a-science-icon-died-17-years-ago-in-his-last-interview-he-made-a-warning-that-gives-me-goosebumps-5?c=ufb1

    Muse TD
    Muse TD
    December 13, 2013 6:41 PM

    This is so true. Listen and fully understand it.

    Mark Collins
    Mark Collins
    December 13, 2013 8:29 PM

    Everything we do is linked by technology with science being the backbone.
    Unfortunately few in congress care to support or know much about it.
    Cuts to NASA and the National Science Foundation are part of the problem
    Carl Sagan warned about nearly twenty years ago. Great interview by CBS’s
    Charlie Rose. #twt

    Borislav Batchiyski
    Borislav Batchiyski
    December 13, 2013 9:28 PM

    A giant of human thought predicting 2013 in 1996.

    TheCreativeNuisance
    TheCreativeNuisance
    December 13, 2013 10:18 PM

    What a great man.

    Desertphile
    Desertphile
    December 13, 2013 11:20 PM

    Four “thumbs down” for this video?! That exactly shows what the problem is.

    Ronin Dave
    Ronin Dave
    December 14, 2013 12:21 AM

    industrialist elites will use any technique in order to continue reaping
    profit until they no longer can or are chastise by society and made to
    stop. With the latter they will use and abuse religion, science,
    philosophy, general ignorance to delay and obfuscate society’s ability to
    stop their damaging practices.

    Roger Powell
    Roger Powell
    December 14, 2013 12:41 AM

    Shortly before he died seventeen years ago, Dr Carl Sagan was interviewed
    about the drastic need for science education in a world which depends
    entirely on science but where so many people are scientifically indifferent.

    I do not think the situation has improved, either here in Australia or in
    America. The indifference to science manifests itself as ignorance, often
    leading to opposition and contempt.

    The prophets of religion got it mostly wrong but Carl Sagan was always
    right.

    Luciano Santos
    Luciano Santos
    December 14, 2013 1:25 AM

    Carl Sagan and government.

    Tyler Thrash
    Tyler Thrash
    December 14, 2013 1:43 AM

    Carl Sagan on a more scientific government, and society.

    The Most Interesting Man in the World
    The Most Interesting Man in the World
    December 14, 2013 2:25 AM

    Predicted? What’s true now about what he said that wasn’t in 1996 when he
    said it?

    Mark Boyer
    Mark Boyer
    December 14, 2013 4:26 AM

    He hit everything right on the head…especially about the skeptical on
    what is told by others

    jiberish001
    jiberish001
    December 14, 2013 4:43 AM

    You can see, in the comments here, people affected by the very thing he was
    trying to warn about.
    Those with extreme ignorance of science are easily duped into fearing said
    science and blaming it on problems that don’t exist. And so when someone
    comes along to ensure them that they will fix those problems they gullibly
    accept this ‘help.’

    Fringe Elements
    Fringe Elements
    December 14, 2013 6:21 AM

    “The republicans have just abolished their own office of technology
    assessment”

    That’s probably a good thing.

    Sam Barnhouse
    Sam Barnhouse
    December 14, 2013 6:28 AM

    One might say.. Prophetic.

    via +Upworthy

    SonikForce
    SonikForce
    December 14, 2013 7:42 AM

    Dr. Sagan was absolutely right. And you can see it today – American
    politics, culture, and economies have not been able to keep up the rate of
    scientific and technological advancement. Have we reached a tipping point?
    Perhaps this is the reason why the fervently religious seem crazier than
    ever, why some people are so drawn to the past, and why some are afraid of
    the future.

    I think this can – and will – change. All we need to do is educate.

    Gabriele Santilli
    Gabriele Santilli
    December 14, 2013 10:59 AM

    “… otherwise we don’t run the government, the government runs us.”

    spacereject
    spacereject
    December 14, 2013 1:37 PM

    “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to
    criticize.”

    Efstratios Filippidis - TheUndogmatic Thinker
    Efstratios Filippidis - TheUndogmatic Thinker
    December 14, 2013 7:02 PM

    In his last interview, CARL SAGAN predicted the DANGEROUS MIX between
    POWERFUL TECHNOLOGY and people’s deep IGNORANCE ABOUT SCIENCE and their
    incapability to elect representatives capable of making wise decisions
    about what direction science and technology should advance.

    Carl Sagan and Government_ Charlie Rose.wmv

    William Brine
    William Brine
    December 14, 2013 8:46 PM

    Prescient words from wisdom passed too soon. I think the technologies we
    are seeing today would delight and terrify Sagan.

    h/t +Casey McKinnon

    Andy Standfield
    Andy Standfield
    December 14, 2013 9:43 PM

    Next week, Carl Sagan will have been dead for 18 years. His last televised
    interview was with Charlie Rose, and it was amazing.

    Throughout his career, Carl consistently had one clear vision and his
    endeavors as a popularizer of science were actually only a means to try to
    make his vision a reality.

    His message was always that knowledge is the most important tool for
    freedom, peace, and fulfillment of humankind’s true potential. That was his
    vision: to see humankind rise above it’s pettiness and become something
    greater than it ever had been, because he believed we could.

    I do too.

    Do you?

    Carl Sagan and Government_ Charlie Rose.wmv

    HariVIyer
    HariVIyer
    December 14, 2013 11:33 PM

    thankfully I think it’s changing, though not fast enough. Eventually people
    need to realize that if they want to be part of the changing world instead
    of simply watching it from the sidelines, they need to educate themselves
    in the sciences and learn to think critically about how science can be
    responsibly utilized to drive change.

    Do not rely on public education systems to drive knowledge into you. They
    are crippled and will continue to remain crippled by the powers that be.
    You need to explore on your own. In the age of information ignorance is a
    choice

    steph wanamaker
    steph wanamaker
    December 15, 2013 2:31 AM

    Frighteningly accurate.

    loganv0410
    loganv0410
    December 15, 2013 3:12 AM

    And in his autobiography this joker claims he gained his best insights into
    science while toking on weed! Calling others charlatans is the expert pot
    calling the kettle black.

    Supra Sovereign
    Supra Sovereign
    December 15, 2013 7:16 AM

    Damn straight the government runs us. But which government runs us? It’s
    NOT the United States government. The United States government was
    SURRENDERED by econometric treaty over 60 years ago to a type 1
    civilization. That is the executive branch of the New World Order. Congress
    illegally ratified the treaty making this new world type 1 civilization an
    ILLEGAL entity. HOWEVER, that does not matter as long as they have TOP DOWN
    CONTROL over your lives because, after all, who can make war with a type 1
    civilization? The answer is….enlightened people who are willing to stand
    for righteousness, truth and honor. If that no longer exists then
    march…MARCH toward a new world order. DO IT already and get this over
    with. If not, then FIGHT the friggin tyrants! Fight by lawfully
    revitalizing the powers back into the hands of the people, by State
    statute. Organize your communities and work with your State legislators.
    DO IT! Don’t just sit there like dingalings. lol

    Niels Christian Ørgaard
    Niels Christian Ørgaard
    December 15, 2013 10:31 AM

    *“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody
    understands anything about science and technology,”* Sagan said. *“And this
    combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to
    blow up in our faces.”*

    ak11230
    ak11230
    December 15, 2013 1:41 PM

    Completely agree with Carl Sagan people without education cannot make
    the right laws about technology :))

    Ole Olson
    Ole Olson
    December 15, 2013 8:49 PM

    Sagan is totally correct. Pseudoscience is a danger, especially when those
    who believe it are dictating political policy. That’s why belief in science
    is pretty much my only precondition for who I vote for.

    bioman123
    bioman123
    December 15, 2013 9:44 PM

    It unfortunate that evolution deniers, global warming deniers, and GMO
    deniers actually get elected to office.

    God Exists
    God Exists
    December 16, 2013 12:01 AM

    be skeptic about anything about abiogenesis or evolution and bam…. you
    are an idiot. why? because you don’t believe nonlife can be life. even
    though it cannot be repeated.

    Publons
    Publons
    December 16, 2013 3:10 AM

    We couldn’t agree more with Carl Sagan – it’s vital that people understand
    the bases of our civilisation: #science and #technology.

    And our aim is to be a part of that!
    https://publons.com/about/

    Carl Sagan and Government_ Charlie Rose.wmv

    #government #politics #policy #evidence #skepticism

    God Exists
    God Exists
    December 16, 2013 10:21 AM

    +Deckard Cain +YogaFire +Yvigny Goncharov abiogenesis and evolution are
    theories trying to explain how we came by. Abiogenesis explains nonlife to
    life, evolution explains non intelligent to intelligent.

    All trying to prove origin of life. Abiogenesis has never been repeated.
    Evolution , because of time needed to observe, has also never been
    observed. And cannot be repeated, even with organisms with very short
    lifespan, like fruitfly.

    So I become a skeptic of the status quo and an automatic idiot.

    Brad Snowder
    Brad Snowder
    December 16, 2013 5:44 PM

    Sagan’s Warning. A prophecy concerning science and society and truer words
    were never spoken.

    theunpossiblefile
    theunpossiblefile
    December 16, 2013 5:55 PM

    A Republican Congressman Broun, also an MD rejects Evolution.
    Famous surgeon & Republican speaker Ben Carson MD also rejects “Evilution”.
    Carbon dating was not the 1st social network started 6000 years ago.-(
    All the mind control/ stalking “Paranoid Style” videos on YT by the
    thousand are not
    made by batcrazy paranoids. Most are deliberately made to manufacture doubt
    & confusion across the www. Alex Jones & Glenn Beck are very sane PR ppl in
    the biz of making the real sound like fiction & fictional conspiracy sound
    real. IOW, to create a separate reality that resonates with T-Party
    radically conservative interpretations of same. Separate news, separate
    education, faith based economics, Conservapedia,
    their own “science” financed by Big T, tobacco, Koch etc.

    Amy Stier
    Amy Stier
    December 16, 2013 6:35 PM

    A PSA, please be skeptical of things.

    Chuck-U Farly
    Chuck-U Farly
    December 16, 2013 8:15 PM

    The biggest threat to science the that scam called religion. Science is the
    seeking of the truth about our universe while religions is about obscuring
    the truth.

    vipmd
    vipmd
    December 17, 2013 2:40 AM

    Old ppl = Danger!

    John Riddle
    John Riddle
    December 17, 2013 8:44 PM
    God Exists
    God Exists
    December 17, 2013 10:09 PM

    +NDSPTuba am sorry I do not need flu shots every year. and even to consider
    flu virus turning into new strains they are still flu virus. no one has
    observed a flu virus evolving into something else. they are always viruses,
    and forever will be. no one has billions of years to wait to see what will
    become of the flu virus if given billions of years. so your argument is
    invalid. Darwinian evolution is an assumption. not observable.

    also God isn’t a magical fairy.

    Boyd Smith
    Boyd Smith
    December 17, 2013 11:07 PM

    “Science is…

    M. Rochecouste
    M. Rochecouste
    December 18, 2013 2:49 AM

    A truly powerful statement from a man who really got me interested in
    science as a kid.

    Michael Hraba
    Michael Hraba
    December 18, 2013 7:35 AM

    “If we don’t understand it, then who’s making the decisions about science
    and technology? Just some members of Congress?” – Carl Sagan

    I miss you so much Carl.

    Prescience, powerful, scary words….

    mweibleii
    mweibleii
    December 18, 2013 3:21 PM

    The government does now run our lives.

    Thomas Maincent
    Thomas Maincent
    December 19, 2013 7:08 PM

    So true. Remember to be skeptical!!!

    Tony James
    Tony James
    December 21, 2013 3:31 AM

    What would you tell your 14-year-old self?
    My advice would be really -boring: keep on with science subjects, because
    understanding of science will be so important in your future life. I’ve
    held seminars in No. 10 about graphene and quantum theory, which I love
    doing. But I have to read up a lot before I get started. So: a little more
    on the physics and chemistry, please, David.
    David Cameron ~ Prime Minister

    1955RodHot
    1955RodHot
    December 21, 2013 10:39 AM

    90% of the people who believe in the Bible have never read the Bible. Go
    ahead and try to prove me wrong on that.

    theunpossiblefile
    theunpossiblefile
    December 28, 2013 2:25 AM

    Ayn Rand is exactly the kind of charlatan he was talking about.
    Even she would have swallowed a bottle of speed if she had ever
    seen the movies Atlas Shrugged 1 & 2 based on her book.
    Objectivist & Libertarian porn. Sat through 20 minutes of 2.
    Thank goshness I didn’t have to pay for it.

    Robert Hersh-geer
    Robert Hersh-geer
    December 31, 2013 10:40 PM
    Emberlea101
    Emberlea101
    January 1, 2014 1:23 AM

    Schools are a joke. I was told by a teacher that “Evolution is not
    important” and we didn’t read the chapter. Then when I got to college. The
    Biology professor said “Look, I know how your schools are around here.
    Forget everything” It was a nice change.

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