I chose to do my book report on Carl Sagan’s “The Demon-Haunted
World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” because I am a big fan of Carl Sagan and
I have read a few of his books previously. This book was published in 1995, the
year of my birth, with the intention of making the audience think more
logically skeptically. It begins with Sagan remembering an encounter he had
with his driver who asked him questions about extraterrestrials, channeling, Atlantis,
and more. The driver was excited to hear a scientist’s view point, but Sagan disappointed
him with facts and realistic explanations. He goes on to talk about how science
has made such great strides in the world curing so many diseases and all of the
technological advances that have been made at a cost of course. Sagan doesn’t
understand how even after so much scientific enlightenment pseudoscience and superstitions
have remained a staple in human lives. He believes that pseudoscience and
superstitions are born from the misunderstandings we may have, for the things
that are difficult to understand and without enough evidence to make a conclusion
we make our own. This is supported by mass media and times even the government making
it difficult to remove. Sagan explains that almost everything can be explained
by science in some form or another and it has a “built in error correcting machinery”
meaning no science is perfect but it’s accuracy can be measured. Somewhere in
the science there is fact, data, and evidence but when hopes and facts get
confused pseudoscience slips in. Throughout the book Sagan touches on different
pseudoscience topics like aliens, demons, witchcraft, and more. Each chapter
covers a different topic where he shares his experiences, opinions, and relevant
stories always sticking to his view that science is the answer and he wants to
educate his readers. He concludes the book by talking about how science has the
potential to improve so many aspects of the world and that in order to be free
of the world’s constructs we must think for ourselves.
My favorite
part of the book was the last chapter. Throughout the book he talks about so
many interesting concepts from the potentially pervasive actions of aliens, the
horrifying witch trials, hallucinations, and even how to detect what he calls
baloney. The final chapter he points out that science is the key to fixing the
world’s political, social, and economical problems. He claims that every major
decisions in the way of life can be considered experiments like decriminalizing
marijuana or investing in new technologies. The key to fixing the problems we
face today is by using science and experimenting things on small scales until
an answer is found. He accurately, in my opinion, states that humans are afraid
of people who are different, and we bully those who are different. We are
easily manipulated and suggestible by the right kind of leader at the right
time. He then gives a short summary of Thomas Jefferson’s life an individual
who fond of science, history, and skepticism. Jefferson believed in the freedom
of speech and that people should think for themselves. Sagan wonders where the
Thomas Jefferson’s of today have gone. He explains how the constitution and bill
of rights was meant to change with the times but can so easily be misinterpreted
and used in a different form. Sagan says that inventions, new ideas, and
creativity are a form of freedom. Breaking out of the status quo and thinking
for yourself. Questioning what you are told and looking for your own answers is
the best way. Most importantly he says that if we are educated and have our own
strong opinions the people in power will work for us but if we are weak and
unable to think for ourselves we are pawns. This is my favorite chapter because
this book was written in 1995 and now in 2018 everything he said is relevant. We
are failing to think for ourselves to question what is happening and demand
change. The government has taken over, there is so much corruption and it has occurred
because we have failed to think for ourselves. We are educated by schools that
are trying to erase certain parts of history, we are provided the news the government
tells the media to share, we are believing what we are told to believe. This isn’t
how it should be we should look for our own answers and our own resources.
This book relates to the whole course because Sagan covered a
lot of the topics we covered in the lecture slides and a lot of the information
was parallel. It also conveys the message that a lot of the pseudoscience and superstitions
we have can be explained by science as so many of the topics we learned about
were. And how most of the time pseudoscience is born when something is difficult
to understand, or an answer can’t be determined immediately. I think this book
really has inspired me to be skeptical and think critically for myself. To step
out of my comfort zone and look for my own answers.
Follow the link to see one of Carl Sagan's last interviews where he talks about this book!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jod7v-m573k
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