I worry that, especially as the millennium edges nearer, pseudoscience and. “Those who have something to sell, those who wish to influence public opinion, those in power, a skeptic might suggest, have a vested interest in discouraging skepticism.”įrom the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.Ĭarl Sagan argues that science is a way of thinking superior to any other-and not just for finding facts and laws about physics, biology or chemistry. Sagan does a good job of excluding whimsy from his own book, although he has a weakness for the apocalyptic. Until they do, skeptics will remain a minority.īut Sagan leaves no doubt which side he’s on, and he recognizes that the forces of ignorance are widespread and powerful.

He says that skeptics fail to see and appreciate the social and psychological needs that are met by New Age beliefs. Them-the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth that those other people who believe in all those stupid doctrines are morons.” The Demon-Haunted World Science as a Candle in the Dark RRP: 32.99 save 9 Around 4-16 May Customer reviews This has become the bible for all right.

“The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement,” he writes, “is in its polarization: Us vs. forces to battle demons in a haunted theme parkand possibly save the world from. This book is one of his contributions which presents a crisp, clear, and wholeheartedly enlightening picture of scientific thought. We took every last scary movie on Netflix that had at least 20 reviews. Sagan’s most thought-provoking chapter offers his observation that skeptics-those who demand proof for claims rather than feel-good belief-do not fully appreciate why so many people don’t. Carl Sagan is deservedly known for his achievements and for the passion he had in educating the general public about the developments in science. In The Demon-Haunted World, Sagan continued this saga, with his inimitable style intact and with a dire focus on communicating how science undergirds the modern world, its co-dependent relationship with democracy, and, amid the tenured struggle for progress and survival, how it's so often overshadowed by uncritical thinking and politicized agenda. But that is a minor quibble about a glorious book.

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