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# 2016-11-14 - The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan |
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Book cover image |
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Non-fiction book review written on December 30th, 2011. |
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I read this book for the baloney detection toolkit. The book |
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contains many ideas. Some seem obvious and simple, but they required |
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active thought and enthusiasm to formulate. One of the most |
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interesting was the idea that to further science, it is important to |
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combine credulity with skepticism. "The judicious mix of these two |
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modes of thought is central to the success of science. ... But |
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neither is easy." |
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By volume, most of the book is spent discussing UFO's and religion. |
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Much of this is old hat, but I enjoyed the sections about religious |
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doctrines that are falsifiable. For example, on the efficacy of |
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prayer versus the longevity of monarchs. Despite the heartfelt |
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mantra of "God save the Queen" or King, monarchs do not, |
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statistically, live longer than others in their social class. One |
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can draw data from millennia of history, all the way back to ancient |
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Egyptians, may the gods grant the Pharaoh live forever. |
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"... but if we must make errors, given the stakes, they should be on |
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the side of safety. ... Today our poison arrows can destroy the |
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global civilization and just possibly annihilate our species. The |
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price of moral ambiguity is now too high." -- Carl Sagan |
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"So far from being an isolated phenomenon the late war is only an |
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example of the disruptive result that we may constantly expect from |
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the progress of science. ... We have improved our armaments, and |
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patriotism, which was once a flame upon the altar, has become a |
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world-devouring conflagration." -- J.B.S. Haldane [2] |
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The Demon Haunted World references a couple of relevant public domain |
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books: |
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Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds |
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by Charles Mackay, 1841 [3] |
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Mysticism and Logic by Bertrand Russel, 1929 [4] |
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[2] |
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Cautionary quote about science and war |
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[3] |
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Extraodinary Popular Delusions by Charles, Mackay, 1841 |
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[4] |
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Mysticism and Logic by Bertrand Russel, 1929 |
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author: Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996 |
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detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/The_Demon-Haunted_World |
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LOC: Q175 .S215 |
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tags: book,non-fiction,science |
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title: The Demon Haunted World |
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# Tags |
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book |
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non-fiction |
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science |
