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