vasisDec 21, 2022
Robert McNees
Carl Sagan passed away #OTD in 1996. In his final interviews he left us with two messages that are even more relevant today: one emphasizing the importance of a science literate public, the other a warning about how hard it is to extract ourselves when we’ve been conned.
Dec 20, 2022 at 1:56pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadRobert McNeesDec 20, 2022
“If the general public doesn’t understand science and technology, then who is making all of the decisions about science and technology that are going to determine what kind of future our children live in, some members of congress? There are only a handful who have any background in science at all, and some of them don’t even want to know about it.” — Carl Sagan
Show threadRobert McNeesDec 20, 2022
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” — Carl Sagan
Show threadRobert McNeesDec 20, 2022
Here is the video of Carl Sagan’s final interview.
https://youtu.be/U8HEwO-2L4w
Carl Sagan's last interview with Charlie Rose (Full Interview)

YouTube
Show threadRobert McNeesDec 20, 2023

The subject of those quotes had been on his mind for a while.

Here is a prescient passage Carl Sagan wrote one year before that last interview, in his book “The Demon Haunted World.”

Show threadRobert McNeesDec 20, 2023
Replace “crystals" and “horoscopes" with "cell phones” and "facebook” and it could be mistaken for something written yesterday.
Show threadÁngela Stella MatutinaDec 20, 2023

@mcnees

It's manipulation and slavery or skepticism and some measure of freedom and responsibility in both cases.

Show threadbirdpoofDec 20, 2023

@mcnees

1995. Wow.

Show threadEdelruth, PBS Passport HolderDec 20, 2023

@mcnees

Damn. He had a time machine.

Show threadPhil, wardenDec 20, 2023

@Edelruth @mcnees

The anti-intellectualism and anti-science mindset was already very strong in the US back in nineties, it has always been.

Insert the meme with the two guys in space suits.

Show threadMarkDec 21, 2022
@mcnees to keep it in the fediverse:
https://peertube.concordia.social/w/9GoSZuSmi3QR6bCn5ioRNx
Show threadWolfgang FeistDec 27, 2022

@mcnees

3:30 "This combustible mixture of ignorance and power ... is gone blow up in our faces"

We have already been quite near to that event. BUT: We can still do something about it. It's not "too late".

Step 1: Accept the laws of nature & the valid scientific facts (also on topics, there you do not like it; like CO2 & climate-change)
Step2: Learn about the potential solutions
Step3: Make it happen - and learn a bit of scientific thinking on that path

Show thread🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 leastactionDec 21, 2022
@mcnees Unless there are organized communities, the corporations and the military make the decisions about technology, I think. This is why I'm excited about the #fediverse and why I embrace #linux and #foss.
Show threadmmbyDec 20, 2022

@mcnees I sometimes think that the best mimicry of charlatans is a tinge of science, giving validity to what is essentially ideology or a bunch foregone conclusions.

With applied science sometimes eating the world, and technologists raising their hands as if just the messenger, I feel that Sagan wanted us to look for deeper understanding than that:

"Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves…"

Show threadpanisuzeDec 20, 2022
@mcnees Thank you. Sage words from a great man. Also, very depressing.
Show threadprogressiveartistDec 20, 2022
@mcnees
No truer words.
I really miss him.
😢
Show threadGigawatt121Dec 20, 2022
@mcnees yikes. That's incredible
Show threadDr. MeeceDec 20, 2022
@mcnees Hi, I feel like the second Sagan quote might be from his book "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" published in 1995
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 21, 2022

@mcnees

That second quote... Wow!
So prescient w/regards to Trump/MAGA/GOP.

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken.

Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

#Quotes #CarlSagan

Show threadKen CamperDec 21, 2022
@mcnees truer words…
Show threadBellaloverDec 21, 2022
@mcnees thanks for sharing.
Show threadAppagal CrochetDec 21, 2022
@mcnees A Pale Blue Dot is the first book of astronomy/science that I ever read. Carl Sagan was/is a gift to humankind.
Show threadJames EdwardDec 21, 2022
@mcnees Post-purchase rationalization is insidious. We are incredibly invested in the choices we have made, because the alternative is so unthinkable: that we made a mistake.
Show threadEsslar2Dec 20, 2023
@mcnees When you get to where you are trying to reason with a sociopath, it's too late. You cannot reason with a sociopath and that is why you never, ever let a sociopath have real power.