Author: Carl Sagan

In the Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan, we get to take a deep dive into understanding some of the supernatural phenomena which have been taken over society gradually over the years. Sagan proposes a very convincing argument and many valid points to explain why humans are more interested in pseudo-science than science itself.

Sagan tells a story of his childhood and how having always a sense of wonder for things directed him towards real understanding and how important it is to keep science relevant in any society. With the past of time, we lose the sense of wonder for how things work due to many factors including complacency and laziness to understand concepts that challenge our ideologies. This book opens a can full of rational and logical explanations about supernatural phenomena such as aliens, demons, ghosts, and other similar subjects. Sagan brings up many stories and past events to illustrate his point which might tend to get repetitive at times specially when it comes to alien abductions, but the main reason for this redundancy is to actually provide proof and make his case stronger.

“At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes–an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense.” Carl Sagan – The Demon-Haunted World

A lot of people believe in UFOs without a doubt. One example explored in the book is the giant crop circles that started appearing in the Southern England rural fields making the news around the 90s. Without investigating the issue, most people such as media reporters, residents of the area, and outsiders attributed this phenomenon to aliens which were trying to communicate something to us by making these astonishing crop circles pop up in the fields overnight. The reality was that these crop circles were made by two British painters which in their free time had the brilliant idea of making these enormous shapes and figures in the crop fields for their own amusement.

Nevertheless, before these two painters came out and confessed that they were the ones doing these crop field figures, there was a supernatural feeling attributed to these crop circles, and they were even deemed as a scientific puzzle that had to be solved by the brightest minds at the time. Overseas experts in radar technology and other fields came to see the crop circles and concluded that they were too perfect to be done by humans, therefore, they attributed this phenomenon to a higher intelligence without second thoughts. The reality was very different and simpler. The two painters made the crop circles using flat four-foot planks which were pulled around by hand with reins in order to topple over grain stalks.

“Occasionally, I get a letter from someone who is in ‘contact’ with extraterrestrials. I am invited to ‘ask them anytheng.’ And so over the years I’ve prepared a little list of questions. The extraterrestrials are very advanced, remember. So I ask things like, ‘Please provide a short proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem.’ … I never get an answer. On the other hand, if I ask something like ‘Should we be good?’ I almost always get an answer.” Carl Sagan – The Demon-Haunted World

Another example that is brought forward by Sagan is the recognition of faces which humans learn to do at a very early age. Our brains immediately start recognizing familiar faces around us and it might be because we are wired to do so. Sagan explains that this might be the reason why many people around the world claim to have seen Jesus’s face in an innumerable amount of things such as trees, loafs of bread, and clouds. In the same manner, Sagan also talks about other topics such as satanical rituals, witch hunting, alien abductions, and other supernatural phenomena from which people vaguely draw meaning and answers for hard questions.

“We’ve arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.” Carl Sagan – The Demon-Haunted World

Sagan talks about human propensity of avoiding logical and rational explanations when it comes to explaining the different phenomena around us especially when what we are trying to understand challenges our beliefs and way of thinking. The fact that most of the supernatural phenomena is accepted by people without the minimum amount of proof is mind-blowing in itself. This is of great danger because we are basically moving science to the back burner, and forgetting that it exists. This might be due to science’s intrinsic nature of making us question our reality. The scientific method has lost importance and has been thrown aside. This method has been replaced by cheap explanations and bogus stories which main goal is to cloud our understanding of the world.

“Some may consider this an overbroad characterization, but to me every time we exercise self-criticism, every time we test our ideas against the outside world, we are doing science. When we are self-indulgent and uncritical, when we confuse hopes and facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstition.” Carl Sagan – The Demon Haunted World

This book should be read by all people not just because it uncovers a historical thread of self-delusion by humans, but because it makes us realize that what we call science is in fact marvelous and amazing as it is. There is no need to look into ghost stories, aliens, or supernatural phenomena to get our minds blown. One example is physics.There are concepts such as angular momentum, center of mass, gravity, among others which we encounter on a daily basis. These concepts are super interesting and fascinating, but somehow we have played down science so much that most people deem it as uncool and rather choose pseudoscience as an alternative.

A society which lays its foundations in pseudoscience is dangerous because this type of society would be imparting to its members the wrong doctrine which can eventually lead to a scientific illiterate society. Books like this which carry a strong and powerful message should be shared to as many people as possible and pass over generations. The book’s main idea is to serve as a wake-up call. A call to take action and double down on the scientific method, reason, and logical explanations to understand the world around us. This will definitely help us wash away the pseudoscience in which most people have been wallowing in for a long time.

Additional Resources

The Sagan Series – A collection of breathtaking videos with Sagan’s narration from his show Cosmos

Carl Sagan talking about his book The Demon-Haunted World.

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan (free pdf)

http://www.metaphysicspirit.com/books/The%20Demon-Haunted%20World.pdf

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