Comments on: 09-11-04

By: Jim Cook

Jim Cook — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:28:58 +0000

Thank-you billions for remebering Carl Sagan. Probably the most infuencial person in my life. As a kid, my father and I watched the Cosmos Series on a black and white then on Sunday’s my mother dropped me of at Sunday School. The Nun glorified an all loving god but warned of eternal life suffering. Raising my hand I asked, “how long would that be? She drew a near perfect circle on the chalk board, turned and asked, find the beginning and find the end? I gazed over the class and became an instant skeptic. I never returned.Reading several of Carl’s books (with only a high school diplma) along with great influential books as Michael Shermer and Richard Dawkins, reason prevails.

By: Daniel Loxton

Daniel Loxton — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:55:17 +0000

Sagan biographer William Poundstone discusses this question in some detail: watch our "Three Views of Carl Sagan" lecture video (free).

By: Stephen Weeks

Stephen Weeks — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:38:04 +0000

I named my son after him, and soon found other Sagan’s wandering Tucson.

By: Another Point of View

Another Point of View — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:05:01 +0000

You may dote on Carl Sagan, but you do not have the right to speak for anyone but yourself.

By: Charles L Davis Jr

Charles L Davis Jr — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:11:26 +0000

Ahhh…Carl. Where would we be without Sagan’s ability to convey science to the masses? I should think: in a black hole. We are sceptics and educators in great part because of this Astrobiologist…the worlds’ first. We have honed our public rhetoric about flim-flams and arcane but thrilling science because Sagan gave us a bar to reach for. No one has expounded more eloquently (without sacrificing accuracy) about the wonders of the mind and the universe. No astronomer today would dare explain to a crowd of lay people the work they do without taking plays from Sagan’s books. Whenever I speak to folks about cosmology I hear the voice of Sagan in my head: are you being too cute? are you dumbing down? are you engaging the imagination? are you telling science as a story? are you distinguishing facts from speculation as you talk?…ad infinitim. I do not miss Carl so much today when I realize that he had millions of students who carry on his work in their own way. I am one. You are another. All sceptics are ones. And Carl made it easy to join the crowd…

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:00:53 +0000

Does anyone know how heavily Carl Sagan smoked marijuana? The reason I ask is that I find it hard to believe that someone could accomplish what he did if he was a daily pot smoker.

By: Doug Hubbard

Doug Hubbard — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:22:38 +0000

I can’t be the only one who is noticing that, possibly thanks to the recent availability of the Cosmos series on Netflix and a general increase in secular thinking, all things Carl Sagan are coming back into the public eye in a big way. I couldn’t be happier about this.

My friends and I, all idealistic twenty-somethings who greatly admire Mr. Sagan’s legacy, have thus proposed an idea. We thought it would be appropriate to celebrate Carl Sagan’s birthday, as The Skeptic Society is doing, in a major way.

However, we thought we might take it a step further. In an attempt to slowly draw the Christmas holiday into a more secular realm, we thought, why not rework some of the traditions of Christmas into a new, secular holiday? In the scheme of human history, many holidays are fairly arbitrary anyway. Some will of course cry out at the loss of sacred traditions, but we skeptics would revel in the celebration of a new holiday, called Cosmos.

Cosmos would simply be a celebration of the wonder of the universe, the natural world, and our common humanity. Think of it! Christmas lights become symbols for twinkling stars in the sky. Christmas Tree ornaments can represent celestial spheres, the planets. Garland can be strung out like the milky way! You can have a family stargazing event, watch episodes of Cosmos, etc. What a great excuse to buy your children toys that teach them about science! A new telescope or microscope. A home planetarium projector. A chemistry set. Model rockets.

Come celebrate Cosmos with us! Sure, you may be obligated to your extended family to have a proper Christmas party, but get together with your secular friends, and either on the day of (or near) the Winter Solstice, on Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, or the weekend after, celebrate Cosmos! In time, we can start a growing trend.

By: John Williams

John Williams — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:28:43 +0000

Carl Sagan’s Deamon-Haunted World, altered my world view, also. I was into much of the new age nonsense and Buddhism. And after reading Sagan I started questioning everything and eventually became a skeptic and atheist. Although, I have explored secular Buddhism and continue to meditate when I’m stressed out, and still find it useful. But now I feel freer, a clearer thinker, and much more a citizen of the 21st century. So, thanks Carl.