Post by Wilson on Mar 1, 2005 18:44:00 GMT -5
Here are some of my favorite quotes from Carl Sagan (every atheist should read at least one of his books):
Science is more than a body of knowledge, it is a way of thinking.
Science values criticism. It gives its highest awards to those who convincingly disprove established belief. Show me something comparable in religion.
Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science?
Every scientific paper has an error bar. Imagine if every sermon or congressional speech had an error bar.
Science has increased human life expectancy 30 years. This is a precious gift science has offered humanity, nothing less than the gift of life.
We can pray over a cholera victim or we can give her 500mg of tetracycline every 12 hours.
We share 99.6% of our genes with chimpanzees. We are more closely related to chimps than rats are to mice.
Science is not only more interesting than pseudoscience, but also has the advantage of being true.
Pseudoscience is easier to contrive than science. It is also easier to present to the general public.
The tools of skepticism are hardly ever mentioned in schools, even in the presentation of science, its most ardent practitioner.
It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
An extraterrestrial being, newly arrived on earth- scrutinizing the t.v., movies, and radio- might conclude that we are teaching our children murder, cruelty, superstition, and consumerism. Imagine if, instead, we drummed into them science and a sense of hope?
You can't convince a believer of anything because their beliefs are not based on logic and evidence, they are based on a need to believe.
--Most of these quotes I highlighted while reading "The Demon-Haunted World"--
Science is more than a body of knowledge, it is a way of thinking.
Science values criticism. It gives its highest awards to those who convincingly disprove established belief. Show me something comparable in religion.
Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science?
Every scientific paper has an error bar. Imagine if every sermon or congressional speech had an error bar.
Science has increased human life expectancy 30 years. This is a precious gift science has offered humanity, nothing less than the gift of life.
We can pray over a cholera victim or we can give her 500mg of tetracycline every 12 hours.
We share 99.6% of our genes with chimpanzees. We are more closely related to chimps than rats are to mice.
Science is not only more interesting than pseudoscience, but also has the advantage of being true.
Pseudoscience is easier to contrive than science. It is also easier to present to the general public.
The tools of skepticism are hardly ever mentioned in schools, even in the presentation of science, its most ardent practitioner.
It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
An extraterrestrial being, newly arrived on earth- scrutinizing the t.v., movies, and radio- might conclude that we are teaching our children murder, cruelty, superstition, and consumerism. Imagine if, instead, we drummed into them science and a sense of hope?
You can't convince a believer of anything because their beliefs are not based on logic and evidence, they are based on a need to believe.
--Most of these quotes I highlighted while reading "The Demon-Haunted World"--