Our democracy depends upon our ability to make informed decisions. Sagan argues that the ability of people everywhere to make these decisions is seriously hampered by the prevalence of superstition and uncritical consumption of what authority figures tell us. Because of this, his book is not merely about science, but also about the future of society.
One thing which skeptics and atheists would do well to pay close attention to is Sagan’s admonition that they not attack when they criticize:
- “...the chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is in its polarization: Us vs. Them - the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth; that those other people who believe in all these stupid doctrines are morons; that if you’re sensible, you’ll listen to us; and if not, you’re beyond redemption. This is unconstructive....whereas a compassionate approach that from the beginning acknowledges the human roots of pseudoscience and superstition might be much more widely accepted.”
Indeed, many of the pseudoscientific and New Age beliefs we see actually develop due to dissatisfaction with conventional values and perspectives in society today. The values they were raised with have become inadequate to meet the challenges they face, which means that their superstitions are themselves a form of skepticism, even if improperly applied.
Sagan uses this compassion because he understands how comforting and appealing many of these beliefs can be. As an astronomer, he was keenly interested in finding evidence for extraterrestrial life, so of course reports of alien encounters and abductions would catch his attention. Perhaps more personal is his admission that he longed to believe that his deceased parents, to whom he was very close, might still exist somewhere. He would even dream that he talked to them, and would become seized by the overpowering belief that they weren’t really dead.
But just because he doesn’t laugh at a woman who kneels at her husband’s grave and talks to him about how she is doing, doesn’t mean he lets slip by the claims of a “medium” who claims that he can contact your deceased relatives. He asks why these channelers never give us verifiable information which cannot be obtained any other way. Why don’t they channel famous people from history who can solve important mysteries from us - like Hermann Göring telling us about the Reichstag fire, or Democritus dictating for us one of his lost books?
Sagan ends his book with this important reminder:
- “If we can’t think for ourselves, if we’re unwilling to question authority, then we’re just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.”
Sagan not only identifies the problems with today’s pseudoscientific thinking, but he is also able to explain why it is pseudoscience rather than science, and what tools we will need to combat the errors and fallacies of our age. It is because of this that his book should be recommended to everyone.
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