Carl Sagan — Philosophical Quotes

355 quotes · Astronomer, Astrophysicist

Page 14 of 30

Carl Sagan Quotes

All Philosophical Courageous Spiritual Creative Wise 355 quotes · page 14 of 30

Carl Sagan

Astronomer, Astrophysicist

Philosophical

“There is today-in a time when old beliefs are withering-a kind of philosophical hunger, a need to know who we are and how we got here. It is an on-going search, often unconscious, for a cosmic perspective for humanity”

Humanity Philosophical Perspective

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Carl Sagan

Astronomer, Astrophysicist

Philosophical

“What is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish useful ideas from the worthless ones.”

Ideas Two Hands

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Philosophical

“Humans are very good at dreaming, although you'd never know it from your television.”

Dream Television Vastness

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Philosophical

“Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence”

Demand Claims

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Philosophical

“Atoms are mainly empty space. Matter is composed chiefly of nothing.”

Matter Space

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Philosophical

“That we can now think of no mechanism for astrology is relevant but unconvincing. No mechanism was known, for example, for continental drift when it was proposed by Wegener. Nevertheless, we see that Wegener was right, and those who objected on the grounds of unavailable mechanism were wrong.”

Thinking Example Astrology

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Philosophical

“One of the reasons for its success is that science has a built-in, error-correcting machinery at its very heart. 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.”

Heart Ideas Exercise

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Philosophical

“The method of science, as stodgy and grumpy as it may seem, is far more important than the findings of science.”

Important Pain Pseudoscience

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Philosophical

“The values of science and the values of democracy are concordant, in many cases indistinguishable. Science and democracy began - in their civilized incarnations - in the same time and place, Greece in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. . . . Science thrives on, indeed requires, the free exchange of ideas; its values are antithetical to secrecy. Science holds to no special vantage points or privileged positions. Both science and democracy encourage unconventional opinions and vigorous debate. Both demand adequate reason, coherent argument, rigorous standards of evidence and honesty.”

Ideas Democracy Honesty

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Philosophical

“[Science] is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything. It has two rules. First: there are no sacred truths; all assumptions must be critically examined; arguments from authority are worthless. Second: whatever is inconsistent with the facts must be discarded or revised. ... The obvious is sometimes false; the unexpected is sometimes true.”

Two Self Science

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Philosophical

“That kind of skeptical, questioning, "don't accept what authority tells you" attitude of science - is also nearly identical to the attitude of mind necessary for a functioning democracy. Science and democracy have very consonant values and approaches, and I don't think you can have one without the other.”

Thinking Attitude Democracies Have

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Philosophical

“There is much that science doesn't understand, many mysteries still to be resolved. In a Universe tens of billions of light-years across and some ten or fifteen billion years old, this may be the case forever. We are constantly stumbling on new surprises”

Years Light Forever

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