"The universe is not required to conform to human ambition" - Carl Sagan

[Rabrrrrrr]

Possibly he was quoting someone else, but I don't know.

But either way, Sagan was a fucking prophet, and he should be listened to.

[Forkboy]

1. I have very few..and I mean VERY few, people that I truly looked up to.

He was one of them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Millions and millions of stars...

I loved Carl Sagan. Freakin' genius.

[sammythecat]

8. Ahem!

um, a...post #6


:hi:

[Dr. Strange]

3. Did Sagan also say this, with regards to extraterrestrial intelligent life?

If it's just us... seems like an awful waste of space.

[pokerfan]

9. I don't remember it being in the book

but it sounds like something that he might have had Arroway saying.

All we know about life in the universe (hundreds of billions of galaxies each containing hundreds of billions of stars) is that it's happened at least once. If indeed, we are alone, that would be just as astounding as finding ET life.

The fact is, we simply don't know. Finding life (extinct or extant) on Mars or Europa would be an astounding discovery, especially if it could be shown to be completely unrelated to terrestrial life. Knowing that it's happened twice in one system would be hugh! All we know is that it's happened once. We don't know if it was a million to one shot or a google to one shot.

"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Could be - almost seems like he said it in Cosmos

A quick google search reveals that it is indeed a line by Ellie Arroway in Contact.

[Lethe]

4. he was da man

and a stoner to boot!

[Blue_In_AK]

5. I miss Carl Sagan.

He was one of my favorite human beings.

[Heidi]

6. !

:thumbsup: <-- "Billions and billions" of thumbsup!

[sammythecat]

7. It would've been fun to be him

I think he had a mostly fun life. At least, anytime I ever saw him he seemed to really enjoy what he was doing.

I'm an armchair astronomer/cosmologist and he and Isaac Asimov made that stuff seem like high adventure when I was a kid. Too bad he had to die so young. He probably looked forward to the future than most anyone else.

[pokerfan]

10. Carl's last interview

May 27th 1996.

Three parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jod7v-m573k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDKSZO-aACk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxeN6Wf7mbU

[sammythecat]

11. Thanks for that. I just finished watching it.

I was a little shocked at his appearance, although he looked good, if that makes any sense. It was sad at the end when he was talking about being pleased with the remission and 7 months later he was dead.

In the beginning they just briefly mentioned Clinton and Gore, and I thought, "My God. What would he think of George Bush as President of the United States". He would just have to be appalled that we did this to ourselves.

[TZ]

13. Great man, great communicator..

Isn't very often that you see a scientist of his intellectual standing be able to so clearly and easily communicate his ideas to the population in general. He is sorely missed.

[BarenakedLady]

14. He was wonderful.

Made science and the universe endlessly facinating to this little girl.

[Orsino]

15. Well, he probably wouldn't want to be referred to as a prophet...

...but yeah, he was. :thumbsup:

[pokerfan]

17. I am reminded of Bertrand Russell

From his autobiography:

I was told that the Chinese said that they would bury me by the Western Lake and build a shrine to my memory. I have some slight regret that this did not happen, as I might have become a god, which would have been very chic for an atheist.

[PassingFair]

16. The Dragons of Eden changed my life....

read it as a teenager, and it MADE me think
about things no one else ever talked about.

L-O-V-E-D "The Demon-Haunted World", too.

[kineneb]

18. Cosmos rocked

it had some of the best special-effects work for its time. I still have the book and soundtrack.