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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
Literally changed my life and how I think about the world.
informative
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This book is great. Easy to read one chapter at a time. Thought provoking and good reminders of why a scientific and skeptical approach to the world is how we grow and evolve. Also, the final chapter "Real Patriots Ask Questions" is a poignant reminder of our responsibility as citizens to stay aware and informed.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
slow-paced
Majority of it was kind of a snore fest. It’s a nice exploration and explanation of the scientific method, but for me it seemed pretty elementary at this point in my life. I think book was more aimed at a general public from 30 years ago, where concepts of this book would be quite rare to find in a single source.
The book has a lot of debunking of paranormal activities, especially UFOs, so if you believe those but don’t want to, it’s a good book. I don’t, so I lost interest in the explanations pretty fast.
The best parts of the book were definitely about the politics of discrimination and education. You can see how the problems Carl Sagan was concerned with back then are the exact problems we are having now, namely, suppression of minorities through purposefully failed and rigged education system, racial and gender stereotyping, taking rights from people through manufactured “wars” (for example, against drugs or against wokeness), tolerance paradox and the like. It was kind of harrowing to read considering the current rise of Fascism across Western nations.
Love Carl Sagan though. OG popular science guy with actual scientific achievements to support his position, and his ego in check (Looking at you Neil)
The book has a lot of debunking of paranormal activities, especially UFOs, so if you believe those but don’t want to, it’s a good book. I don’t, so I lost interest in the explanations pretty fast.
The best parts of the book were definitely about the politics of discrimination and education. You can see how the problems Carl Sagan was concerned with back then are the exact problems we are having now, namely, suppression of minorities through purposefully failed and rigged education system, racial and gender stereotyping, taking rights from people through manufactured “wars” (for example, against drugs or against wokeness), tolerance paradox and the like. It was kind of harrowing to read considering the current rise of Fascism across Western nations.
Love Carl Sagan though. OG popular science guy with actual scientific achievements to support his position, and his ego in check (Looking at you Neil)
slow-paced
Great read. This edition was written in the 90s and it felt a little bit dated at times, but people who muddle in pseudoscience, believe in astrology, or alien abductions, or conspiracies,... should read this book.
As a scientist, this book hits on so many levels. How can we champion science and knowledge, when so much is pushed aside in favor of vague, unsupported ideas. How do we create a world where people engage with learning and facts, rather than set them aside?