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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
As I began reading this book, I realized that a lot of the issues in this book are similar to the issues the current group of presidential hopefuls are debating. Unfortunately, everything that Sagan says is wrong with politicians happens to be occurring.
This was a great book, and makes me want to continue to hone my skeptical skills as those will always be something required. Way too often we are told to believe, but then are not given the substance of those beliefs. I'm not a person to continue to blindly believe anyone, or anything now, without critically looking at what I'm being asked to believe. I can belatedly thank Carl Sagan for this, and I do thank his wife Ann Druyan.
This was just an awesome book, and should be required reading for anyone entering High School. Unfortunately, most politicians would find that abhorrent, as they require blind faith in the ideas that they are putting forth.
This was a great book, and makes me want to continue to hone my skeptical skills as those will always be something required. Way too often we are told to believe, but then are not given the substance of those beliefs. I'm not a person to continue to blindly believe anyone, or anything now, without critically looking at what I'm being asked to believe. I can belatedly thank Carl Sagan for this, and I do thank his wife Ann Druyan.
This was just an awesome book, and should be required reading for anyone entering High School. Unfortunately, most politicians would find that abhorrent, as they require blind faith in the ideas that they are putting forth.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This was pretty good. I don't think it's quite as good as everyone says it, but that's due to the fact that the stuff he is saying in the book isn't really surprising 30 years later. Sagan's attitudes about improving scientific knowledge are sort of the de facto opinion for educated people now (or at least were when I was I was a kid, things have sort of slipped since then), and seeped into public opinion while I was growing up. It was sort of neat to realize that my middle school science teacher's whole vibe and philosophy was, in fact, clearly influenced by this book specifically. There was a lot I recognized.
It's depressing how prescient this book is. Sagan makes the case that we're sort of on the knife's edge of having scientifically-based public opinion, but could fall off into the sort of anti-science attitudes that have been so common over history. I think that has happened to some extent since he died. He talks about the alien abduction craze of the 80s, now we seem to have a corrollary in the types of demonic influences/manifestation videos you see on TikTok.
It's depressing how prescient this book is. Sagan makes the case that we're sort of on the knife's edge of having scientifically-based public opinion, but could fall off into the sort of anti-science attitudes that have been so common over history. I think that has happened to some extent since he died. He talks about the alien abduction craze of the 80s, now we seem to have a corrollary in the types of demonic influences/manifestation videos you see on TikTok.
A book that tries to do everything and ends up doing nothing particularly well. It is hard to pinpoint what the Demon-Haunted World is about. It seems to be generally about science and society. Sagan underscores the importance of scientific literacy but he does so in a confusing way. The book starts out as a collection of essays debunking pseudoscientific ideas such as alien abductions and faith healing. Then it delves into the importance of scientific education, weaving essays about scientific history as well as character studies of important scientists. The book suffers from a severe lack of identity. When asked what this book is about, I have a hard time responding because it’s about science and its importance to society. But it’s also about a bunch of other things. Chapters don’t seem to follow any logical order, jumping from topic to topic. While the content itself is great (Sagan is an amazing popularizer of science, fighting pseudoscience from all sides), I can’t rate this book any higher due to how unfocused it is. It’s a fun little read but it’s not really a book as much as it is a collection of loosely related essays. 3/5.
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
This is very timely and a good read for a strong defense of both science - as a method for skeptical inquiry - and democracy - as an error-correcting governing mechanism for the people to be in control. Rarely this book felt somewhat dated, but at many spots it felt incredibly timely.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced