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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
challenging
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Esse livro do fala das ilusões que criamos, de nossos medos, de nossos mitos e daquilo que usam para manipular opiniões de muitos.
As religiões, as pseudociencias, a crença no que não existe e a ilusão, tudo isso é combatido por Carl Sagan através da ciência e do pensamento questionador e racional.
Um livro necessário para iluminar um mundo cada vez mais necessitado de pensamento crítico e independente.
As religiões, as pseudociencias, a crença no que não existe e a ilusão, tudo isso é combatido por Carl Sagan através da ciência e do pensamento questionador e racional.
Um livro necessário para iluminar um mundo cada vez mais necessitado de pensamento crítico e independente.
Carl Sagan is amazing. The art of science communication is a challenging one and having people like Carl Sagan tackling said challenge is a comfort. This book covered several topics. Many of them I was already familiar with, but it was nice to get a deeper dive into them. Several things really stuck with me after reading this. It is so important to communicate science to the public. Education is crucial, especially education not as rote memorization, but as instilling wonder and curiosity into the youth and teaching them how to learn. Human beings are really easy to fool and deceive, and we are very susceptible to believing nonsense. It is important in our own lives to balance wonder and skepticism because no advancement can be made without wonder, and no truth can be winnowed without skepticism. Finally, even at the time of this book's release, there were many people profoundly worried about the state of the USA, especially in regards to the failings of education and general ignorance of the public. It is sad to say these issues have only been expounded over the years.
This was a great read. It is still (rather unfortunately) relevant today. I highly recommend everyone reads this book, or at least dedicates time to similar pursuits.
This was a great read. It is still (rather unfortunately) relevant today. I highly recommend everyone reads this book, or at least dedicates time to similar pursuits.
the chapter 'bullshit detection kit' itself is worth more than the price of the book
I only made it about 3/4 of the way through (had to return the book to the library), but I enjoyed this one. Not as much as The Varieties of Scientific Experience, but this book had some interesting and unsettling points that made me think. I will get a copy of the book and finish it, eventually.
informative
inspiring
Great overview of skepticism and the importance of science. Should be required reading
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Sagan touches many of the most important parts of our lives: how we think, how we learn, how we treat each other, how we tackle problems as individuals and as a society, our politics, and our history. I consistently found myself in awe of Sagan's ability to articulate a claim or argument while laconically dictating the flaws with the corresponding counterarguments. I find myself disagreeing with his final chapter about free speech, given the rise of social media and 24-hour "news" networks, which both bring us face-to-face with the issues pertaining to free speech vs moderation (for instance: freedom of speech does not mean freedom of reach, lies are cheap and the truth is expensive, etc.). I appreciate that Sagan does not pull any punches with regard to the dangers of mysticism, religion, pseudoscience, or anti-intellectualism. Sagan also does not simply elucidate issues; when possible, he offers practical and actionable solutions, citing relevant empirical analogues that are available. Given what has transpired in the last 30 years, I find this book to be eerily prescient. I find this book to be one of the most important that I've read in preparation for the Donald Trump administration and its associated influences/consequences.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced