About Carl Sagan and how I was influenced by him...

[Hayteria]

Today is the 11th anniversary of the death of Carl Sagan, an astronomer whom I believe would also qualify as a historian. I've watched many online video excerpts from his Cosmos series, and he made references to history, and I don't mean solely evolutionary and astronomical history but also things considered history in social studies. In any case, he was a scientist who explored social issues, much like Albert Einstein was, must like Richard Dawkins is, and much like I someday hope to be.

I don't remember when I first heard of Carl Sagan, but I think it was about a year ago, though even then I didn't watch much from his series until last summer, and then during the fall I didn't watch as much. Anyway, the past few days I've been watching Carl Sagan videos more frequently than usual. I've noticed that similarities in opinion about some things led me to realizations about similarities in opinion about other things, despite there being things I somewhat disagree with him on. I've heard referenced about what he said (it was actually in a parody video, something using Sagan's voice on a The Matrix character) about atoms and matter being mostly empty since it's made of atoms which are in turn mostly empty space and noticed it's the same thing that came to my mind a while back. I also noticed how for him imagination and reality went hand-in-hand, something I'd previously made myself consider a paradox; and then I realized that what I'd thought of before with regards to thinking that I'd like to be a video game director (since creativity and thought combine in video games) but since considering examples like Carl Sagan, realized that science, which would probably be the more practical route for me anyway (my parents were encouraging me to do a science major since it'd be more likely to get me a job, especially after them noticing the specific example of physics for meteorology) would certainly be a good route to go. Since I've been considering going into cryonics research I've even been hoping to be a documentary scientist of that field; perhaps exploring not just cryonics but the philosophical implications thereof, and social issues outside of it as well...

Anyway, this morning I was going through a few different news channels and I didn't find any mention of Carl Sagan; did anyone else notice Carl Sagan being mentioned on the news today, whether TV, radio, or Internet? I figured it must have been mentioned somewhere.

[Longhaul]

I was toying with doing a commemorative thread about Sagan earlier today, but I was a bit busy, and I just couldn't come up with one that looked interesting enough in the time that I had available, so thanks for this.

Stupid though it sounds, I miss Carl Sagan. He was one of the few people given regular airtime who just plain made sense when he spoke. He had a way of putting things - even extraordinarily complex topics - that allowed different people to assimilate the information they were given according to their own individual capabilities so that almost anyone who listened to him came away a little more educated.

Outside of him, Richard Feynman (also dead) and David Attenborough (who, let's face it, is getting on a bit), I can't think of anyone who fits the bill as a science-based educator for the mass media world.

[Hayteria]

Originally Posted by Longhaul

I was toying with doing a commemorative thread about Sagan earlier today, but I was a bit busy, and I just couldn't come up with one that looked interesting enough in the time that I had available, so thanks for this.

Stupid though it sounds, I miss Carl Sagan. He was one of the few people given regular airtime who just plain made sense when he spoke. He had a way of putting things - even extraordinarily complex topics - that allowed different people to assimilate the information they were given according to their own individual capabilities so that almost anyone who listened to him came away a little more educated.

Outside of him, Richard Feynman (also dead) and David Attenborough (who, let's face it, is getting on a bit), I can't think of anyone who fits the bill as a science-based educator for the mass media world.

Hmm? I don't think I've heard of Richard Feynman and David Attenborough before... though then again I'm not really sure, at least the latter name sounds somewhat familiar... but yeah, I typically don't like reading, and I can't focus my attention well when doing so, and as such for someone to use a medium that isn't exactly associated with intellectualism (to put it mildly) to present about science was something I really enjoyed.

And I don't think it sounds stupid to miss Carl Sagan, really, what do you mean by that?

[Longhaul]

Originally Posted by Hayteria

Hmm? I hadn't heard of Richard Feynman and David Attenborough before... though I dunno, the latter name sounds somewhat familiar... but yeah, I typically don't like reading, and I can't focus my attention well when doing so, and as such for someone to use a medium that isn't exactly associated with intellectualism to present about science was something I really enjoyed.

Feynman was a man who had a gift for lecturing. Specifically (at least in my opinion) he had a gift for taking familiar objects and systems and using them to construct analogies that he used to explain some pretty complex theories (he was a phycisist). I'm not sure if any of his lectures or interviews are out there on the Internet, but they probably are.

Attenborough was just a typical BBC 'voice' at the start of his broadcasting career, who moved on to become the narrator for a huge number of (mainly BBC-produced) nature documentaries. I watched a lot of his programmes on TV as I grew up, and they left quite an impression on me.

Mass media, and TV in particular, are - in my opinion, at least - woefully under-utilised as an educational platform, especially as regards the sciences. I'm not sure what the answer is... I just live in hope that someone will take up the torch, so to speak.

Originally Posted by Hayteria

I don't think it sounds stupid to miss Carl Sagan, really, what do you mean by that?

I meant 'stupid' in the sense that it seems a little absurd to say that I 'miss' someone who I didn't actually know, personally. On reflection though, it probably was the right phrase to describe how I feel about it. I do miss his commentary... I'd have loved to have heard the description that he would have come up with for the immensity of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field pictures, for example.