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Most scientists are ready to answer questions about their research from other members of their fields; A little less equipped to answer questions from the general public on what Douglas Adams called life, the universe and everything. Carl Sagan was one of this minority, an expert “scientific communicator” before scientific communication was recognized as an area in itself. In popular books and television productions, in particular Cosmos and its support series Cosmos: a personal tripHe put himself in the mass media as a guide enthusiastic about everything that was known on the kingdoms beyond our planet. More than a few members of his audience could have wondered where God integrates into all of this.
Such a person really asked Sagan this question during a question and answer session after “Lost reading” from 1994 from the latter to Cornellentitled “The age of exploration”. The interrogator, a graduate student, asks: “Is there a type of God for you? Like, is there a goal, since we are simply sitting on this task in the middle of this star sea? ”
In response to this difficult line of investigation, Sagan opens a more difficult: “What do you mean when you use the word God?” The student takes another approach, asking: “Given all these demotions” – defined by Sagan himself as the continuous humility of the self -image of humanity in the light of new scientific discoveries – “Why are we not simply exploding?” Sagan returns with another question: “If we explode, does that refute the existence of God?” The student admits that he assumes that this is not the case.
The question finally obtains Sagan given how “the word” God “covers a huge range of different ideas”. This range “extends from a man with a clear light skin with a long white beard, seated in a throne in the sky, actively totaling the fall of each sparrow”, for the existence of which Sagan does not know, which is very close to the sum of the sum of the total of the universe “and such as such, whose existence has even made existence. There is also “the deist God to whom many founding fathers of this country believed”, who supposed to have created the universe and then withdrew from the scene. With such a broad range of possible definitions, the concept of God himself becomes useless except as “social lubrication”, a means of seeming “agree with someone else with whom you do not agree”. The terms of this malleable type have their advantages, if not for the scientific spirit.
Related content:
Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking and Arthur C. Clarke discuss God, the universe and everything else
150 renowned secular academics and 20 Christian thinkers speaking of the existence of God
Bertrand Russell on the existence of God and afterlife (1959)
Bertrand Russell and FC Copleston debate the existence of God, 1948
What is religion for?: Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury weigh
Based in Seoul, Colin MArshall Written and broadcastTS on cities, language and culture. His projects include the substack newsletter Books on cities And the book The stateless city: a walk through Los Angeles from the 21st century. Follow it on the social network formerly known as Twitter in @ColinmArshall.
At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.