Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" disappointing...

Vivificat! - A Personal Catholic Blog of News, Commentary, Opinion, and Reflections ^ | 14 December 2005 | Teófilo

[Teófilo]

...after almost twenty years of mature reflection.

Folks: the Discovery Science Channel has been broadcasting for the last several weeks a re-make of Carl Sagan's popular PBS series, Cosmos. For those of you old enough to remember, the series became a hit when first broadcasted, rapidly turning into a cultural phenomenon. Saganisms like "billions and billions, googol, and googolplex" are now American idiomatic markers. I myself remember watching with enthusiasm, always welcoming the opportunity to think new thoughts and to look at the universe in a different way.

As I watch the show today, I can't believe how naïve it really was, how biased, and thoroughly disingenuous in terms of its narrowly empiricist and positivistic view of reality. Christianity—and Christendom and the Catholic Church in particular—often come under the severest of Sagan's judgments; Sagan often dismisses them as oppressive, obscurantist, antiscientific and "mystical"—a word that Sagan used many times, seemingly unaware of its technical and very restricted meaning in Catholic teaching. But then again, Sagan was known for dismissing anything smacking of religion and in this he was true to his positivistic outlook.

Cosmos had its time, but in light in advances in historical studies and the ongoing reevaluation of Classical and Medieval knowledge and outlooks, Sagan's magnus opus has outlived its utility as an instrument for conveying true and accurate knowledge about the Universe and about mankind's quest to understand it and most importantly, mankind's effort to integrate this knowledge into a consistent and coherent knowledge matrix that also takes into account human purpose and eternal aspirations.

[Teófilo]

Blunders. Typos. Mine.

[wideawake]

Sagan was a hippy hack and his silly TV show was hackwork. One cut above Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of . . .

Maybe.

[labette]

Wasn't he the guy who predicted "nuclear winter" after Saddam set the oil wells on fire ? {first gulf war}

[RightbrainBrother]

No matter how "naive" Cosmos may seem to us today, for many of us, this show was a catalyst that lit a fire of inquiry which drove us to seek out more information about the world of science, and the dramatic influence the world of science has had on us.
I see this criticism as another effort by extreme religios to minimize the importance of science and the understanding of the universe it brings. It's a damn shame that science is viewed by a few as the enemy of faith. In fact, my faith has been increased by the wonders described by science. There's nothing about the big bang, astronomy, quantum physics, or even (gasp) evolution that in any way lessens God's role in the Universe. If anything, the mechanisms exposed by science underline the beauty and mystery of God's creation. I feel bad for children who are being bombarded by these new anti-science initiatives from extremists.

[docman57]

Carl Sagan.....a man who was truly a legend in his own mind

[theDentist]

Blunders. Typos. Mine.

Well, you know the saying: Typo ergo qwerty. I type, therefore I misspell.

[My2Cents]

I watched the series 20 years ago myself, but when Sagan arrogantly stated in one show (and I quote here from memory precisely what he said), "Evolution is a fact; it really happened," I stopped watching. It was clear that the show was less cosmological science, and more a screed for Sagan's particular bias.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Butt-head Astronomer.

A little Mac humor...very little!

[Prost1]

Carl Sagan's attack on Velikovsky was unconscionable.

He was a despicable egotistic narcissus.

[Teófilo]

I see this criticism as another effort by extreme religios to minimize the importance of science and the understanding of the universe it brings. It's a damn shame that science is viewed by a few as the enemy of faith. In fact, my faith has been increased by the wonders described by science. There's nothing about the big bang, astronomy, quantum physics, or even (gasp) evolution that in any way lessens God's role in the Universe. If anything, the mechanisms exposed by science underline the beauty and mystery of God's creation. I feel bad for children who are being bombarded by these new anti-science initiatives from extremists.

But that's precisely the point! He did what you accuse me of, he was the one who painted religious people as fundamentally anti-science. That's a caricature and Sagan was guilty of it.

I'm not anti-science, and I will never be.

-Theo

[Teófilo]

PING

[My2Cents]

It's a damn shame that science is viewed by a few as the enemy of faith.

Maybe that's because many secular scientists view faith as the enemy of science. The arrogance of many scientists is what sticks in my craw. Many say that the realm of the spirit is something that is beyond the ability of science to measure and observe, and hence they simply do not know and cannot make definitive statements about the things of the spirit. But other scientists have demonstrated an arrogance that since God and the things of the spirit cannot be dragged into the lab for observation and experimentation, they are inconsequential, if they exist at all. Science has been used as a means and a pretense to "eradicate the myth and superstition" of religion from the human consciousness -- at least by some, and Sagan tended toward this perspective. A little more humility on the part of the scientific community about the limits of science, and what scientists don't know, would be helpful.

[FOG724]

I've been watching the show. His blatant liberalism cracks me up mostly. He over dramatizes, often coming across like Capt. Kirk. But I have enjoyed the show. Dr. Sagan at least comes across like he knows what he is talking about when he includes history and such in the show, unlike the "star" announcers that are obviously reading from a script.

[ml/nj]

Carl Sagan's attack on Velikovsky was unconscionable.

Great book that exposes Sagan for the fraud he was.

ML/NJ

[onedoug]

Gerald Schroeder, The Science of God

[My2Cents]

Thanks. I'll look into it.

[My2Cents]

It's in the Sac Library system. I've placed a hold on it. Thanks again.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Maybe that's because many secular scientists view faith as the enemy of science.

Not without plenty of historical (and present-day) justification.

[js1138]

"Evolution is a fact; it really happened,"

Something acknowledged by folks like ID advocate Michael Behe, Author C.S. Lewis, and the Pope.