If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. You become a crotchety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the world. (There is, of course, much data to support you.) But every now and then, a new idea turns out to be on the mark, valid and wonderful. If you are too much in the habit of being skeptical about everything, you are going to miss or resent it, and either way you will be standing in the way of understanding and progress. β¨ The Burden of Skepticism by Carl Sagan, 1987.
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- Nevertheless, (Jefferson) believed that the habit of skepticism is an essential prerequisite for responsible citizenship. He argued that the cost of education is trivial compared to the cost of ignor β¦ βΆ
- The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.
- The very act of understanding is a celebration of joining, merging, even if on a very modest scale, with the magnificence of the Cosmos. β¨ Carl Sagan (2011). Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle β¦ βΆ
- If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then, we are up for grabs for the next charlatan (politi β¦ βΆ
- I hold that popularization of science is successful if, at first, it does no more than spark the sense of wonder. β¨ Carl Sagan (2011). Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, p.429, Bal β¦ βΆ
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