if he were here today, he'd probably think "this is worse than I could have imagined."

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'” ― Isaac Asimov

"Celebration of ignorance" is what I call social media. Carl Sagan hit the nail on the head right there. It's quite depressing really. Good luck and Good night to all.

"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." Isaac Asimov.

Asimov predicted it in 1941 (Nightfall); the mob dismisses great minds and critical thinking.

I was born in the UK in 1984 and only really discovered Carl Sagan around 10 years ago. He is an inspiration, as a man, as an advocate of public scientific engagement and much more. He is one of my greatest heroes and I just wish he could have stayed with us a bit longer, the world needs voices like his more than ever

Carl Sagan literally inspired me to be really interested in stargazing/ Science/ Tech & the perception that we are not as important as we think we are but are also more important than we think we are at the same time.🤯

I read that book around that time, when I was a teen in Bogotá Colombia; he inspired me to become a scientist. Today I’m finishing my PhD in neuroscience.

I remember even as an 8 year old I wondered why Chewie didn't get a medal.

I never once stopped having an appreciation for Carl Sagan. Carl Sagan made me realize that I was connected to the earth and the stars and to every single thing on this planet.

I want Carl Sagan, HG Wells, George Orwell and Nikola Tesla back. That would be an amazing dinner.

Most excellent video! Carl nailed it exactly 25 years ago.

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” - Carl Sagan

Unfortunately those who need to hear his message wouldn't understand that he was talking about them.

“To me, not teaching science would be perverse.. when you’re in love you want to tell the world.” - Dr. Sagan

20+ years ago, this book fundamentally changed my worldview. As I write this, it's on the the shelf behind me, a bit worn and yellowed. I'll never forget the clarity it gave me. I only wish that more would come to the light of that candle.

Gave me chills to read his last words. He also said: "We’ve arranged a society on science and technology in which nobody understands anything about science and technology, and this combustible mixture of ignorance and power sooner or later is going to blow up in our faces. I mean, who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don’t know anything about it."

“a kind of celebration of ignorance”. wow did he ever nail that!!!!!

So back in the 90s I was in college getting my psychology degree and one teacher gave the most amazing lessons where he spoke of the world and what it will look like in 30 years. OMG I started seeing it about 10 years ago and today.... BOOM 💥🎯... Here we are. Exactly where he said we'd be. I took a lot of classes, had a lot of teachers but he's the only one who gave lessons you couldn't stop listening to.

I discovered Carl Sagan in 2008. I watched and rewatched his cosmos series several times. then I watched them once more in 2020 when the show turned 40. He's always been a voice of reason for me

"The dumbing down of America ... the lowest common denominator ... the power of technology in the hands of the few ... the masses retreat to superstition ... the celebration of ignorance." Well Sagan was right and here we are!!

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -Isaac Asimov (1980)

It's amazing how he could call out issues without insulting or placing blame on anyone or any group in particular. I strive to be as good a communicator as he was

Wow. He really did describe the whole thing. Goosebumps

I miss that brilliant man. I miss the calm inflection of his voice and the concise and articulate way he explained the Universe. RIP Carl Sagan.

"All the way back in 1995" sounds strange when most people haven't even adapted to the 21st century yet.

“Unable to distinguish between what feels good and what is true.” Wow

Truly the definition of ahead of his time

I am a peon with a BA who loudly shouted the same sentiments over 20 years ago. It didn't take an astrophysicist to see where America was headed.

"Unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true" Sounds like America

Truely a message the world desperately needs to hear and actualize.

Carl died when I was a young boy, but boy oh boy did he change my life forever.

A “celebration of ignorance” is exactly what we’re dealing with here and now, he hit the nail on the head!

Social Media is one of the biggest double edge swords in human history

This guy was so ahead of his time, intelligent, and the sort of mind you'd want running this country. Not like a large portion of those who are, and have in the past, run this country.

This was so well presented and very powerful thank you!

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." - Isaac Asimov

Some people are pure light in the darkness .. we miss you Carl Sagan. RIP

Mind blowing 😒🤯America really is in decline. I was thinking just about these things while watching George Carlin… can’t remember how I ended up seeing Carl Sagan and, unfortunately for me, today is the first time I hear of him … priceless work 🙏

I loved his show Cosmos, it really inspired me when I was growing up. It was so awesome!

"The United States has gone from barbarism to decadence without knowing civilization." - Albert Einstein

Just another example of what happens when "smart" people do not get the amount of press as singers and actors

That is terrifyingly accurate

In 1974 a PSA by Leonard Nimoy said we would soon die of a ice age 2022 I'm still here

When being a scientist, doctor or intellectual is a negative trait to so many people it’s become a very scary and sad world.

Carl Sagan was a rare American sage. He foresaw the frightful descent into barbaric celebration of ignorance we witness today.

He represented the best of humanity and still does.

Chewbacca not getting a medal bugged me, too!

"Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception." - Carl Sagan

“Celebration of ignorance” that one alone explains current events

Irony, that a media company guilty of what he accused reports it as if they are not so.

Even this was a soundbite. Read the book. Well worth your time. Progress isn't inevitable. It depends on how informed you are, and the choices you and everyone else make.

My religious denomination is unapologetically "Sagan". I passionately watched "Cosmos" as a teenager and I recall my dad once commenting , "You are even starting to sound like him." Sagan inspired my choice of college courses. He was a HUGE influence on my life.

"A celebration of ignorance" hit it on the head with that one

I clicked for Carl Sagan, got Brian Williams. Shouldn't have ignored the MSNBC logo ...

He absolutely got a medal.

Sagan would be horrified to know those "10 second sound bites" have been reduced to mouse clicks.

We should listen to more intellectuals and scholars. Hello? Studying never stops.

Sagan was "The Star of the Stars", as one journalist termed him at the time of his passing. Sagan was a great popularizer who really connected with the average guy in the street. I loved Sagan's "Cosmos" series & never missed one of his Carson appearances, or, later, his Charlie Rose interviews(though I was no fan of Rose in general as an interviewer). The astrophysicist made astronomy truly cool, though I was interested long before Sagan came on the scene. The man took a number of hits from his professional colleagues in those years, deriding his academic work & denigrating his rising fame as a mere popularizer, not a serious scientist. Jealousy & envy certainly played a part in their criticisms, which I believe were unmerited. Sagan appealed to a still-literate & intelligent, curious citizenry in the mid-70's, something largely missing from today's dumbed-down society, WAY dumbed-down. The generation of the post moon-landings, of which I was a member, had become aware as to how alone we are in the universe & were both mesmerized & enchanted by "what's out there". Sagan made our queasiness & fascination over this understandable, thought-provoking, & wonderfully philosophical. After Watergate, the population had become thoroughly cynical toward the U.S. government, its institutions, & the meaningless promises of politicians. Astronomy became one of the last untainted verities we could focus on, a way to "escape" our earthbound problems, disappointments, & increasing dissatisfaction with all levels of government in general, a chance to "get outside of ourselves", at least for a little while. Sagan provided this escape & alot of us, myself included, were more than receptive to it. The awe & wonder he made us feel has, I'm afraid, vanished entirely in our own decadent, downward-spiralling age, one bereft of inspirational imagination. I still miss Mr. Sagan, every time I gaze at the night-sky, dreaming of what's "out-there", just as he did.

*Carl is such a blessing to me and I believe I got great ideas to impact many lives here; they are below.*

“Chewbacca deserves a medal” - Carl Sagan

Every word in that quote is an undeniable truth of our present state of being. Sometimes I dread being around for the next 20 years, because how badly things are right now.

" Even if everyone recycled tomorrow, it will be too late. There will be no air to breath or water to drink by 2035 the way we're going" Carl Sagan 1996

Segan passed away, he now has answers to truth that the majority if not all of us alive don't fully know.

If Carl Sagan were alive today, the Trump cult would call for his imprisonment.

That excerpt gave me chills. That guy was a visionary. Too bad no one listened hard enough to stop it.

Sagan understood, as few do, both that physical laws obey, and that people are flawed.

This is, oh man, there are so many words for this...sobering is one word that comes to mind. Thank you for this.

Truth be told, most people in my generation could see this coming, as unfettered capitalism is bound to lead to fascism.

I went to my first Star Trek convention dressed as Chewbacca. It was a Wookiee mistake.

"The Demon Haunted World" should be required reading. It's a depressingly accurate prediction of the shitshow we're in.

I was just at a party chatting with a non-binary person who was expressing their frustration with the world and how hard it is to get people to not use gendered pronouns. In an attempt to be a good ally, I suggested they speak with chatGPT about these issues (it's currently in open beta, and giving feedback now gives you the opportunity to help shape the future of all human discourse). But things took a hilarious turn when they suddenly became more interested in making out with me, despite the fact that they had come to the party with their girlfriend and had repeatedly mentioned that they were a lesbian. I'm a straight male, by the way. I pointed all of this out but the non-binary person but then told me they were polyamorous and continued getting closer to me, completely ignoring the fact that they had just been talking about how important it was to respect people's pronouns and identities. It was like they were completely oblivious to the irony of the situation. Just when I thought things couldn't get any more absurd, their girlfriend came over and said they had to leave because the (very drunk) non-binary person had to work at 5:30am (this was at 2am at a house party). Talk about a confusing night! I'm still trying to make sense of what happened, but one thing is for sure - you really can't make this stuff up.

If only being smart and educated meant something to virtually everyone like it used to.

Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World" is a must-read for every thinking human being.

We're doomed and we all just sit back and watch it. I hope we all have the courage to do the right thing when the time comes. God bless us all at the end of the day We're only human.

Carl Sagan has one of the most satisfying voices ever.

The problem is most people WANT to live within their illusions.

An absolute legend. I'd argue his greatest contribution to science was his ability to make it accessible to everyone. He could take incredibly complex ideas and simplify them enough for the average person to understand without coming off as condescending.

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” -Carl Sagan, The Demon Hunted World. How does that sit with you here in 2022?

"A moderately famous quote" - I feel I enlightened strangers

He knew how stupid we were and would be and currently are

Isaac Asimov is another notable voice that predicted the future. “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” ― Issac Asimov 1980 (41 years ago)

“Wookiees!? You mean WOKIES!!” -Ron Desantis, probably

I knew his first wife, an evolutionary biologist (among other credentials) and heard her influence in his perspective. How interesting

_“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”_ -Carl Sagan *We* _are the_ *Universe* _manifest conscious. The Cosmos getting to know itself._

You know, as a 41 year old, I feel like life has bullied me so much, that I keep my head down, read my sci-fi books, and buy something cool off of Amazon every now and then. I genuinely feel like nothing short of major economic, revolutionary, or global war will change things much. So instead, I stay informed, I vote, but I know we’re collectively eyeing our foot with a shotgun. As an idealist who loved history and civics when I was young, I truly bought into everything our founding fathers established (almost everything, I’m black). But when you get older, work, have a mortgage, you become disillusioned with seeing how everyone in power games the system. To the point, that well meaning people are conditioned to play the game when they first get power. Democratic or Republican, we should be a stronger republic with more quality, fact driven non-biased news, strong STEM and civics for students in order to raise quality citizens who work together. Anyways, I’m rambling, so I’ll put my head back down.

Brian Williams adds an extra later of trustworthiness to this segment. Well done!

LOL he was describing msnbc and their viewers

Boy that last sentence about the media was right on. They are a huge factor in the "dumbing down......".

Then: I'll believe it when I see it Now: I'll see it when I believe it

I read that 25 years ago. The book is still on my nightstand. It was a damning report on what was wrong with us and I have yet to read it to the end. Why? It shook me and I needed a break. I will finish it once I recover.

Remember when we thought 2021 was a mess??😂😂😂

"Big bellies, fat thighs, and dumb kids." -George Carlin

The pale blue dot. Carl gifts us so much truth, eloquently delivered.

Carl Sagan was a fricken Genius.

I have always been amazed with what Carl Sagan had to say!!! great thinker!!!

I got goosebumps hearing those predictions. Every word has come true.

Sagan's quotes literally gave me chills from how accurately he described what has happened to us 25 yrs. ago. WOW!

I think about this from time to time; how the Internet and smartphones (and everything in between) have absolutely zapped my attention span over the past 20 years. I wonder if my mental acuity would be any better without them.

Carl Sagan was a genius. Not sure if it really helped him or us that much. We’re still right exactly in the situation he described.