It's Better to Light One Candle, than to Curse the Darkness

Dr. Carl Sagan was one of the world’s best- known and most respected men of science. Sagan gained widespread popularity and notoriety for his scientific knowledge through the television mini- series “Cosmos”, which originally aired on Public Broadcasting in 1980. Sagan wrote many books during his lifetime, covering subjects like astronomy, the search for human origins, and the future of human life in space. This book, “The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, was published in 1996, making it one of Sagan’s final literary contributions to science.

Basic Contents:

This book is more than 450 pages in length and it contains the following 25 chapters:

1. The Most Precious Thing
2. Science and Hope
3. The Man in the Moon and the Face on Mars
4. Aliens
5. Spoofing and Secrecy
6. Hallucinations
7. The Demon Haunted World
8. On the Distinction Between True and False Visions
9. Therapy
10. The Dragon in my Garage
11. The City of Grief
12. The Fine Art of Baloney Detection
13. Obsessed With Reality
14. Antiscience
15. Newton’s Sleep
16. When Scientists Know Sin
17. The Marriage of Skepticism and Wonder
18. The Wind Makes Dust
19. No Such Thing as a Dumb Question
20. House on Fire
21. The Path to Freedom
22. Significant Junkies
23. Maxwell and the Nerds
24. Science and Witchcraft
25. Real Patriots ask Questions

Sagan devotes this book to the debunking of “demons”. What he is referring to are pseudoscience and legendary myths that have confused and fascinated people over the entire span of human existence. He talks about the existence of aliens; the popularity of psychics; the existence of crop circles; the act of witchcraft; belief in astrology; and many more trends in New Age thinking that fly in the face of logic and reason.

When discussing these phenomena, Sagan seems to be slightly amused, but also concerned, too, at the human tendency to believe anything we hear, without ever questioning the source or seeking out proof. Sagan points out the fallacies and inconsistencies in these phony sciences, showing how any reasonable person can, and should, dismiss them as myth.

Most of the book’s pages are dedicated to the debunking of the existence of alien life (Those who live in Roswell, New Mexico will feel great enmity toward Sagan when they read these sections!). This makes sense when you consider that Sagan was, first and foremost, a man in love with the study of the universe. Other areas of science were also important to Sagan, but the study of outer space was always the most awe- inspiring, in Sagan’s mind. He talks about the numerous accounts of alleged human contact with aliens, even pointing out some supposed encounters with extraterrestrials who women claim impregnated them on their visit to earth. Sagan devotes pages and pages of reason and rationalization to the subject of alien visitation to our planet and his bottom line analysis is that since there is no physical evidence of alien spacecraft, alien people, or anything else alien, then we should not believe in them. Many, many people throughout the ages have made the claim that they were visited by alien life, yet none of them have any hard- core evidence of the alleged encounter. With so many instances of alien encounters, wouldn’t there be a least some physical evidence, if they really did exist?

Sagan points out how the media often fuels hysteria over these pseudosciences and how they sensationalize any unusual event that has no scientific explanation, to arouse the public and to help sell magazines, newspapers, etc. One good example of this, that Sagan discusses, is the phenomenon of crop circles. Remember when these were all the rage? The media began reporting on these in the 1970’s, when the appearance of geometric forms were spotted in fields of crops, growing in the English countryside. In a field of wheat, for instance, some of the crops were flattened down, and when viewed from a plane, they often formed shapes like circles, triangles, etc. After a few years, crop circle hysteria began to spread to other countries. Any unusual “shape” in a field of crops was under suspect as coming from some supernatural source. And, in some cases, the crop circles started to become more explicit by spelling out actual words and phrases, rather than just making geometric shapes.

The media people had the time of their lives with these events! Some claimed that this had to be the work of aliens. Others said that it was a divine act of God. And yet others felt that the crop circles were Satanic. Finally, in 1991, the hoax was uncovered. Two Englishmen admitted to starting the whole thing! It was their way of having a little fun with the those who were gullible enough to believe in UFO’s, and its success went far beyond their expectations. You would think that the confession of these men would have been met with the same enthusiasm by the media as the hoax itself, but it wasn't. This confirms Sagan’s theory (and that of many others) that the media is often responsible for feeding gross hysteria and how the media doesn’t bother reporting much at all when the truth is uncovered, because it’s not likely to catch on and help sell newspapers, like the hoax itself did. Instead, they just drop the old hoax and look for a new one.

Final Thoughts:

Sagan does a very good job in debunking these scientific myths. He even devotes one chapter (the Fine Art of Baloney Detection) to the uncovering of scientific fraud. He shows the reader, step by step, how to cross- examine an unusual situation and determine whether or not it could have a scientific basis. And this extends to other scientists, too. Like Sagan points out, there are some in the scientific community who have been responsible for starting a hoax, not for the betterment of science, but rather for their own personal glory and material gain.

I like the way that Sagan is very careful to respect the reader and avoid being offensive. He never resorts to name calling or negative stereotyping, even when he feels very strongly about a certain subject. Sagan knows that there are many good, intelligent people who fall for pseudoscience. He is always respectful in his handling of the issue at hand, pointing out why no one should believe it, but making sure not to criticize anyone who does. He is also very careful not to come across as being conceited. For example, he doesn’t state that there is absolutely no possibility of alien life, only that we shouldn’t worry ourselves with issues like this until there is definitive proof.

Sagan is also very respectful toward religion. He doesn’t give much space to religion in this book, but he recognizes that religion can play an important part in our understanding of the universe. He feels that followers of religion and science should try to combine what they know into a stronger, more synergetic understanding of life and the universe.

Sagan will always be known as a strong believer in science and the scientific method. He never takes the arrogant position that science has all the answers. But he does feel that science is the most accurate method and the most reliable way to explain the unexplainable.

Sagan died on December 20, 1996, at the age of 62, but his contributions to the scientific community will be remembered for decades to come. This was his final book to be published, before his untimely death, and it’s one of my favorites among Sagan’s many writings. It’s spiked with common sense, reason, and rational thinking that will make people reconsider how they feel about controversial pseudosciences and other popular myths. I find myself referring back to this book, long after I first read it. The fact that I still refer back is a sign of a great work of non- fiction and a testament to Sagan’s ability to convey his message to the reader through logic and reason.

Carl Sagan might be gone, but his spirit lives on!