Carl Sagan: Underappreciated Genius

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnURElCzGc0[/url]

...on the 4th dimension / tessaract

[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQhNZENMG1o"]Neil deGrasse Tyson on What NASA Means to America's Future[/URL]

I just finished "Cosmos" by Sagan and I'm in the middle of "Pale Blue Dot" and have to agree Sagan > Everything. After every chapter I have to put the book down and and think about what I read.

[quote=Mista Kool]deGrasse Tyson's logic says that non-natural conclusions are arrived at [B]entirely[/B] due to a lack of any known sufficient natural causes. According to this nonsensical viewpoint, those who concluded that Stone Henge was the work of intelligence would be arguing from gaps (ignorance). His mistake, and it's a mistake most Intelligent Design-denialists make, is his ignoring that non-natural causes (artificiality; design) can be [I]very reasonably[/I] detected based, not on ignorance, but on [B]knowledge[/B]. This knowledge is our understanding of intentional causation and the resulting pattern it creates. This pattern is [B]complexity coupled with specification[/B] (referring to [B]arrangement[/B]).

It's a completely uncontroversial scientific methodology.... until its implications are considered unfavorable, in which case it goes from uncontroversial to the purported most wild and crazy idea ever conceived (I.D.).

I.D.-denialist [SIZE=5][B]Carl Sagan uses I.D. methodology[/B][/SIZE] in his two most famous endeavors: [I]S.E.T.I.[/I] and [I]Pale, Blue Dot[/I].

The former, S.E.T.I., searches throughout the (searchable) cosmos looking for anything deemed an unnatural arrangement of signals (usually pulsars) which would almost certainly signify intelligence. In other words, [I]S.E.T.I.[/I] is [B]attempting to detect design[/B] via finding an appreciable degree of complex, specified information) throughout the stoic cosmos.

In the latter, Sagan looks at the size and location of the Earth relative to the size of the universe and deems that we occupy no special (read: specific) place in the cosmos -- in other words, he's [B]detected a lack of design[/B] in the Earth's positioning via the absence of specification in its location amongst the universe.

What Sagan (and deGrasse) try to write off as pseudoscience (I.D.) actually follows perfectly logical, well-accepted scientific standards. The real reason they dismiss I.D. isn't because it's anti-scientific, but because they don't like its implications. The thought of the universe and/or life being designed by a Creator frightens them deeply, as it does with most atheists (or God-denialists, as I call them).

What they're doing is no different than what the fundamentalist Christian does when he rejects the age of the Earth. Rejecting science based on personal preference rather than the data. Sagan and deGrasse attempt to hide this behind strawman attacks, but those who are knowledgeable and posses critical thinking skills (such as myself) can see right through it, whereas those who lack knowledge and critical thinking (such as RidonKs and Take Your Lumps) cannot.

I've put both Carl Sagan and Neill deGrasse Tyson in their places and exposed their double-standards and hidden agendas. Kudos to me.


For those interested, the [I]I.D.E.A. Center[/I] further swats the "God-of-the-gap" myth (lie for Darwin?) out of the ballpark...

[I][FONT=Arial][SIZE=4][B][URL="http://www.ideacenter.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/1159"]FAQ: Is ID a "god-of-the-gaps" argument?[/URL][/B][/SIZE][/FONT][/I][/quote]


Phenomenal post! Sagan got served!

[QUOTE=Take Your Lumps][URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQhNZENMG1o"]Neil deGrasse Tyson on What NASA Means to America's Future[/URL][/QUOTE]

Very good video. I had no idea NASA was worth half a penny out of $100. Wow, I wish they got more funding for that program for space research/expeditions. Ugh, USA is falling behind too much in so many different aspects. :(


Oh and Mista Kool, you are a dumbass troll trying to argue something without thinking a moment with logic (perhaps you lack the intelligence). You are the one thinking with emotions instead of logic since you believe that creative design MUST be true and god MUST exist. No, neither creative design nor god MUST exist. As for S.E.T.I, the universe is so vast that you are trying to find 1 specific speck of dust on Mars. Sound waves can only travel a certain distance in some time-frame; the universe is too large to scan everywhere. Intelligent Design does not exist so why spend money on something that does not exist? Think with your brain not your heart because you are not making sense in ANY of your posts on these forums where you bash science nonstop. Also, stop quoting yourself, troll, and be gone.

[quote=bladefd]Very good video. I had no idea NASA was worth half a penny out of $100. Wow, I wish they got more funding for that program for space research/expeditions. Ugh, USA is falling behind too much in so many different aspects. :(


Oh and Mista Kool, you are a dumbass troll trying to argue something without thinking a moment with logic (perhaps you lack the intelligence). You are the one thinking with emotions instead of logic since you believe that creative design MUST be true and god MUST exist. No, neither creative design nor god MUST exist. As for S.E.T.I, the universe is so vast that you are trying to find 1 specific speck of dust on Mars. Sound waves can only travel a certain distance in some time-frame; the universe is too large to scan everywhere. Intelligent Design does not exist so why spend money on something that does not exist? Think with your brain not your heart because you are not making sense in ANY of your posts on these forums where you bash science nonstop. Also, stop quoting yourself, troll, and be gone.[/quote]

This is the single stupidest post I've ever read on these forums.

*bump*

Bumping for my man Carl Sagan.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8HEwO-2L4w[/url]

I just watched that again after 3 years, and boy, Sagan is still right. He is amazing and continues to inspire. I learn something new from him everytime I rewatch his videos. Man, I wish he were alive today.