The World According to Carl
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and they seed. (Deuteronomy 30:19)
Something like a quarter of a century ago, I remember watching with fascination and wonder a television show like nothing I'd ever seen before. I was a geek even then, staying up late to watch reruns of Star Trek and Doctor Who. But this was different. It wasn't science fiction. It was science fact. It was a guided tour of the universe in hour-long weekly installments, all hosted by PBS station WGBH in Boston. It was Carl Sagan's Cosmos. It was one of the most profound things I ever saw on television, before or since.
I was touched by the selection of music in the 13-episode series, as regular readers will already know. I've also bought and read the book accompanying the series and used some of its lessons in my own teaching and learning. And in recent years, I've discovered that the Salt Lake City library system has the entire series on DVD. I checked out the series about 2½ years ago and watched the whole thing. And now I'm introducing Nancy to it as well.
As a break from my studies today, I watched the concluding episode of the series, titled "Who Speaks for Earth?" It starts with the citation from Deuteronomy above. Sagan then relates a dream he had of exploring the universe in his Spaceship of the Imagination. He came across a world showing signs of life and civilization and technological advancement. Then he watched this lighted world go dark before his eyes, all the signs of life and hope disappearing into oblivion as this society used its advanced technology to destroy itself.
As he pondered the demise of this world, he set his course back to Earth. He arrived just in time to see the same thing happen here: all the hopes and dreams and potential of an entire world, erased by a global nuclear exchange.
Our world is a lot different today than it was in the late 70's and early 80's. The Cold War that held the world in the fear of sudden nuclear Armageddon is long since over. But there are still dangers, and perhaps worse in some ways now than then. In the Cold War era, at least everyone knew who the players were in the nuclear game. Now countries like Iran and North Korea, countries holding centuries-old grudges against their neighbors and against the EuroAmerican West, are pursuing their nuclear agendas with limited interference. Biological and chemical weapons are also under development in nations that would have been hesitant to rouse the attention of the USA and/or the USSR twenty years ago. And weapons aren't the only problem. Energy use, pollution, and disease also pose serious global threats, if the people we consider experts are to be believed.
Carl Sagan was passionate about science. He believed that our technology had the power to destroy us, but more importantly, he believed that science also held the power to save us. But technology, he said, was only a tool. Bigger and better machines don't make for a better way of life, unless they are used by better people.
Sagan said that the 'reptilian' parts of our brains continue to feed our most primitive instincts: aggression, conquest, and self-interest. But the more evolved parts of our brains entice us toward compassion, cooperation, compromise, and curiosity. In our minds, and in ourselves, lies the capacity to decide what the future will be--or if there will even be a future.
To me, the lesson is clear. The future of humanity depends on each of us becoming more human--not just as nations and communities, but as individuals. The solution to the problems of technology has nothing to do with the machines. It has everything to do with us.
It is our fate to live during one of the most perilous, and at the same time, one of the most hopeful chapters in human history. Our science and our technology have posed us a profound question: Will we learn to use these tools with wisdom and foresight before it's too late? Will we see our species safely through this difficult passage so that our children and grandchildren will continue the great journey of discovery still deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos?
That same rocket and nuclear and computer technology that sends our ships past the farthest known planet can also be used to destroy our global civilization. Exactly the same technology can be used for good and for evil. It is as if there were a God who said to us, "I set before you two ways. You can use your technology to destroy yourselves, or to carry you to the planets and the stars. It's up to you."
-Carl Sagan
Something like a quarter of a century ago, I remember watching with fascination and wonder a television show like nothing I'd ever seen before. I was a geek even then, staying up late to watch reruns of Star Trek and Doctor Who. But this was different. It wasn't science fiction. It was science fact. It was a guided tour of the universe in hour-long weekly installments, all hosted by PBS station WGBH in Boston. It was Carl Sagan's Cosmos. It was one of the most profound things I ever saw on television, before or since.
I was touched by the selection of music in the 13-episode series, as regular readers will already know. I've also bought and read the book accompanying the series and used some of its lessons in my own teaching and learning. And in recent years, I've discovered that the Salt Lake City library system has the entire series on DVD. I checked out the series about 2½ years ago and watched the whole thing. And now I'm introducing Nancy to it as well.
As a break from my studies today, I watched the concluding episode of the series, titled "Who Speaks for Earth?" It starts with the citation from Deuteronomy above. Sagan then relates a dream he had of exploring the universe in his Spaceship of the Imagination. He came across a world showing signs of life and civilization and technological advancement. Then he watched this lighted world go dark before his eyes, all the signs of life and hope disappearing into oblivion as this society used its advanced technology to destroy itself.
As he pondered the demise of this world, he set his course back to Earth. He arrived just in time to see the same thing happen here: all the hopes and dreams and potential of an entire world, erased by a global nuclear exchange.
Our world is a lot different today than it was in the late 70's and early 80's. The Cold War that held the world in the fear of sudden nuclear Armageddon is long since over. But there are still dangers, and perhaps worse in some ways now than then. In the Cold War era, at least everyone knew who the players were in the nuclear game. Now countries like Iran and North Korea, countries holding centuries-old grudges against their neighbors and against the EuroAmerican West, are pursuing their nuclear agendas with limited interference. Biological and chemical weapons are also under development in nations that would have been hesitant to rouse the attention of the USA and/or the USSR twenty years ago. And weapons aren't the only problem. Energy use, pollution, and disease also pose serious global threats, if the people we consider experts are to be believed.
Carl Sagan was passionate about science. He believed that our technology had the power to destroy us, but more importantly, he believed that science also held the power to save us. But technology, he said, was only a tool. Bigger and better machines don't make for a better way of life, unless they are used by better people.
Sagan said that the 'reptilian' parts of our brains continue to feed our most primitive instincts: aggression, conquest, and self-interest. But the more evolved parts of our brains entice us toward compassion, cooperation, compromise, and curiosity. In our minds, and in ourselves, lies the capacity to decide what the future will be--or if there will even be a future.
To me, the lesson is clear. The future of humanity depends on each of us becoming more human--not just as nations and communities, but as individuals. The solution to the problems of technology has nothing to do with the machines. It has everything to do with us.
It is our fate to live during one of the most perilous, and at the same time, one of the most hopeful chapters in human history. Our science and our technology have posed us a profound question: Will we learn to use these tools with wisdom and foresight before it's too late? Will we see our species safely through this difficult passage so that our children and grandchildren will continue the great journey of discovery still deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos?
That same rocket and nuclear and computer technology that sends our ships past the farthest known planet can also be used to destroy our global civilization. Exactly the same technology can be used for good and for evil. It is as if there were a God who said to us, "I set before you two ways. You can use your technology to destroy yourselves, or to carry you to the planets and the stars. It's up to you."
-Carl Sagan
posted by Michael at
5:18 PM
2 Comments:
I remember when this was on originally. We didn't have a Video Recorder (they were new and somewhat rare), so I watched it on the TV in my bedroom, and had a little tape recorder, and audio taped the show. I would go to sleep at night listening to those shows.
Great stuff.
I always remember paraphrased "Our bodies, we, are made of Starstuff" - how impressive that made me feel, to know that part of my physical make up was once a part of a star.
By
Lord Mhoram, At
January 15, 2007 6:58 PM
I loved that show, too. Sagan has always been one of my real life heroes and much of that admiration was due to Cosmos. He's not a half bad writer, either. I'll never forget the day he died; I think it was the first time, and probably the last, that I ever shed a tear for a "celebrity."
Awesome post, Mikey.
By
dilliwag, At
January 15, 2007 8:34 PM
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