Carl Sagan- Pale Blue Dot

jikaboom123 · 01-18-2009, 09:27 PM

I love Carl Sagan. He's so smart, and always had great things to say. Plus he was a big toker!

YouTube - Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot

Quote:

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

Fucking brilliant. I have a poster with a picture of our galaxy and a dot marking where we are, it has the quote above on it. I love that poster.

**Vicki** · 01-18-2009, 09:41 PM

Carl Sagan is one of my favorite people.

I plan to purchase Cosmos on DVD too.

Yana Usdi · 01-19-2009, 01:02 AM

Sagan is one of my favorites, in attitude as much as anything. A lot of what he used to talk about is outdated by now but outside of Neil Degrasse Tyson I can't think of anyone else around today that comes even close to communicating the love of science that Carl did.

If I thought anyone would watch them I'd post more science clips, there are a lot of very cool ones out there. What do people here care about? Cosmology? String/M-Theory? Evolution/Abiogenesis?

**Vicki** · 01-19-2009, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yana Usdi

Sagan is one of my favorites, in attitude as much as anything. A lot of what he used to talk about is outdated by now but outside of Neil Degrasse Tyson I can't think of anyone else around today that comes even close to communicating the love of science that Carl did.

I don't like the Pluto killer....er, I mean Dr. Tyson.

Michio Kaku is more my style.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yana Usdi

If I thought anyone would watch them I'd post more science clips, there are a lot of very cool ones out there. What do people here care about? Cosmology? String/M-Theory? Evolution/Abiogenesis?

I love Cosmology the most. String/M theory is fascinating.

Yana Usdi · 01-19-2009, 01:31 AM

Michio Kaku is VERY cool and as one of the authors of M-theory personally I like him better too, for string or M theory him and Lisa Randall of Harvard are both really good. Michio's a bit theoretical though and unless they have some background in string theory it all just seems too bizarre to the new viewers, like science fiction. The difference is more between a great teacher of newbies and a teacher for those already into science I'd guess. For those of us who are into real science he's probably more useful than Neil is, no argument at all, but Neil conveys an enthusiasm that can draw in new people. He's too much of an oddball to not seem like a bit of fun

One of my favorites from him is his description of "death by black hole". I mean damn, it's death, and death by any means can't be a good thing, but he makes it sound as if he's looking forward to it. This is part of a much longer segment you can find on FORA TV, I'll link the full clip at the end, it's a half hour in all.

YouTube - Neil DeGrasse Tyson - Death By Black...

FORA.tv - Neil DeGrasse Tyson: Death by Black Hole

Can playlists be posted here, or just single clips? There's a playlist or few that might be interesting if they work here.

**Vicki** · 01-19-2009, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yana Usdi

Michio Kaku is VERY cool and as one of the authors of M-theory personally I like him better too, for string or M theory him and Lisa Randall of Harvard are both really good. Michio's a bit theoretical though and unless they have some background in string theory it all just seems too bizarre to the new viewers, like science fiction. The difference is more between a great teacher of newbies and a teacher for those already into science I'd guess. For those of us who are into real science he's probably more useful than Neil is, no argument at all, but Neil conveys an enthusiasm that can draw in new people. He's too much of an oddball to not seem like a bit of fun

I actually like listening to Michio talk about string/M theory. For some reason, I get lost in what he's saying, and I don't seem to have a hard time understanding him at all.

I don't know why, but I find Neil a bit arrogant. Might just be me, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yana Usdi

One of my favorites from him is his description of "death by black hole". I mean damn, it's death, and death by any means can't be a good thing, but he makes it sound as if he's looking forward to it. This is part of a much longer segment you can find on FORA TV, I'll link the full clip at the end, it's a half hour in all.

Oh, I know! I remember listening to him talk about being "spaghettified" like it would be such a cool experience. I couldn't think of a worse way to go! Well, I could think of a few considering that you would probably be long dead before the "spaghettification" ever started. Sorry for making up a bad word, btw.

RandomOne · 01-19-2009, 11:33 AM

Lol, I can't tell if he's tripping out, just having fun and enjoying the topic, or doing a comedy bit

**Vicki** · 01-21-2009, 02:35 PM

I wish I had the money right now because Cosmos is on sale....IMO, the best Cosmology/Astronomy/Science show ever made.

Cosmos: Carl Sagan DVD Set -- Discovery Channel Store -- 677369

**Hashishi** · 01-21-2009, 03:07 PM

The whole series is streamed here (check the playlist on your right), if that helps tie you over.

01-18-2009, 09:41 PM	#2
Vicki Herbal Alchemist Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 10,895 Grams: 67,108.97 Thanks: 5,306 Thanked 3,710 Times in 1,974 Posts Stock Portfolio Total Value: 0.000 Gain/Loss: 0.000%	Carl Sagan is one of my favorite people. I plan to purchase Cosmos on DVD too. __________________ Be kinder than necessary as everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Save the Wand Hash! Hungry? Non-Cannabis Recipes Want real free samples? Those that forget the past are condemned to re-live it. "If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man." ~ St. Francis of Assisi ~

01-19-2009, 01:02 AM	#3
Yana Usdi Dogs best friend Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1,001 Grams: 14,642.15 Thanks: 1,111 Thanked 979 Times in 458 Posts Stock Portfolio Total Value: 0.000 Gain/Loss: 0.000%	Sagan is one of my favorites, in attitude as much as anything. A lot of what he used to talk about is outdated by now but outside of Neil Degrasse Tyson I can't think of anyone else around today that comes even close to communicating the love of science that Carl did. If I thought anyone would watch them I'd post more science clips, there are a lot of very cool ones out there. What do people here care about? Cosmology? String/M-Theory? Evolution/Abiogenesis? __________________ "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day." -Dan Moon Always be kind to animals, Morning, noon and night: For animals have feelings too, And furthermore, they bite. - John Gardner

01-21-2009, 02:35 PM	#8
Vicki Herbal Alchemist Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 10,895 Grams: 67,108.97 Thanks: 5,306 Thanked 3,710 Times in 1,974 Posts Stock Portfolio Total Value: 0.000 Gain/Loss: 0.000%	Cosmos on sale! I wish I had the money right now because Cosmos is on sale....IMO, the best Cosmology/Astronomy/Science show ever made. Cosmos: Carl Sagan DVD Set -- Discovery Channel Store -- 677369 Last edited by Vicki : 01-21-2009 at 03:00 PM.

01-21-2009, 03:07 PM	#9
Hashishi Unf*ckwit'able Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 4,691 Grams: 34,919.42 Thanks: 1,569 Thanked 1,712 Times in 924 Posts Stock Portfolio Total Value: 0.000 Gain/Loss: 0.000%	The whole series is streamed here (check the playlist on your right), if that helps tie you over. __________________

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