Carl Sagan’s foreboding of an America, a quote from my favorite book

“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the DarkThis book written in 1995 by Carl and his wife Ann Druyan almost seems like a prediction of the times we are living in today. What I appreciate about Ann and Carl is that they break down complex subjects into simple terms so that the layman can understand. The issues they talk about couldn’t be more important and needs to be understood by everyone.I really wish this was a book they required in the schools to read. Everyone needs to have a healthy level of skepticism in the age of information where anything and everything is being posted online, even here on Reddit.Every book by Carl has been its own gem and an eye opener to the universe and world we live on. Cosmos, Pale Blue Dot, or even his work of fiction Contact is truly spectacular.Many of you have heard of Carl Sagan already but if you have not taken the time to read his work I highly recommend you start with this book. via /r/books https://ift.tt/2YipSPx