(via meta-maieutics)
Posts tagged Carl Sagan.
Zen Pencils Comics: 33. EDGAR MITCHELL: A global consciousness
While walking in the street, I was approached by an older woman who mumbled incomprehensibly to me in a hoarse voice. I thought she needed directions or something, so I stopped. She proceeded,
“You have a very strong aura! I have messages for you! I’m a fortune teller…”
“Oh; No, thank you,” I said, and she hurried away.
There were plenty of other auras walking around on that sidewalk, but this woman made a bee-line towards me. By “strong aura”, you mean, “you’re wearing some artsy, “weird” shit and gold shoes so I’m going to target you as someone likely to be interested in supernatural messages”? Because I’m fairly certain that’s exactly what it was.
However, I’m not interested in supernatural messages. Nor in having my future revealed, palm read, mind read, horoscope told, soul cleansed, etc.
Still, I can thank this lady for giving me some inspiration to write, again, about scientific literacy. Point being:
••••••
Irrational Appearance =/= Irrational Mind.
••••••
It’s not always true, and it might often be false. But to think this through: Nature — the Universe — does not give a damn about one’s clothing. It’s entirely arbitrary, except in the physical ways it might help one keep or release energy and interact with the environment.
Any other rules about it are culturally imposed, and remain arbitrary because of that. Anything/one non-human — and anyone human who hasn’t been taught ideas about specific cultural rules — doesn’t know and doesn’t care whether you’re wearing a suit and tie or Prada F/W 2012 or a bustle skirt with pink hair or rags or a monk’s robe or a powdered wig and breeches.
Ergo, aside from the ways in which it might be a good idea to look a certain way in a socio-cultural context for manipulating the ways one interacts with other humans, it means nothing. To be scientifically literate is to understand this.
To take it one step further, so long as we have an idea of the arbitrary, of { how small and inconsequential we are }, that { “if Nature allows it, it’s Natural” }, an idea of { context }, a sense of { perspective }…
Why not embrace the absurd? It’s already all silly anyway.
••••••
Image: Vivienne Westwood x Melissa: Anglomania Wing in Gold,
over Hubble’s { Jet in Carina }.
Relevant.
P.S.
I’m sure some will re-blog this just for the image and will delete all of this nasty, TL;DR text. Of course, you’re free to. But to do so is to miss the point entirely and to deprive others of stumbling upon something which should be considered — not only looked at, “liked” and “wanted”.
realcleverscience asked: Just a comment: I think many people - including myself - know that the Greeks and others had primitive notions of evolution, but they never discussed probable causes for it. The Islamic quote is interesting precisely bc it seems to touch on natural selection. That said, yeah, the educational system is woefully inadequate.
Certainly, the intellectual prowess of the Greeks hasn’t gone unnoticed…
sort of:
My comment about the educational system… mostly a reaction to the canon of what is passed on — all mostly as singular stories sans connections. At least, that’s been my experience in schools.
This post reminded me that I didn’t even know about Eratosthenes (!) until watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos a few of years ago (well into college), and because Eastern contributions to science & maths, like Al Jahiz’s, are often (largely) ignored. Again, my experience, but also basing that off of similar complaints heard ‘round the web.
As for the Anaximander addition, it was mostly for my own archival/research purposes — I’m interested in abiogenesis and had no idea about him, prior.
re: { Struggle for Existence }, 800’s CE
There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our thoughts.
Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian
It would be a poor thing to be an atom in a universe without physicists, and physicists are made of atoms - A physicist is the atom’s way of knowing about atoms.
The { Operating System } is featured today on { SVA Portfolios } at Behance.
Thank you!
![spacep0rn:
The Voyager Golden Record
The Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for future humans, who may find them. The Voyager spacecraft are not heading towards any particular star, but Voyager 1 will be within 1.6 light years of the star AC+79 3888 in the Ophiuchus constellation in about 40,000 years.[1]
As the probes are extremely small compared to the vastness of interstellar space, the probability of a space faring civilization encountering them is very small, especially since the probes will eventually stop emitting any kind of electromagnetic radiation. If they are ever found by an alien species, it will most likely be far in the future as the nearest star on Voyager 1’s trajectory will only be reached in 40,000 years.
Carl Sagan noted that “The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this ‘bottle’ into the cosmic ‘ocean’ says something very hopeful about life on this planet.”[2] Thus the record is best seen as a time capsule or a symbolic statement rather than a serious attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial life.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw46fji5pY1r2p9x3o1_500.jpg)
The Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for future humans, who may find them. The Voyager spacecraft are not heading towards any particular star, but Voyager 1 will be within 1.6 light years of the star AC+79 3888 in the Ophiuchus constellation in about 40,000 years.[1]
As the probes are extremely small compared to the vastness of interstellar space, the probability of a space faring civilization encountering them is very small, especially since the probes will eventually stop emitting any kind of electromagnetic radiation. If they are ever found by an alien species, it will most likely be far in the future as the nearest star on Voyager 1’s trajectory will only be reached in 40,000 years.
Carl Sagan noted that “The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this ‘bottle’ into the cosmic ‘ocean’ says something very hopeful about life on this planet.”[2] Thus the record is best seen as a time capsule or a symbolic statement rather than a serious attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial life.
(via itsfullofstars)
paleblued0t: two hands put to work... ›
Those who follow my Facebook wall posts no doubt have noticed a heavy political slant to many of them, involving support for many liberal causes, among those being gay rights. It might seem like I should not care quite so much about this particular issue, given that I am not homosexual, nor do I know very many people who are. I am, however, a member of a minority group myself - one whose members often also live in secrecy for fear of ostracism or judgment from friends and family, who are banned from joining organizations like the Boy Scouts, who are rated as “potentially deficient” by the military, and who are according to public opinion polls greatly mistrusted by a large segment of society. I am an atheist.
I have been an atheist for probably about 4 or 5 years now, though it’s hard to give an exact figure because the realization happened slowly over a long period of time. It was resisted at first, but the more I learned about the world, the more I learned about the pathological dishonesty of leading theologians (including many hypocrites and con men who make millions by peddling lies and ignorance to their followers - Pat Robertson, Kent Hovind, Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart, Peter Popoff, Roy Comfort, John Hagee, Ken Copeland, Marjoe Gortner, the late Jerry Falwell and Oral Roberts, and on and on), the countless contradictions and absurdities in the Bible, its promotion of brutal and antisocial behaviors, and the seemingly endless conflict between religion and science, I realized that I could not continue to support any religion; I agree wholeheartedly with the words of Thomas Paine, who said that churches are “human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit”. I simply have yet to hear a convincing argument for the existence of any gods, and while I of course cannot say with certainty that one does not exist, I must be honest with myself and say that I am an agnostic atheist. I am simply unconvinced by any arguments in favor of the existence of a deity; I do not believe in gods for exactly the same reasons that I do not believe in unicorns or leprechauns.
The rift between science and religion was a particular sticking point for me when it came to losing my faith. Despite the fact that the two do not need to be in disagreement (the late Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould described science and religion as “non-overlapping magisteria”), many theologians nevertheless create conflict between the two because while science by definition does not and cannot disprove the existence of any supernatural reality, it can and does disprove *specific* claims about supernatural realities found in various holy books. This causes irreconcilable conflicts with those who equate their holy book with their deity, and has led to a centuries-long record of churches stifling scientific knowledge, from the age of the earth and universe to heliocentricity to biological evolution. If forced to choose between a system of investigating nature which has led to dramatic increases in our standard of living, including modern medicine, worldwide transportation, indoor plumbing and climate control, modern agricultural methods, instant global communication, and much more; and fealty to ancient books which have been used to promote bigotry, slavery, misogyny, homophobia, violence, prejudice, genocide and ignorance; I choose the former.
I have tried to keep my rejection of religion to myself at first, for various reasons. Naturally I wanted to avoid any conflict with my family members, some of whom I’d expect to react fairly negatively to this fact. However, I let my true beliefs slip out at times, partly because I am opinionated, and find this to be an important topic, and partly because I feel that a person should not be forced into silence about who they are or what they do or do not believe. In a world where religious fundamentalism leads to violent repression of women and other minorities, retards the advance of science and lifesaving technologies that could result from stem cell research, and contributes to the AIDS epidemic which kills millions of people every year (via dogmatic objection to contraception use in the third world), I feel that people who hold secular humanist views should not be afraid to speak up against these injustices, without having to fear retribution from the majority of the population who are religious. The current political climate in this country, with an entire political party becoming increasingly beholden to irrational beliefs and bigotry based on religious fundamentalism has also persuaded me to out myself out of serious concern for the damage that this kind of irrationalism has done and is continuing to do to this country. I do find encouragement from various places. Polls show that increasing numbers of Americans are admitting to atheism, or at least to belonging to no specific religion. The march of gay rights is proceeding slowly but surely across the country, showing an increasing tolerance for minority views and lifestyles. We even now have a black president, which can make one optimistic that we may even elect an openly atheist president some day. Hopefully the day will come when someone growing up in this country will not need to feel the need to keep these sorts of ideas to themselves.
I anticipate a bit of a negative reaction to this, and understandably so. In fact, I’ve found it remarkably difficult to post this note, having kept it on my hard drive for several weeks. Religion is a topic which we tend to take very personally, for it ties into some of the most fundamental questions we have about our existence. We are a species capable of contemplating our own mortality. We have all lost loved ones, and will inevitably lose more. Religion gives people a hope that they can escape their own death, that they can see lost friends and family again, that they can enjoy an existence free from the suffering and despair that is an unfortunate part of life on earth. I would like to believe that these things are possible, but I see no compelling reason to believe them to be true. And I’m ok with that. I don’t believe that something must last forever in order to have any value or meaning. Life is precious, and though it is temporary, I would rather face that reality honestly than to comfort myself in baseless promises of something more.
Surely, some people have already become aware of my beliefs (or lack thereof, in this case), but others may not have. I welcome any questions or comments about this, as long as they are civil and reasonable. Hopefully I can do my part to dispel common misconceptions or falsehoods regarding atheists - that we “hate” god, that we want to be wild hedonists or sociopaths, or whatever else a person may think about the subject. Simply put, there seem to be some prevalent stereotypes about atheists that are completely and utterly false. We are not less moral, or more violent, or more generally harmful to society than believers, despite what many preachers would have you believe. I am not an atheist because I want to scorn morality; I look forward to a day when our societal ethics can be arrived at through rational discussion, argument, and reason, rather than blindly followed from ancient texts, and when people are not deprived of basic rights because of the color of their skin, their gender, or their sexual orientation. I am an atheist simply because I am unconvinced about the existence of any gods. I am an atheist because I believe I would prefer a hard truth to a comforting fiction. Because I believe two hands put to work will accomplish more than a million clasped in prayer. Because I believe that knowledge is more important than belief.
———
“… in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them…as the Lord your God has commanded you.” - Deuteronomy 20:16-17
“Slay the pagans wherever you may come upon them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every conceivable place…” - Quran, 9:5
“I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me” - Luke 19:26-27
“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.” - Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Well, let’s see how this goes over….
What is this from? (( can’t get a signal from TinEye. ))
Although I like this, it’s a strange graphic… is my head-area not stardust?
{ Cosmic Calendar }
Scaled in proportion to one Earth Year.
1 Jan(midnight)
Big Bang
15 Mar
First star and galaxies form
1 May
Milky Way galaxy form
8 Sep
Sun forms
9 Sep
Solar System forms.
12 Sep
Earth forms.
13 Sep
Moon forms.
20 Sep
Earth’s atmosphere forms.
1 Oct
Earliest known life on earth.
7 Oct
Earliest Known fossils.
18 Dec
First many celled life forms.
19 Dec
First Fish.
21 Dec
First land plants
23 Dec
First reptiles.
24 Dec
First Dinosaurs.
26 Dec
First mammals.
27 Dec
First birds.
28 Dec
Dinosaurs extinct.
31 Dec
Homo sapiens (modern human) appears.
image: { Carly Waito }: Smoky Quartz
There’s another reason I think popularizing science is important, why I try to do it. It’s a foreboding I have — maybe ill-placed — of an America in my children’s generation, or my grandchildren’s generation, when all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when we’re a service and information-processing economy; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest even grasps the issues; when the people … have lost the ability to set their own agendas, or even to knowledgeably question those who do set the agendas; when there is no practice in questioning those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what’s true and what feels good, we slide, almost without noticing, into superstition and darkness.
— Carl Sagan
We can tell our children that school is important until we’re blue in the face, they’re not stupid. They see the loudest applause is for the kids on the field. They know teachers are paid poorly and don’t drive fancy cars. They know people plan Super Bowl parties but mock the National Spelling Bee. In other words, they see the hypocrisy, and we can’t expect society to correct itself. If we want to have any lasting influence on the way our kids approach education — the way future generations approach education — then we have to grab our pom-poms and paint our faces and celebrate intellectual curiosity with the same vigor we do their athletic achievements.
Why I’m raising my son to be a nerd - CNN.com
We also don’t believe in the value of education, culturally — we just like to say we do because as citizens of an industrialized nation, we’re supposed to.
(via chameli)
••••••
But it’s more than this — it’s more than athletics vs academics. The other problem is, you’re told “it’s important” again and again, and maybe you’re told it’ll get you a job, it’ll get you into a good school, it’ll solve your financial issues. But these things make education out to be something secondary — just do enough to get you somewhere. They don’t inspire, they don’t provoke curiosity. They don’t appeal to our intrinsic complexity, our sense of wonder about our world. To say, learn and get a job and do the thing… it’s really boring. Why not expect more? It isn’t like we’re incapable of it.
(via paleblued0t)
{ Ignatio Torres }: Stellar
This project began from the theory that humans are made of cosmic matter as a result of a stars death. I created imagery that showcased this cosmic birth through the use of dust and reflective confetti to create galaxies. The models organic bodily expressions as they are frozen in time between the particles suggest their celestial creation. In addition, space and time is heightened by the use of three-dimensional animated gifs. Their movement serves as a visual metaphor to the spatial link we share with stars as well as their separateness through time.
••••••
Perhaps it goes without saying, but please see the whole project (in larger sizes, also) on the artist’s website. It’s wonderful.
