Carl+Sagan

Carl Sagan's perspective on the notion of religion...

Carl Sagan wrote an article about the notion of life after death, religion, and the whole idea of spiritual belief. He proposed that people, humans, are too caught up with this spiritual belief that they are misunderstanding, what he believes to be, the purpose of life and that is to bring forth our human capabilities and use them to its fullest. He quoted many authors who have claimed that the study of religion and faith and belief is not the right way to go because it misleads you in life. Sagan believes that there is not enough evidence to prove life after death exists and that the whole notion of religion is nonsense. Sagan quotes Clement, Hume, Paine, and Huxely and their individual beliefs of religion. Sagan then goes forth into explaining how the preaching of religion is like a false commercial. He then goes on to say that scientists are given a baloney detection kit, which is used to detect if an idea is fraud. Sagan believes that these tools verify the truth and they are: · Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the "facts." · Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view. · Arguments from authority carry little weight. · Spin more than one hypothesis. · Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it's yours. · Quantify. · If there's a chain of argument, every link in the chain must work (including the premise) -- not just most of them. · Occam's Razor. This convenient rule-of-thumb urges us when faced with two hypotheses that explain the data equally well to choose the simpler. · Always ask whether the hypothesis can be, at least in principle, falsified.

Sagan was against the idea of religion due to the discrepancies that most religions provide. He looked for concrete scientific evidence that he could see and if it was not spoon fed to him then he would simply not believe it. For example, throughout the article he has claimed that religion is baloney and that it is not true because there are things that cannot be scientifically shown like God, even though many historical figures of different time periods and cultures have come with revelations. He concludes that the baloney detection kit can be misused, applied out of context, or even employed as a rote alternative to thinking. But used correctly he states will make a difference in the world because he believes that it is what justifies truth. He saw this baloney detection kit as a way to justify.

skepticism- doubt about everything, needs evidence, don't accept things unconditionally checklist for argument (baloney detection kit)