Talk:Carl Sagan/Archive1

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This is an archive page, last updated 3 May 2016. Please do not make edits to this page.
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For anyone who has ever seen Cosmos, there is one melody that catches the mind. It starts as a simple piano from movement three of Heaven and Hell by Vangelis. If you have ever watched Cosmos, then this will bring back memories as you close your eyes and see yourself once again soaring through through the universe past stars and galaxies. As the music swells, you will see active galactic nuclei go past. You are again flying on the starship of the imagination once again and thinking of the majesty of the universe - from the subtlety of quarks and quantum dynamics to the shear awesome power of black holes, super novae and galactic super clusters. --Shagie 02:55, 29 August 2007 (CDT)

Thanks, downloading now… --λινυσ() 22:00, 1 June 2008 (EDT)

Category[edit]

Why is the late Mr. Sagan in the "atheism" category? Jesus Christ 23:27, 1 June 2008 (EDT)

There are probably billions and billions of reasons... ħumanUser talk:Human 02:39, 2 June 2008 (EDT)
Name a few. Lyra § talk 02:41, 2 June 2008 (EDT)
HAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAH..... *literally laughing out loud* --Eira omtg! The Goat be praised. 03:27, 2 June 2008 (EDT)
It's a little unsubtle, but I think I covered it. Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)Approach the Presence 03:54, 2 June 2008 (EDT)
I can remember watching 'Cosmos' as a three year old, and even then his arguments for science v. god were so compelling that it put doubt in my mind. Speakerface 19:54, 7 July 2008 (EDT)
When I watched 'Cosmos', I was often taken with Dr. Sagan's portrayal of religion. He projected a sense that religion should be respected as various cultural expressions of literature and creativity. Fiction though they may be, they had their place in the human experience. --Edgerunner76Your views are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter 10:54, 16 July 2008 (EDT)

What the hell is this about?[edit]

H → He → Li → Be → B → C (yum!) → N → O → F

This is very contextless and wrong if you are considering nuclear reactions. Carbon comes from fussing three helium atoms together for example. - π 02:14, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

I was pulling it out of my ass. Feel free to improve, in a simplistic fashion, to express the "star stuff" thing. But consider that the "order" of fusion products might still be correct? ħumanUser talk:Human 03:13, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Quotes[edit]

Should we footnote them? It would seem like the right thing to do. Even if they are crappy webnotes? ħumanUser talk:Human 03:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Youtube Video[edit]

I had no idea we could embed video in this. That is awesome. As is that particular video...ever since I first saw it yesterday, it's made me smile so much. Researcher 03:50, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

There are actually a couple more video's we might want to add to the page. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfwY2TNehw

The later might not be as impressive, but you know, judge 'em for yourself. User:Ryantherebel

Sagan's Spirituality[edit]

I keep hearing a Sagan line "We are a way for the universe to know itself". There is a profound spirituality to that, almost to the level of being pantheistic, to me at least. Am I reading too much into it? Researcher 12:53, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Possibly reading too much into it. I think if he's "spiritual" then its "spirituality" in a more metaphorical sense rather than a genuine belief that something spiritual is out there. Scarlet A.pngd hominem 12:55, 27 October 2009 (UTC)
I was pretty sure I had to be, since he is so well known as a rationalist and atheist, but I thought I'd check with people more familiar with his work. (I was a little too young, overall.) Researcher 14:38, 27 October 2009 (UTC)
You're never too young to watch Cosmos. — Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block 14:59, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Atheist?[edit]

he said himself that he was an agnostic

I don't think he ever said he was atheist or agnostic. The evidence points to atheist. Do you have a quote reference somewhere? CrundyTalk nerdy to me 09:58, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

His Wikipedia page

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/18/AR2006041801870_2.html Ahem. The article itself says that you'd probably call him an atheist, but he didn't like the term, apparently. So he's either a weak atheist, a simple agnostic or possibly something like a pandeist, perhaps. Does it matter too much? Scarlet A.pngd hominem 20:30, 24 April 2010 (UTC)