#saganism

[thoreau-in-making]

"The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true."

Happy Birthday Carl Sagan

[olfamannai]

Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot(From Cosmos: A Space-Time Odessey with Subtitle)

Below is a paragraph that I wrote in 2017 when I was asked to describe my passion for astronomy (without editing) for our association fb page at the beginning of its foundation.

I've added one of Carl Sagan's  most thrilling speeches that will never stop being a source of inspiration and a great reminder to stop wasting your time on the trivialities of life and expand your consciousness towards the big pic of living, the purpose behind your existence, and your place in the universe:

What ignited my passion for the universe were the existential questions that have been always haunting me. Also, gazing at a starry sky had given me a familiar sense of belonging. The universe rises us above the daily problems of the whole or what we call the cosmic consciousness that transcends the geographical, intellectual, sects, and colors. Every time I look up at the stars I feel embraced by a peaceful state of mind. Additionally, my passion has grown with wonderful scientists like Carl Sagan, Michio Kaku, Jason Silva, and so on. I can also trace my initial interest in the universe to documentaries, movies, and art that unleash the imagination and stir our curiosity. Furthermore, when NASA launches a missile, my heart jumps with joy, pride, and fear of the mysterious secrets hidden there and it gets my adrenaline going not because of myself, my family, my friends, or even my country like in a football match, but because of them all, because of humanity... Auroras, stars, nebulae, and galaxies which fuse art and science into a challenge for our senses to grow sharper, to discover and learn much more, and as Neil Degrasse Tyson said: "Not only do we live among stars, the stars live within us." My first observation was in 2015 witnessing the solar eclipse. A year later I was lucky enough to be part of an astronomical club, joining people sharing me the same passion, working together, and imparting this passion in others.

[annaconda16]

[scientificphilosopher]

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.

Carl Sagan

[x]

[thoreau-in-making]

[set-sail-for-the-stars]

[exhausted-electron]

"We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."

— Carl Sagan, Cosmos

[burhan-sust-blog]

Pale Blue Dot

This is one of my most favorite quote from any book ever.

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…

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