Carl%20Sagan%20-%20The%20Demon%20Haunted%20World

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The Demon-Haunted World
There are demon-haunted worlds, regions of utter darkness.
The ISA Upanishad
(India, c. 600 BC)
Fear of things invisible is the natural seed of that which
every one in himself calleth religion.
Thomas Hobbes,
Leviathan (1651)
The gods watch over us and guide our destinies, many human
cultures teach; other entities, more malevolent, are responsible
for the existence of evil. Both classes of beings, whether
considered natural or supernatural, real or imaginary, serve
human needs. Even if they're wholly fanciful, people feel better
believing in them. So in an age when traditional religions have
been under withering fire from science, is it not natural to wrap up
the old gods and demons in scientific raiment and call them aliens?
Belief in demons was widespread in the ancient world. They were
thought of as natural rather than supernatural beings. Hesiod
casually mentions them. Socrates described his philosophical
inspiration as the work of a personal, benign demon. His teacher,
Diotima of Mantineia, tells him (in Plato's Symposium) that
'Everything demonic is intermediate between God and mortal.
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