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

THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD
scientists worse than weird: they're crazed.
The applications of science, of course, can be dangerous, and,
as I've tried to stress, virtually every major technological advance
in the history of the human species - back to the invention of stone
tools and the domestication of fire - has been ethically ambiguous.
These advances can be used by ignorant or evil people for
dangerous purposes or by wise and good people for the benefit of
the human species. But only one side of the ambiguity ever seems
to be presented in these offerings to our children.
Where in these programmes are the joys of science? The
delights in discovering how the universe is put together? The
exhilaration in knowing a deep thing well? What about the crucial
contributions that science and technology have made to human
welfare, or the billions of lives saved or made possible by medical
and agricultural technology? (In fairness, though, I should mention
that the Professor in 'Gilligan's Island' often used his knowledge
of science to solve practical problems for the castaways.)
We live in a complex age where many of the problems we face
can, whatever their origins, only have solutions that involve a
deep understanding of science and technology. Modern society
desperately needs the finest minds available to devise solutions to
these problems. I do not think that many gifted youngsters will be
encouraged towards a career in science or engineering by watching
Saturday-morning television - or much of the rest of the
available American video menu.
Over the years, a profusion of credulous, uncritical TV series
and 'specials' - on ESP, channelling, the Bermuda Triangle,
UFOs, ancient astronauts, Big Foot, and the like - have been
spawned. The style-setting series 'In Search of . . .' begins with a
disclaimer disavowing any responsibility to present a balanced
view of the subject. You can see a thirst for wonder here
untempered by even rudimentary scientific scepticism. Pretty
much whatever anyone says on camera is true. The idea that there
might be alternative explanations to be decided among by the
weight of evidence never surfaces. The same is true of 'Sightings'
and 'Unsolved Mysteries' - in which, as the very title suggests,
prosaic solutions are unwelcome - and innumerable other clones.
'In Search of . . .' frequently takes an intrinsically interesting
350