Happy Carl Sagan Day!

Carl Sagan's birthday is November 9th, but apparently Carl Sagan Day is celebrated the Saturday before (today, in other words). It's hard to believe but Sagan has been dead nearly 14 years now. He would have been 76 on Tuesday.

The sky calls to us
If we do not destroy ourselves
We will one day venture to the stars

Inspiring, isn't it? Note that the lyrics are posted on YouTube.

We rational people have suffered a lot of bad news lately, so it feels good to celebrate something, doesn't it? And Sagan certainly had a way of showing us the wonder of the universe, and the wonder of science. A music video? Well, why not.

And in honor of the day, here are my favorite Carl Sagan quotes:

I don't want to believe, I want to know.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being true.

You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.

There are many hypotheses in science which are wrong. That's perfectly all right; they're the aperture to finding out what's right. Science is a self-correcting process. To be accepted, new ideas must survive the most rigorous standards of evidence and scrutiny.

There is no other species on Earth that does science. It is, so far, entirely a human invention, evolved by natural selection in the cerebral cortex for one simple reason: it works. It is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything.

But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

We are prodding, challenging, seeking contradictions or small, persistent residual errors, proposing alternative explanations, encouraging heresy. We give our highest rewards to those who convincingly disprove established beliefs.

Faith is clearly not enough for many people. They crave hard evidence, scientific proof. They long for the scientific seal of approval, but are unwilling to put up with the rigorous standards of evidence that impart credibility to that seal.

In a democracy, opinions that upset everyone are sometimes exactly what we need. We should be teaching our children the scientific method and the Bill of Rights.

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, "This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed!"? Instead they say, "No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way."

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.

If some good evidence for life after death were announced, I'd be eager to examine it; but it would have to be real scientific data, not mere anecdote. As with the face on Mars and alien abductions, better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy.

Science is merely an extremely powerful method of winnowing what's true from what feels good.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity - in all this vastness - there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us.

Yes, it's up to us. Let's remember that.