John Boswell, the madly brilliant sound-chemist who Auto-Tuned his way into our hearts with “A Glorious Dawn” featuring Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, has launched the laud-worthy project “Symphony of Science” which is “designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form.” You couldn’t ask for a better goal than that.
-- Chris Hardwick, Nerdist
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
10.20.2009
9.18.2009
7.15.2009
God, the Universe and Everything Else
"Feeling unhappy because it isn't immediately understandable."
"Nothing will put astrologers out of business."
Here is a video of Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, and Arthur C. Clarke talking about everything and everything's beginning. It consists of questions and answers. The first point that Carl Sagan makes in this video is about questions and answers. He goes on to talk about answers in his own answers. Many people in this world are obsessed with finding and having answers to the questions that they encounter in their lives. Carl Sagan was not one of these people.
The canon of human knowledge will always be finite. The remainder of available knowledge in the universe will always be infinite. Carl Sagan encouraged us to celebrate that which we do not know, and attack it with questions and investigation. With full understanding that the task of science is undoubtedly insurmountable, we attempt it anyway. Not only is the task of science insurmountable, it is constantly working against itself. As soon as we figure something out, that new knowledge has a pesky habit of creating even more questions. Those people who recognize this fact, and purse the pursuit anyway are those who wind up finding the greatest answers.
Sadly, so long as there are things which we do not understand, and indeed there always will be, there will be people who will seek a shortcut to answers without even knowing the right questions to ask. It's easier to follow the words of a charismatic leader, to believe in psychics, blame personal shortcomings on fate, or settle a dispute with violence than to seek and confront an uncomfortable truth.
On behalf of all those he helped make the jump into rejecting dogma and seeking truth through rational inquiry knowing we will never fully find it, let me say thank you to Carl Sagan.
-- submitted to Celebrating Sagan by Dave Lodewyck.
6.24.2009
2.10.2008
"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" released on DVD last week
If you're wondering why you never heard of a spinoff of Cosmos based on Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan's book of the same name, it's because the film in question — a 1964 Soviet film by Sergei Parajanov — was instead the source for the name of the Sagan/Druyan book! (Also, the film is not a documentary as one might expect, but fiction.) This seems to be the first North American region DVD release. Some links to stuff about the film:
11.17.2007
"Atheist" video by Zachary Kroger
This five-minute video in "defense of atheists" has been a hit on YouTube since its debut in mid-2006 (with more than 800,000 views and 80,000 comments, and praise from the likes of James Randi, Michael Shermer, and Penn & Teller), but has gotten extra attention from a mention in the article "God and Man on YouTube" in last week's New York Times Magazine.
Much of the video (a "video response" to icecorescientist's Pale Blue Dot video) features slides of famous people who many might not realize are atheists (similar to lists on websites like this one); and sure enough, Carl Sagan is featured:
The star of Contact also appears:
And at the end, this quote is featured:
9.13.2007
2.22.2007
a Pale Blue Dot
The Icecore Scientist put together this song and film called Pale Blue Dot. They dedicate it to 'Carl and his wife, Ann Druyan.'
12.29.2006
Beyond Belief
Before my long holiday train ride, I took the time to download the recent Beyond Belief sessions to watch during the trip. (One of the few bonuses of riding Amtrak is outlets.) This is hardy stuff that would've made Carl Sagan proud - the meat and potatoes of existence. If you haven't already, you simply must check it out. I recommend session 2.
If you're unfamiliar with the project, here's their website's description:
Ann Druyan gave a particularly moving presentation. Here it is in three parts:
If you're unfamiliar with the project, here's their website's description:
Just 40 years after a famous TIME magazine cover asked "Is God Dead?" the answer appears to be a resounding "No!" According to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in a recent issue of Foreign Policy magazine, "God is Winning". Religions are increasingly a geopolitical force to be reckoned with. Fundamentalist movements - some violent in the extreme - are growing. Science and religion are at odds in the classrooms and courtrooms. And a return to religious values is widely touted as an antidote to the alleged decline in public morality. After two centuries, could this be twilight for the Enlightenment project and the beginning of a new age of unreason? Will faith and dogma trump rational inquiry, or will it be possible to reconcile religious and scientific worldviews? Can evolutionary biology, anthropology and neuroscience help us to better understand how we construct beliefs, and experience empathy, fear and awe? Can science help us create a new rational narrative as poetic and powerful as those that have traditionally sustained societies? Can we treat religion as a natural phenomenon? Can we be good without God? And if not God, then what?
This is a critical moment in the human situation, and The Science Network in association with the Crick-Jacobs Center brought together an extraordinary group of scientists and philosophers to explore answers to these questions. The conversation took place at the Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA from November 5-7, 2006.
Ann Druyan gave a particularly moving presentation. Here it is in three parts:
'Vision.' - A Tribute to Carl Sagan
Lang Kasranov writes:
Thank you for a wonderful site.
I would be honored if you would watch, and possibly include, my recent video about Dr. Sagan. It is hosted at YouTube and Google video.
12.20.2006
12.19.2006
My Homage...
While I don't want to plug my own music, my wife and I have a band called SAGAN and we released a cd/dvd movie called "Unseen Forces" - which is VERY informed by COSMOS. Here's the trailer:
I still miss him.
Thats all.
jlsr
I still miss him.
Thats all.
jlsr
Sagan on Rose.
Carl Sagan was a repeat guest on the Charlie Rose show. Together these two great communicators casually discussed Sagan's life, work, and the status of science in America.Fortunately, two interviews from the last two years of Sagan's life are available to watch on Video.Google.
Or, if you prefer, you can check out the audio from these interviews on the Sounds of Sagan, on the sidebar.
On Faith.
When discussing Sagan it is easy to fall into the groove carved by his atheism. Many people point to him as the like-able friendly face of the belief that god does not exist.
Unlike modern atheists -- Dawkins, Harris, and Dennet (for a brief example please look to Wired magazine) -- Sagan's skepticism about the existence of god did not leave him with ill feelings for religion. He believed that religion could be graceful and was once useful, but he was frustrated when religion put superstition before rational thought.
In his only fictional work, Contact, the action in the novel hangs on two beliefs. The first is that it is possible to teach science, skepticism, and rational thought through fiction. Second is the idea that, as human organizations both religion and science are flawed. Sagan saw that there is an unexplored space between faith and rational thought. As I read it Contact is an exercise in coming to terms with that gap.
The best example is the novel / movie in its entirety. However, since I don't have the ability to post the entire film, this excerpt gets to the point -- here we see rational thought break down and faith step in.
To hear Dr. Sagan speak briefly on religion, listen to the Peter Gzowski interview with Sagan, found in the Sounds of Sagan on the sidebar.
As a side I would also like to point out that the people who have contributed to Celebrating Sagan hold different takes on god and religion. I believe that it is a testament to Sagan's vision that people who have oppositional beliefs can come together underneath the umbrage of his world view.
Unlike modern atheists -- Dawkins, Harris, and Dennet (for a brief example please look to Wired magazine) -- Sagan's skepticism about the existence of god did not leave him with ill feelings for religion. He believed that religion could be graceful and was once useful, but he was frustrated when religion put superstition before rational thought.
In his only fictional work, Contact, the action in the novel hangs on two beliefs. The first is that it is possible to teach science, skepticism, and rational thought through fiction. Second is the idea that, as human organizations both religion and science are flawed. Sagan saw that there is an unexplored space between faith and rational thought. As I read it Contact is an exercise in coming to terms with that gap.
The best example is the novel / movie in its entirety. However, since I don't have the ability to post the entire film, this excerpt gets to the point -- here we see rational thought break down and faith step in.
To hear Dr. Sagan speak briefly on religion, listen to the Peter Gzowski interview with Sagan, found in the Sounds of Sagan on the sidebar.
As a side I would also like to point out that the people who have contributed to Celebrating Sagan hold different takes on god and religion. I believe that it is a testament to Sagan's vision that people who have oppositional beliefs can come together underneath the umbrage of his world view.
12.16.2006
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