54 pages • 1 hour read
Carl SaganA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Sagan’s primary thesis in The Demon-Haunted World is neither to decry human belief in pseudoscience, nor to declare the primacy of Science over Magical/Spiritual Thinking. The unifying idea of the work is that the verifying nature of the scientific method can also be converted into a mode of thinking about other realms of human life. Sagan turns his work into an example of his method, structuring chapters into the building blocks of his argument, displaying the proper method while teaching it.
Sagan softens this pedagogical approach by making himself part of the study. He stresses the importance of teaching the failed attempts of renowned scientists, so that people won’t be discouraged when they find out they perhaps have placed their beliefs in incorrect places. By recharacterizing missteps as simply part of the process, Sagan hopes to rid mistakes of their stopping power. Rather, mistakes give the active thinker another chance to improve knowledge and sharpen skeptical thinking skills. The most important thing is to perpetuate the process, to continue to practice skeptical thinking, to question all assertions, and to remember that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
The simplicity of Bacon's method and the fine edge of Occam's razor are models of scientific thinking, which remind us that science is not a close-ended process, but one of continual evolution and discovery. This is why Sagan stresses the wonder of science, which is vigorous enough a process to excite minds and hearts. In this view, pseudoscience and superstition are blinding people to the actual vast wonders of the world, plus they are static, close-ended knowledge loops which replace the thrill of discovery with the awe of passive marvel. By getting past the wall of marvels, Sagan argues, we can sustain ourselves and future generations.
Vital for getting to this vision is clear, critical thinking. By adapting the scientific method into a mode of thinking, Sagan wants to harness the power of science to transcend the shifting fortunes of humanity. Sagan reinforces that the principles of observation, hypothesis, and truth seeking can be applied to any realm mired in dogmatic assertion. The truth can be found everywhere, through a process built to illuminate the darkness that afflicts human lives.
Sagan is unapologetically patriotic, and his love of America underscores the entirety of his mission in The Demon-Haunted World. Virtually all of his data is drawn from American records, and he focuses primarily on American examples of superstition and pseudoscience. His task is not to shame the American people by laying their erroneous beliefs bare, however. His fears run deeper, amounting to a “foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time” (25), which sounds strikingly like contemporary America. Sagan attempts to prevent this from happening; the final two chapters of his work speak directly to these issues, while his entire argument underscores the notion that skeptical thinking can help save America from its decline.
Sagan couples his warnings about pseudoscience with a discussion of how the social decline of other countries, such as the USSR and China, correlated with a rise in superstition and the breakdown of systems of education. The link between these two concepts, the proliferation of superstition and conspiratorial thinking, and the decline of democratic and social institutions, is made early and is held to be implicit throughout Sagan’s argument. A lack of critical thinking harms infrastructure, as, at each level, the system failures increase until the system can no longer function; to prevent this, constant vigilance is required. To illustrate the danger, Sagan ties governmental health to something as seemingly benign as belief in clairvoyance: “when governments and societies lose the capacity for critical thinking, the results can be catastrophic” (209).
Sagan’s project is clearly motivated by concern for the decline of educational standards in America, and his focus on the abysmal showings of American students is both a lament and a call to action. As a teacher, he believes in preparing the next generation for their roles as stewards of democracy, providing them with sketches of great Americans like Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin, as well as more drawn out and admiring portraits of Frederick Douglass and Thomas Jefferson. Douglass is an example of the will to learn amidst horrifying circumstance, and the liberating power of literacy and the free exchange of ideas. Jefferson allows Sagan to illustrate what is fundamental to the health and perpetuation of American democracy: Jefferson’s reserve, scrutinizing intelligence, and unfettered questioning of authority led him to prefer a balanced government rather than a polarized republic, as his deep knowledge of history gave him insight into the degradation of societies left in the hands of single leaders.
Sagan presents Jefferson as one familiar with scientific thinking, arguing that his skeptical mind helped reinforce the Constitution with its strongest safeguards against tyranny: freedom of speech, separation of powers, and the Bill of Rights. These three Jeffersonian additions foster an environment for critical thinking free from dogma and persecution, enabling the free exchange of ideas and the notion of individual rights. These are the inheritance of every American, Sagan argues, and they foster a free and democratic society. Upholding them is the responsibility of every American, and they can only be kept healthy if they are reinforced by critical thinking and skeptical inquisition.
Sagan understands the human to experience awe at marvelous claims, and to want to believe. This feeds the belief in pseudoscience, as it is easier and more alluring to buy into the fantastic notions of aliens, clairvoyance, and faith healing, than to question such things and accept a less numinous universe. Sagan is careful not to blame those who do believe. In fact, he asserts that we all begin in error, scientists and skeptical thinkers included: The truth is reached through proactive thinking and the cautious analysis of logical fallacies, not by birth or religious status. The thrust of The Demon-Haunted World is that those practicing skeptical thinking may not be free of error, but they can use scientific thinking to move beyond it.
Chapter 13's analysis of the vast numbers of people who benefit from faith healers explores the sheer power of belief. While there is no physical alteration in people's health, the placebo effect enables millions to perpetuate myths about this pseudoscience, and leave many feeling as though they have actually been healed. When confronted with counter-evidence, many choose to disbelieve the proof and remain comfortable in their delusion. Sagan recognizes this and later even questions how rigorously skeptical some should be, acknowledging that it is difficult to determine the right balance between the harsh reality of skeptical materialism and the comfortable fantasy of pseudoscience. This is why Sagan stresses individual assessment and warns that it is not just the external con we need to be wary of, but the internal con of self-delusion. Sagan's method counters the excesses of pseudoscience and the natural desire to believe; its rigor is vital to a healthy mind and a healthy society.
The stasis of pseudoscience and superstition meets the human desire for complete, unambiguous knowledge. Scientists also feel this urge to have complete understanding, but their active method of truth seeking tempers the inclination. Conversely, pseudoscience allows for the prominence of gut feelings, which offer self-important and self-satisfying knowledge. Sagan wants us to realize, however, that a higher satisfaction comes with knowledge buttressed by evidence, and that the confidence of discovery is far more satisfying than the closed-loop faux certainty of pseudoscience.
Appearance Versus Reality
View Collection
Education
View Collection
Middle Grade Nonfiction
View Collection
Nation & Nationalism
View Collection
Philosophy, Logic, & Ethics
View Collection
Psychology
View Collection
Religion & Spirituality
View Collection
Science & Nature
View Collection
Trust & Doubt
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection
YA Nonfiction
View Collection