Hi!
Are you looking for more joy and positivity
in your life?
Well, welcome to "Joy In Celebrating"!
Here we look at those everyday holidays,
find some that we can talk about, participate in, and share,
and Find Joy In Celebrating Today!
November 9th, 2018.
Today we're looking at Carl Sagan Day.
Coming up!
Carl Sagan Day celebrates the birth of Carl
Edward Sagan.
For those of you who might not know who he
is, let me just quickly read:
"Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist,
author, science populizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences."
So, in some ways, he's a lot like Bill Nye,
the Science Guy...
Or, if you don't know Bill Nye, he's a lot
like Neil Degrasse Tyson.
If you don't know who Neil Degrasse Tyson
is, maybe you might know Mythbusters or
Kyle Hill from Because Science...?
He shared science with the world.
Couple things to know about Carl Sagan:
So, his interest in astronomy began when he was 5 years old.
His mom sent him to the library to find some
books on stars.
Soon after that, his parents took him to the
World's Fair in New York,
and so that increased his interest in science and future... stuff.
He became a fan of the 1940s science fiction
stories.
I also saw some things that said he was drawn
in by flying saucer reports and extra terrestrials,
so, kind of an interesting way to get into
science.
He also didn't let that get him into that
narrow area of thinking,
or just focused in on, the fantastic stories stuff.
You may or may not be familiar with Carl Sagan's
work or some of the things that he said, but
I found some of his quotes really interesting.
Sometimes I agreed with what he said, other times I didn't,
but at all times it appeared to me like he was someone who was legitimately thinking about the world,
and how things worked, and wanting to share that.
So here are some quotes that I really liked
and want to share of his.
And, of course, I cherry-picked a little bit,
but they're my favorite
and those are the ones that I'm going to celebrate and share.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting
to be known.”
“The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good.
Understanding is joyous.”
“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so
open your brains fall out.”
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds
that never were, but without it we go nowhere.”
I like to actually think of this with a lot
of the Star Trek stuff.
Star Trek comes out with the handheld, walkie-talkie,
communicators,
and then people further down the road used that as inspiration for things like cell phones, for example.
“I am often amazed at how much more capability
and enthusiasm for science there is among
elementary school youngsters than among college
students.”
“There are naive questions, tedious questions,
ill-phrased questions,
questions put after inadequate self-criticism.
But every question is a cry to understand
the world.
There is no such thing as a dumb question.”
“Absence of evidence is not evidence of
absence.”
"The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with.
It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices.
It may not be consonant with what we desperately
want to be true.
But our preferences do not determine what’s
true.”
“Science is not only compatible with spirituality;
it is a profound source of spirituality.”
So what do you think?
Who are some people who maybe got you thinking
about something like science, or other subjects?
Let us know in the comments!
And I'd like to give a special thanks to my
friend, Spencer, for suggesting Carl Sagan Day.
I really appreciate it, and it got me thinking.
Thanks for watching!
And, whatever you do, I hope you take time
to
Find Joy In Celebrating Today!
