《The Demon-Haunted World—Science as a Candle in the Dark》[U.S.] by Carl Sagan / translated by Li Daguang Jilin People’s Publishing House, January 1998
If, among the basket of popular-science classics I recommend, you only have the patience to read one book, then read Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World—Science as a Candle in the Dark! This is not a book that popularizes “scientific knowledge”; it has nothing to do with profound relativity theory or quantum theory. What it deals with is the topic of “the scientific spirit.” Half of Americans don’t know that the Earth goes around the sun once a year; the public’s scientific literacy is worse than you might imagine. Why do pseudosciences flourish? Why do supernatural phenomena, paranormal powers, alien abductions, astrology, and the like arouse more enthusiasm than science? This book may give you some inspiration. It reminds me of a question I once thought about: why are things like horoscopes and divination so fashionable among young people, especially among highly educated young people? Very few people have seriously reflected on this question. In fact, what people lack is not primarily “scientific knowledge” (though they lack that very much as well), but the absence of the scientific spirit and scientific attitude! Without the proper attitude toward science, even if one has learned quite a lot of scientific knowledge from textbooks and television, its effect on cultivating scientific literacy is still virtually zero! Even the current social atmosphere surrounding science is highly unhealthy; the media’s attitude toward science is superficial and restless. Even the Discovery educational documentaries I once admired were, in retrospect, often irresponsible and vulgar. Society, from classroom education to media dissemination, is saturated with distortions of science. Even popular-science books and anti-pseudoscience monographs conceal many factors that lead to misunderstanding (which is why I recommend reading as few domestic popular-science books as possible, and as few non-classic, dubious foreign science books as possible). Because of such a social environment, there have appeared large numbers of anti-scientists, believers in pseudoscience, superstitious believers in science, abusers of science, and so on. People are far too easily “gullible,” including gullibility toward mysticism and gullibility toward scientism; even sadder, those who are gullible often think of themselves as rebels… By the way, my views do not always fully coincide with Sagan’s. For example, I am more accommodating toward religious belief, and I place more emphasis on the fact that science cannot solve all problems. But I prefer to regard those differences as differences of inclination and emphasis, not as any essential difference at all. I support Sagan’s views and his merciless exposure of social darkness and ignorance. It is only on the premise of insisting on the scientific spirit that I will talk about religion, and I have no interest in talking about supernatural mysterious powers or astrology. My views on the relationship between religious belief and science are hard to explain briefly and clearly; one may also refer to Einstein’s view of religion.
July 23, 2005
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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