Carl Sagan's Foresight from 1996

Carl Sagan was an astronomer and planetary scientist whose most enduring legacy lies in his extraordinary ability to communicate complex ideas to the general public.

Shortly before his death, he participated in an oddly prescient interview about short-form media and public attention. It is worth clicking to hear his clear thoughts about how governments will use ignorance of science and technology to control people.

 

via YouTube

He goes into more detail about this topic in his book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark."

“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness ... the dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance."  - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

With the national outcry at TikTok's ban being upheld in the Supreme Court, this feels even more relevant. 

With TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, even 30 seconds of attention sounds generous. Smooth-sounding AI-generated slop only makes it worse.

In many ways, we've even forgotten how to be appropriately skeptical. It's not enough to question authority and look for trusted evidence; you must also question their detractors and replacements. Laziness and ignorance rarely lead to good outcomes.

There is room in life for faith, optimism, and belief. But when you question what's being pushed toward you, how influenced are you by your existing biases and beliefs? It's hard to reason someone out of a position that they did not reason themselves into. 

Do you think America is becoming more or less ignorant? If more, what do you think it would take to reverse that trend?