Sagan/ Pale Blue Dot

Sagan begins his article in a particular way that almost threw me off; breaking into a tangent about Orwell’s perspective on science. He starts off with by describing an experience with a man who had a rather narrow mind on the field of science. In doing so he provides an example of a byproduct of cracked system we call an education in this country. Compared to other nations we are not only falling behind, but we are also continuing that trend. The reason for such a decline is because of what Sagan refers to as a lack of “motivation”, in that of role of education and the minds of the students. In today’s day and age education has lost much of its meaning. Instead aiming to excel, most students aim for the minimum that would be enough to get them through the educational system as quickly as possible so that they can get started in the working world. Becoming the norm of things, this effect seems to have dulled the minds of many of the next generations of students, making them less insightful and willing to question. This ignorance is not only held by the students but the education itself.

I believe Sagan was aiming for a wide spectrum of people within the country, both young and old. To me it sounds much like a warning or a wake up call that things are taking a toll for the worse and something needs to be done as soon as possible. What perhaps scared me the most was when Sagan mentioned the statistics of United States students and population to that of other countries. Even for a slightly out dated article like this they do not seem so far off from the truth. But this by no means makes many of these people less intelligent in reasoning and logic. Instead it puts these people at a disadvantage to the rest of the world or progress itself.

Pale Blue Dot:

Watching this made me think back to a comparison of the universe. This had nothing to do with any philosophical meaning or anything. It was just a comparison of size; our Earth to everything else. With every new planet, star, and galaxy they showed the Earth became so tiny to the point of a small pale blue dot. Now normally we are meant to feel inferior; us, the entire human race, on a speck of dust being compared to a sun. Well of course with if we do that we look pretty meaningless right? Well what is a sun? Would it even have a name if it were not for us people of the small speck of dust? And what has a star accomplished over the centuries other than react with its elements and burn bright? We as humans have a legacy that keeps on going. And although we can thank our sun for our ability to exist we can not just forget the fact that we as a collection are just as interesting if not more than a ball of gas.