A
Anonymous
Guest
I don't know much about this man and I'm under the impression that things should stay that way, but I've done the unthinkable and subjected myself to portions of his book, "The Demon-Haunted World." One of the excerts I selected was the start of the chapter, "The Dragon in My Garage." He put forth a hypothetical debate between a skeptic and true believer over the existence of an undetectable, metaphysical "dragon" in the believer's garage. I remember Sagan making a conclusive rhetorical statement like "What's the difference between a dragon that can't be proven to exist and no dragon?"
Fellow forteans: The answer is simple. You can LOVE "the dragon," you can REVERE the dragon, you can BE COMFORTED BY thinking about the dragon as a reality....maybe you can even use the dragon as a last resort to keep your disobedient young children out of the garage where they might encounter safety hazards of the physical nature Carl Sagan found to be so benign in comparison.
Sagan's "undesirable" dragon is no different than that mega-myth we call "Santa Claus." I adopted Sagan's irreverent attitude toward unnecessary old St. Nick when I was in fifth grade and was given a lot of dirty looks from adults and fellow children beyond the age of believing in Santa alike. I was also given multiple stern warnings from the former not to debunk the jolly old elf in front of younger children who would obviously be hurt by the premature death of their beloved Christmas Spirit. Fortunately, I soon MATURED in coming to see the wrongness of condemning the cherished belief of someone else when there is no obvious advantage to doing so (other than than the debunker's short term and mild pleasure at the expense of the believer's far more intense DISPLEASURE).
My point? "The dragon" can be a harmless bonus in the life of anyone who opens their heart to it. Much like art, music, literature, or any other "unnecessary and unhealthy" creation of the human imagination. Is there any reason to propose that we should turn our backs on these imaginative creations which bring pleasure to and enrich the lives of people who don't see fit to condemn them? I'm unaware of "proof" that we need such things to sustain human life, but shouldn't there be more to life than being alive? Oh, wait: there IS. And that's just how it's supposed to be.
Enough of your animosity, Carl. "The dragon" isn't dangerous. You're just MAKING BELIEVE it is, you big skeptic, you. Why not try showing humility and reverence toward a noun that isn't composed matter or energy? It might actually feel good.
- To quote the bumper sitcker: "Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.*"
*Is that so? Then what's with the ghost forum you just passed on your way here???
Fellow forteans: The answer is simple. You can LOVE "the dragon," you can REVERE the dragon, you can BE COMFORTED BY thinking about the dragon as a reality....maybe you can even use the dragon as a last resort to keep your disobedient young children out of the garage where they might encounter safety hazards of the physical nature Carl Sagan found to be so benign in comparison.
Sagan's "undesirable" dragon is no different than that mega-myth we call "Santa Claus." I adopted Sagan's irreverent attitude toward unnecessary old St. Nick when I was in fifth grade and was given a lot of dirty looks from adults and fellow children beyond the age of believing in Santa alike. I was also given multiple stern warnings from the former not to debunk the jolly old elf in front of younger children who would obviously be hurt by the premature death of their beloved Christmas Spirit. Fortunately, I soon MATURED in coming to see the wrongness of condemning the cherished belief of someone else when there is no obvious advantage to doing so (other than than the debunker's short term and mild pleasure at the expense of the believer's far more intense DISPLEASURE).
My point? "The dragon" can be a harmless bonus in the life of anyone who opens their heart to it. Much like art, music, literature, or any other "unnecessary and unhealthy" creation of the human imagination. Is there any reason to propose that we should turn our backs on these imaginative creations which bring pleasure to and enrich the lives of people who don't see fit to condemn them? I'm unaware of "proof" that we need such things to sustain human life, but shouldn't there be more to life than being alive? Oh, wait: there IS. And that's just how it's supposed to be.
Enough of your animosity, Carl. "The dragon" isn't dangerous. You're just MAKING BELIEVE it is, you big skeptic, you. Why not try showing humility and reverence toward a noun that isn't composed matter or energy? It might actually feel good.
- To quote the bumper sitcker: "Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.*"
*Is that so? Then what's with the ghost forum you just passed on your way here???