Carl Sagan --- Billions and Billions In a Cosmic Mind

As writers we can delve into the unknown and carry on with our imagination to make a difference in this unfair world. Most of us have an inner purpose that can take his/her readers to the unfathomed corners of the universe. Today, we will try to demystify Carl Sagan. For some reason we got intrigued by his books and... his scientific-skeptic inquiries. What really brought our attention was his opinion of God.

Let's pretend that in a near future, we will be able to gather all the information of the world about any human being. Thus, we came up with his niche phrase: billions and billions of Information technology in our own hands. Add artificial intelligence and super computers and you will be able to have a normal conversation with any celebrity or/and.. the departed.

Let's step into the future and think of bio-genetics and nanotechnology. Using imagination, quasi-quantum teleportation and a brain, we will be able to talk with Carl Sagan, astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science 'popularizer' and extraordinary science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences.

The Interview

Hi there Carl?

How are you Joseph (shaking hands)

We did a thorough research and found that your own beloved mother became your biggest influence. We know that she was ahead of her time. Tell us in your own words... what would've changed if she ever won a degree from, huh... Cornell University or MIT?

Well Joseph, regardless of a degree, she lived her time and did her best. I trace my later analytical urges to my mother Rachel Molly, yes! A woman who had known "extreme poverty as a child," and had grown up almost homeless in New York City during World War I and the 1920's. She didn't have anything on her favor... just Imagine her... almost destitute of any rights and carrying the stigma of her own origins, a Jewish from Ukraine. Society, back then, was too cold, dealing with women... especially those wives and a homemakers; even worse if they were poor immigrants.

Your father must've influenced you as much...?

I believe that my own "sense of wonder" came from my father, exactly!. He was a "quiet and soft-hearted escapee from Russian Czarist." Mother told me that I became himself in my talking, as a future mediator between the universe and this human race, he took my inquisitiveness in stride, as part of my growing up.

If you see the 'Cosmos' show, I try to reflect his ways by sharing my knowledge with my peers. In a way, I hated cold wars, because it was pure nonsense to arm both powers, just to put the human race in senseless danger. My own father was resilient to the fact that we had family back in Europe that lived through the Bolshevist years. My own mother isolated her 'own son' from tough moments, giving him enough space to develop the person who he became later in life.

So there was a hidden reason to be born as Carl....?

The thing is, I never wanted to be better than anyone. My parents were not scientists. You see, they knew almost nothing about science. I was born in 1934, just when depression made Americans hit rock bottom. Going back to what I was about to say...got it! Just being capable to introduce me simultaneously to skepticism and to wonder, my parents unconsciously taught me the two uneasily cohabiting modes of thought that are central to the scientific method.

Just wanted to go straight to the main reason of this interview. Why not a God with a paternal face and a white beard?

The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is simply ludicrous. I know we are better than that, Joseph...!

Getting there... trying to understand you Carl... (This is getting out of hand fellows)

I know Joseph. Just think about it, if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity. Newton had to face his immortality in his own time. He had to face his time, his language, his king and the natural laws of nature...

I know your point Carl, but the fact that we loved our parents and we fell those feelings from our heart... there is no analytical and pragmatical law that can take away that joy. You just told me with watery eyes...how your parents gave you their all...!

Let me explain you better Joseph. Men try to accommodate religion to their needs. God cannot be justified, when... for instance, you bump into a mass murderer in a theater. How come God let you take your kids there...? How could you justify his absence...?

I know Carl, but there is a reason for...

Let me finish please Joseph: we know of this omnipotent God, that was here before the 'Big bang Theory.' Being agnostic, doesn't mean I'm an atheist. I think we should recognize our mistakes and respect every human being for what they are. -- Carl stands up and walks near a cosmic window and takes a deep breathe...then comes back to us...(gulp!)

Carl, you know what? Huh, I don't want to steam up our conversation, and get nothing out of this conversation. How can we understand God when he has thousand of names? Can we really and finally marry Science with God?

The major religions on the Earth contradict each other left and right. My friend Joseph, we can't all be correct. And what if all of you are wrong? It's a possibility, you know. You must care about the truth, right?

Right Carl...but..!

Well, the way to win now through all the differing contentions is to be skeptical. I'm not any more skeptical about your religious beliefs than I am about every new scientific idea I hear about...! What I know is that God is not that paternal figure on the sky. We would have to rationalize quantum mechanics with gravity, and we are uncapable of understanding this superior being by being just religious.

Okay Carl, let me have a grasp of... we are humans and we have feelings. We had parents, and we needed to have a "faith" of our own, so we would not go nuts. We had to believe in a Santa, do you understand? Well, we cannot leave rudolph aside. either..

You are so funny! I get your point Joseph, In my scientific line of work, your inspiration and revelation are intrinsically confronted with my own hipotheses, and if...

Please Carl, We all were kids deep inside, and we all cried and wanted the most diaphanous love from our parents. What was...or who was before your cosmology and those trascendental methods...?

I agree with you Joseph, We were born and grew up. This doesn't mean that the universe revolved around our way of life. We are just that blue dot on the sky, and if God is taking care of us, he should be more than just religion. If the universe is infinite, I don't think we have a mind to understand God. Rather be agnostic and be always ready to take the next step in the search of a pragmatical true. Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense. But honestly, you almost got me between that devilish higgs boson and the deep sea.

Carl, I truly thank you for being here with us. I was barely 18, when I began watching your Cosmos series. Your legacy lives on, and I think because of you and your show, we stopped a cataclysmic World War III. Deeply sorry that you had to leave us so early. Anything to add my scientific fellow man?

Just want to thank you and...(Looking deeply into our readers..)

Perhaps leave a message for my wife: "I found the planet of our dreams Annie!"

Thanks Joseph. I'm closing "the puzzle" and I know... just disregard what I was about to say...!

Thanks again Carl!

A pleasure Joseph.

HERE WE COME PLUTO!!