A central lesson of science is that to understand complex issues (or even simple ones), we must try to free our minds of dogma and to guarantee the freedom to publish, to contradict, and to experiment. Arguments from authority are unacceptable. |
Are we an exceptionally unlikely accident or is the universe brimming over with intelligence? (It's) a vital question for understanding ourselves and our history, |
For the first time, we have the power to decide the fate of our planet and ourselves, ... This is a time of great danger, but our species is young, and curious, and brave. It shows much promise. |
I can find in my undergraduate classes, bright students who do not know that the stars rise and set at night, or even that the Sun is a star. |
In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams! |
The significance of a finding that there are other beings who share this universe with us would be absolutely phenomenal, it would be an epochal event in human history, |
They laughed at Galileo. They laughed at Newton. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. |
Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science? |
We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces. |
We have swept through all of the planets in the solar system, from Mercury to Neptune, in a historic 20 (to) 30 year age of spacecraft discovery, |
We live at a moment when our relationships to each other, and to all other beings with whom we share this planet, are up for grabs. |
What's the harm of a little mystification? It sure beats boring statistical analyses. |
Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term. One of the criteria for national leadership should therefore be a talent for understanding, encouraging, and making constructive use of vigorous criticism. |