The Demon-Haunted World.

[Matthew X]

"I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges near, pseudoscience and 
superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of 
unreason more sonorous and attractive. Where have we heard it before? 
Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of 
scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we 
agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism 
is bubbling up around us - then, habits of thought familiar from ages past 
reach for the controls. The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light 
trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir."
I began making a list of quotes from the book as I was reading it (a few of 
which you can find on this page), but I soon realized that I would be 
copying about half of the book in so doing. I gave up that task and just 
went on reading.
This book should be on everyone's shelf. It should be required reading 
before kids can graduate from high school (and for adults before they 
decide to raise their children up in any given religion).

Sagan does a masterful job of explaining what science is and what it isn't. 
He clearly shows that the wonders of science are just as interesting (and 
far more reliable) than the wonders of other disciplines which rely on 
tradition, superstition, myth, or ignorance.

The chapters range in content from debunking UFO and alien abduction 
stories to calling for a higher realm of ethics for those who are 
scientists. In between are a couple dozen chapters that touch on a variety 
of issues that everyone should appreciate. The book is devoted to ridding 
the world of non-existant demons and allowing us all to experience more 
light and knowledge.

Especially useful to kids and to adults who haven't let go of superstition 
is Sagan's baloney detection tool kit. Given the current widely held 
beliefs (regarding UFOs, the face on Mars, an afterlife, religion, etc.) 
that are on the rise due, in part, to the soon ending of the century, this 
tool kit should be implemented by all people to help see the light of day 
rather than the darkness and ignorance that seems to loom in the minds of 
so many.

Sagan is practically prophetic with regard to the recent case of the 
Heaven's Gate cult.

Go find this book, and read it so you too can enjoy a life "obsessed with 
reality".

Sagan's book ends with this reminder:

"If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, 
then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens 
are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. 
In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method 
and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, 
humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit 
by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the 
enveloping darkness."
http://www.2think.org/dhw.shtml