During his presentation of the Gifford Lectures back in the 1980's, Carl Sagan was asked by an audience member "How do you recognize the truth when it is upon us"? Carls answer was quite thoughtful, and has application to many avenues of life, including claims by various religious groups:
Quote:"A simple question: How can we recognize the truth? It is of course, difficult. But there are a few simple rules.
The truth ought to be logically consistent. It should not contradict itself; that is, there are some logical criteria.
It ought to be consistent with what else we know. That is an additional way in which miracles run into trouble. We know a great many things-a tiny fraction, to be sure, of the universe, a pitifully tiny fraction. But nevertheless some things we know with quite high reliability. So where we are asking about the truth, we ought to be sure that it's not inconsistent with what else we know.
We should also pay attention to how badly we want to believe a given contention. The more badly we want to believe it, the more skeptical we have to be. It involves a kind of courageous self-discipline.
Nobody says it's easy. I think those three principles at least will winnow out a fair amount of chaff. It doesn't guarantee that what remains will be true, but a least it will significantly diminish the field of discourse". End Quote
The text of the lectures themselves, as well as the questions posed by audience members, and Carls responses are collected in "The Varieties of Scientific Experience-A Personal View of the Search For God". I found the book to be very enjoyable.
Carl Sagan on how to recognize truth
by gaiagirl 2 Replies latest jw friends
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gaiagirl
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MadGiant
Thanks
Take care,
Ismael
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Blueblades
Hi Galagirl! In his book, The Demon Haunted World, Science As A Candle In The Dark, Carl Sagan has a chapter called "The Fine Art Of Baloney Detection"
In the course of their training scientists are equipped with a baloney detection kit. Whats in the kit? Tools for skeptical thinking. I recommend this book not only for this one chapter, the whole book is a learning process from a brillant scientific mind.
Blueblades