Cosmos

[phoenix_ca]

Well, it's kinda relevant to KSP. Carl Sagan had an incredibly poetic and eloquent way of describing the universe, and it's a testament to a great scientist of the time. I know there are plenty of younger players of KSP, ones who are quite unlikely to have heard of, let alone watched this fantastic series about astronomy, physics, and...well everything really.

I can't speak for anyone else, but playing KSP inspired some renewed awe and wonder in the our world, the sheer vastness of it. KSP conveys that immense grandeur incredibly well, in fact, better than any game I've played to date. I recently started watching Cosmos, and thought it made sense to share:

Best part is, you can

.

[boac89]

If you've never read Pale Blue Dot, you're also missing out.

A while back I decided to read Contact because I'd seen, and loved the movie heaps of times but wanted to see how the book is different. I must say that the book is SO much better than the movie. I still love the movie, but the book is just a masterpiece.

Carl Sagan was one of the big reasons I decided to ditch my career in CAD and follow my insane dream of aerospace engineering. In 2009 I couldn't even do trigonometry, and had dropped out of high school 2 years early. By 2010 I had taught myself high school level maths and physics, and had applied to university.

I'm currently 3 years into a bachelor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. I owe a lot of that to Carl Sagan, Cosmos, and Pale Blue Dot.

[LukeTim]

If you've never read Pale Blue Dot, you're also missing out.

A while back I decided to read Contact because I'd seen, and loved the movie heaps of times but wanted to see how the book is different. I must say that the book is SO much better than the movie. I still love the movie, but the book is just a masterpiece.

Carl Sagan was one of the big reasons I decided to ditch my career in CAD and follow my insane dream of aerospace engineering. In 2009 I couldn't even do trigonometry, and had dropped out of high school 2 years early. By 2010 I had taught myself high school level maths and physics, and had applied to university.

I'm currently 3 years into a bachelor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. I owe a lot of that to Carl Sagan, Cosmos, and Pale Blue Dot.

That's awesome, dude.

The Saganator inspired me, too. I have a degree in Electronic Engineering and am currently working in the hopes that I can save money to pay for a Post Graduate degree in Astronautic and Space Engineering.

[Nikolai]

Sagan is still astounding. I re-watched Cosmos recently, and it's remarkable how much of it still holds up. Some ideas have shifted slightly as our knowledge has grown, but the sheer joy he expresses in trying to understand the universe around him is impossible to miss.

[phoenix_ca]

Indeed. That joy is quite contagious too. Sagan inspires me, though in different ways. I'm in awe at the vastness of the universe, but since ethics and morality are my "thing", it inspires me to look for a scientific basis for ethics that is universal...which is incredibly hard, and we're nowhere even close in philosophy to figuring that one out.

[macintux]

I have just started watching "Cosmos" and I find the series to be absolutely brilliant.

[boac89]

Not sure if anybody is aware but I heard a while back that Neil DeGrasse-Tyson wants to make a "sequel" to Cosmos. Kind of an updated version to carry on the legacy of Carl Sagan. If anybody can pull it off I think it's him.

[phoenix_ca]

Not sure if anybody is aware but I heard a while back that Neil DeGrasse-Tyson wants to make a "sequel" to Cosmos. Kind of an updated version to carry on the legacy of Carl Sagan. If anybody can pull it off I think it's him.

Indeed he is! Sagan was a huge inspiration for him, and it's quite suitable that he do such a project. I'm pretty sure it's a PBS project.

[Nikolai]

Indeed he is! Sagan was a huge inspiration for him, and it's quite suitable that he do such a project. I'm pretty sure it's a PBS project.

It's already in production and due to come out in 2013. It's FOX, strangely enough, with Seth MacFarlane producing it... which makes me a little conflicted.

[Ydoow]

Weird!

I just watched this on Netflix (Or maybe Amazon) last night!

[LukeTim]

Indeed. That joy is quite contagious too. Sagan inspires me, though in different ways. I'm in awe at the vastness of the universe, but since ethics and morality are my "thing", it inspires me to look for a scientific basis for ethics that is universal...which is incredibly hard, and we're nowhere even close in philosophy to figuring that one out.

If you haven't done so already, you might want to read this:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Moral-Landscape-Science-Determine/dp/143917122X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348847289&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Moral+Landscape

It's quite a compelling argument for Science's ability to contribute to discussions of morality.

[phoenix_ca]

It's already in production and due to come out in 2013. It's FOX, strangely enough, with Seth MacFarlane producing it... which makes me a little conflicted.

It's been pushed back to 2014, sadly. As for FOX, well...it might not seem really apparent to intellectuals that that's the right place for such a thing, but once you think about it, it's the only place to air it that makes any sense. Cosmos isn't about preaching science to the choir of scientists, it's about teaching the wonders of this knowledge and the scientific journey to everyone else, not academics.

If you haven't done so already, you might want to read this. [sam Harris stuff]

Yeah, it's sitting around here somewhere, probably underneath a big math or ethics textbook. O.o It's an interesting read (one that makes me even more displeased with those whom I've met who blithely bash Sam Harris as an "idiot", claiming he knows nothing and is totally wrong...from philosophy majors, undergrads, who arguably know very little by comparison).

Edited September 29, 2012 by phoenix_ca

[Nikolai]

As for FOX, well...it might not seem really apparent to intellectuals that that's the right place for such a thing, but once you think about it, it's the only place to air it that makes any sense. Cosmos isn't about preaching science to the choir of scientists, it's about teaching the wonders of this knowledge and the scientific journey to everyone else, not academics.

I appreciate that. It's just that, generally, I think that learning things as a pleasurable activity is something much of our society seems to have forgotten how to do. I don't think too many people are motivated to visit a museum or language class or anything like that to simply enjoy it -- and that's something of a loss, IMHO.

It's not "FOX to the masses" that has me conflicted. Cosmos was always directed to the masses. It's that FOX has not generally been kind to shows that attempt to broaden their viewership's imagination or understanding -- and some of the humor it celebrates is decidedly lowbrow and even mocks those who derive pleasure from learning. That's what I'm conflicted about. (I'd give several sensitive parts of my anatomy if I could live in a society that was well-educated and critically engaged in pushing our scientific understanding. Not everyone needs a degree or the equivalent level of training, of course, but we often celebrate stupidity or gut instinct over careful and methodical understanding. Many have no technical understanding, or reason or desire to acquire any. I want the masses to be educated. I just have a little concern over what FOX might do to attempts to engage people with learning, based on their history, especially when some of the subjects involved are difficult.)

[phoenix_ca]

That's definitely a fair concern to have. Upon consideration, I find I share it.

Though that also reminded me of something. You know what's a good show? Castle, because every time there was a ghost, a haunted house, a zombie, a psychic, or a tarot card reader predicting events, it always turned-out to be not magic. And Beckett is a wonderfully skeptical character. (I can't even recall an episode where there was that ugly allowance for the possibility of such things being real and the narrative left hanging. No, things get tied-up and guess what, the psychic is a fraud, the guy claiming he has all the answers is a charlatan.)

[Nikolai]

You know what's a good show? Castle, because every time there was a ghost, a haunted house, a zombie, a psychic, or a tarot card reader predicting events, it always turned-out to be not magic.

I never saw the show, but based on your synopsis, it sounds like I'd enjoy it. (I'm even a little grateful that something like Scooby Doo can teach kids that when you see something you can't explain, keep investigating; it might not be what it appears to be.)

To bring this (tangentially) back to Cosmos, have you ever read The Demon-Haunted World (also by Sagan)? I found it compelling, especially his description of the role of healthy skepticism as a means to winnow deep truth from deep nonsense. If someone claims that X can do Y, even if an explanatory mechanism is not forthcoming, it should be considered fair to be able to test whether or not the claim is true.

[Awaras]

I never saw the show, but based on your synopsis, it sounds like I'd enjoy it. (I'm even a little grateful that something like Scooby Doo can teach kids that when you see something you can't explain, keep investigating; it might not be what it appears to be.)

Sorry about the OT, but it reminded me of this (Skip to 6:46):

[Person012345]

http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/solarsystem/

I always found that rather interesting as an illustration off just how big things are in the solar system.

Edited October 1, 2012 by Person012345

[Awaras]

http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/solarsystem/

I always found that rather interesting as an illustration off just how big things are.

This is nice too:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/589217

[Person012345]

This is nice too:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/589217

lol, "string". Is that an "easter egg" or reference to string theory?

[Awaras]

lol, "string". Is that an "easter egg" or reference to string theory?

It's the theoretical size of the theoretical string if it exists (in theory).

[LukeTim]

Yeah, it's sitting around here somewhere, probably underneath a big math or ethics textbook. O.o It's an interesting read (one that makes me even more displeased with those whom I've met who blithely bash Sam Harris as an "idiot", claiming he knows nothing and is totally wrong...from philosophy majors, undergrads, who arguably know very little by comparison).

Yeah, it frustrates me too when people dismiss him and his ideas. I know I'm not the smartest person in the world, and I don't know much about the subjects he addresses, but I find Sam Harris' reasoning to often be very difficult to argue against.

[Max Grant]

Not sure if anybody is aware but I heard a while back that Neil DeGrasse-Tyson wants to make a "sequel" to Cosmos. Kind of an updated version to carry on the legacy of Carl Sagan. If anybody can pull it off I think it's him.

I watched Cosmos when it came out, on PBS, age 11. It had a profound impact on my life, and I still re-watch it today. It is now on Netflix.

I would love to see this sequel. The world needs another series like Cosmos. There are a lot of cosmology/astronomy shows out there but DeGrasse-Tyson has the passion to give it some reach.

I've been working as an IT architect/consultant for most of my adult life, but my re-awakening interest in astronomy has lead me to start re-learning math (programming is so much like algebra, after all), and this game in particular has gotten me thinking that when my kids are all grown, I should go back to school and do real science.

One of the KSP features I'm watering my mouth for is having a full Solar System, so I can launch a Grand Tour-style mission of my own. The Voyager missions were the most visible, biggest space science that was being done as I was growing up (I was too young to watch the Moon landings), so they are what I think of first when I think of rockets, and space travel.

[gta-man]

Today i watched the first episode, loved it. I really love the way Carl Sagan talks.

I'll probably buy his "Pale Blue Dot" book.

[wired2thenet]

Today i watched the first episode, loved it. I really love the way Carl Sagan talks.

I'll probably buy his "Pale Blue Dot" book.

You can't go wrong with any of Sagan's books. My biggest wish was that he'd lived long enough to finish Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.

Sagan has been, and always will be, my hero. Back when I was a kid and Cosmos first came on TV, my father looked at me and said, "Shawn, this is a great man. Remember him." 30-odd years later, I was re-watching Cosmos on the computer and realized my 3 year old was enraptured by him on the monitor. I pulled him up into my lap and said to him, "Aydan, this was a great man. Remember him."

Occasionally, he (now 4 / almost 5) will be checking out my books on the bookshelf, and will pull out a book by Sagan, see the back cover with his picture on it, and say, "Daddy? He's my friend."

We sit and watch an episode or two every few weeks. I know he doesn't understand it, but he knows Sagan's voice, loves it, and I sincerely hope it ignites within him a passion to pursue scientific interests. I'll be proud no matter what he does, but I will positively glow if he follows in those footsteps.

Daddy passed up on those opportunities, and regrets it.

[phoenix_ca]

He might not understand the finer details, but I think most people of any age can understand the sheer awe-inspiring scale of the universe Sagan conveyed when they watch that series. One needn't understand the fine details of science to appreciate its uses and applications (though some kinda miss the point entirely by joyfully accepting technological improvements while showing no respect for other concepts founded on the same principles of reasoning, like evolution...*sigh*).