Carl Sagan is an American astrophysicist who is best known for his scientific contribution in research on extraterrestrial life. He wrote a book in 1995 titled "Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" and people are talking about it on social media recently because of its spooky predictions.
"Demon-Haunted World" warned against the dangers of pseudoscience and scientific illiteracy. Sagan predicts that people will opt for superstition and pseudoscience over reality, and that the public will be intellectually incapable of distinguishing between what makes us feel good, and what's actually true, Science Alert said.
People Say That Sagan Was Able To Predict The Popularity Of Fake News
A passage in Sagan's book said that he has a foreboding that manufacturing in the U.S. will slowly slip to other countries, and that "when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few", and those who are representing the public can even grasp the issues. He also said that people are going to lose the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority, and resort to clutching their crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, and therefore unable to to distinguish between what feels good and what's true.
The passage first gained attention after it was tweeted by Charles Bergquist, director of Science Friday - a long-running radio show. Many say that people rely on fake news nowadays, and Sagan was able to predict it in his book.
Some Parts Of Sagan's Prediction Can Be Debunked
People say that Sagan made a pretty spooky 2017 prediction. Theoretical physicist Robert McNees tweeted, "Good grief, I couldn't believe how spot-on that Carl Sagan quote was. I had to check to make sure it was accurate."
However, according to Inverse, although Sagan's prediction has a ring of truth to it, some parts are wrong. China did beat out the United States when it comes to manufacturing, but the U.S. is still the second most competitive manufacturing economy. Also, the part where Sagan said that "awesome technological powers" are in the hands of only a few could be contradicted because almost everyone owns a smartphone now. Nevertheless, a lot of people still agree that Sagan made a pretty disturbing prediction.
