• Title: The Demon Haunted World
• Author: Carl Sagan
• Genre/Subject: Science and Skepticism
• Publisher: Ballantine
• Publication Date: 1996
• Start date: 8/26/24
• Finish date: 8/29/24

Review:

A rare Neilosian DNF. I liked this book, I really did. But after 200 pages I just tapped out due to how dated it was to read. I was alive (and absolutely drunk every single day without exception. The more you know.) in 1996 and it takes a book like this to remind me just how long ago that really was. Before the internet, or at least before it was a thing that you talked about at cocktail parties. Before the millennium. Before Facebook and Twitter. And contemporary with President Clinton getting his presidential knob polished by Monica Lewinski.

Essentially this book is a collection of essays on scientific method, skepticism, and the fight against misinformation and pseudoscience. The information is great, Carl Sagan was one of the finest science communicators in modern times. But… all the references were to tabloid newspapers and bestselling infotainment books from the 80s and 90s. This meant, for me, that despite the excellent information it failed to grab my attention and hold it.

I’m a sports fan and a podcast fan as well. But I don’t subscribe to any sports podcasts because even if they are a day old there is no point in listening to them. Will the Flames win tonight? Well, that was yesterday and they shit the rink, so this is old and irrelevant. Now I’m not suggesting that this book is an analog of that, but it read and felt dated, as I have lived experience for nearly 30 years beyond this book and that made a big difference. Sagan talks about letters he received. Like in the mail. He talks about some amazing file retrieval mechanisms, like actually pulling file folders full of paper with a contraption like they have clothes on at the drycleaners. For a reader that has 25 years of daily internet use this was quaint, but really didn’t communicate well.

One thing that did communicate well was the fact that since this book hit the bookshelves things have not gotten better, they have gotten worse. Lots worse. You still have numpties tramping around the forests of Northern Alberta looking for Bigfoot. Aliens? Yup they have more devotees and abductees than ever. Religion? Still burning heretics and taking away rights from women at an exponential rate. Conspiracy theories more accessible and more popular every single day. Especially pernicious now when the former Commander-in-Cheeto is bleating them out faster than he changes wives.

Even setting aside the datedness, I have been involved in scientific skepticism since 2008 and I KNOW this stuff. I use it every day to combat misinformation and to attempt to stop people I care about from falling down conspiracy rabbit holes or falling for increasingly sophisticated scams. As skeptics we are unpopular, unsexy, and unappreciated. It’s way sexier to believe that aliens are bumholing inbreds in cornfields than to actually consider it might just be gay lovin’ in the Saskatchewan moonlight. It’s way easier to say that some nefarious cabal caused something bad than to examine it closely and see that it was simply human error, or just bad planning.

One of the criticisms I have faced over the years is, “You don’t believe in anything!” No, I believe in lots of things but I don’t believe in bullshit. As a skeptic I demand to be convinced, I need proof and evidence that meets rigorous standards. Not just your say-so. In case you don’t know this about me, I have a 12 inch dick. I do. Believe me. Wouldn’t you want some kind of proof, like anything at all? So what’s the difference when someone tells you they were abducted by gay aliens? Wait. Gayliens. I just made that up.

I saw Bigfoot. Did you get a photo? Oh, phone was back in the truck. Get some fur samples? Bigfoot poop perhaps? Anything we can get DNA from? No? Well let me tell you about my 12 inch dick…

This is a great book, it was excellent and a bestseller at the time. It would serve as a great introduction to skepticism and maybe a refresher for those who have lost touch or are recovering from delusions or misinformation. But for me, I just couldn’t dedicate any more time to it. Life’s too short to read what you already know.