HUMANITY: “The Pale Blue Dot” / Carl Sagan ☮

 

Find the following transcript on, “The Folly of Human Conceits,” blog:

Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. Continue reading

CLIMATE CHANGE: “The Right to a Future, with Naomi Klein and Greta Thunberg” / The Intercept ☮

The Intercept invites you to a special event in New York City hosted by senior correspondent Naomi Klein and headlined by trailblazing climate activist Greta Thunberg. Together with youth leaders Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Xiye Bastida, and Vic Barrett, Greta and Naomi will help us visualize a just and sustainable future, confront our climate emergency, and discuss the emerging cross-generational, transnational movement that is our best hope for a sustainable planet. Both a celebration of youth activism and a reflection on how to break through the political and economic barriers preventing meaningful climate action, “The Right to a Future” will take place before the Global Climate Strike starting September 20 and the U.N. Climate Action Summit on September 23.

 

 

CLIMATE CHANGE: “The Disarming Case to Act Right Now on Climate Change” / TEDx Stockholm / Greta Thunberg ☮

In this passionate call to action, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg explains why, in August 2018, she walked out of school and organized a strike to raise awareness of global warming, protesting outside the Swedish parliament and grabbing the world’s attention. “The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions,” Thunberg says. “All we have to do is to wake up and change.”

ANTI-THEISM: “Two Flaws Plague Unscientific Belief, from Trump and [White Supremacists,] to Religious Doctrine” / Big Think / Richard Dawkins ☮

What’s it like to be worshipped by [White Supremacists]? Not good, especially if you’re a passionate rationalist like Richard Dawkins. He was very recently accused of Islamophobia by KPFA radio—which is why some of the [White Supremacists] have flocked toward him—however Dawkins released a statement calling any alleged “abusive speech” by him preposterous, and clarified his views: “I have indeed strongly condemned the misogyny, homophobia, and violence of Islamism, of which Muslims—particularly Muslim women—are the prime victims. I make no apologies for denouncing those oppressive cruelties, and I will continue to do so.” Here he responds to how unpleasant it is to have your rational thoughts and your name hijacked by political extremists, and he expresses his disdain for President Trump’s policies, specifically the ‘Muslim ban’. With that as context, he proceeds to do what he does best: use science to investigate the idea of supernatural gods as the creators of the universe—which is a scientific hypothesis, he states, but one of the failed kind. Dawkins explains that we already have a superb theory of why living things have come into being—Darwinian evolution—and the evils that can come from too much faith. Richard Dawkins’ most recent book is Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist.

SCIENCE: “World’s Greatest Scientists are all Atheists! Panel Discussion” / Moderated by Lawrence Krauss ☮

A gathering of great scientists who individually will tell a personal story related to science.

Tracy Day, Brian Green (The Elegant Universe), Ira Flatow (Science Radio Host), Neil deGrasse Tyson (The Cosmos), Richard Dawkins (A Selfish Gene), Bill Nye (The Science Guy), Neal Stephenson (Science Fiction Author)

CRITICAL THINKING: “Seven Times Carl Sagan Went Intellectual Beast Mode” / ScienceNET ☮

Carl Sagan was ahead of his time – many of the statements in this video are still extremely relevant today. Please enjoy these seven intellectual “beast mode” worthy moments with Carl Sagan.