Carl Sagan in 1995 on the "The dumbing down of American" [View all]

[Pluvious]

My friend Carl sent me this:

Carl Sagan predicted this future in his 1995 book The Demon Haunted World.

Was he wrong?

"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...

The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance."

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Never forget this:

The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet,
and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up.

Cynicism is how they win.

Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.