The Demon-Haunted World

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Author(s)	Carl Sagan
Language	English
Publisher	Random House / Ballantine Books
Publication date	1995 / 1997
Media type	Hardcover / Paperback
ISBN	ISBN 0-394-53512-X / ISBN 0-345-40946-9
OCLC Number	32855551
Dewey Decimal	001.9 20
LC Classification	Q175 .S215 1995
Preceded by	Pale Blue Dot
Followed by	Billions and Billions

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark is a book by astrophysicist Carl Sagan, which was first published in 1995.

The book is intended to explain the scientific method to laypeople, and to encourage people to learn critical or skeptical thinking. It explains methods to help distinguish between ideas that are considered valid science, and ideas that can be considered pseudoscience. Sagan states that when new ideas are offered for consideration, they should be tested by means of skeptical thinking, and should stand up to rigorous questioning.

Themes

In the book, Sagan states that if a new idea continues in existence after an examination of the propositions has revealed it to be false, it should then be acknowledged as a supposition. Skeptical thinking essentially is a means to construct, understand, reason, and recognize valid and invalid arguments. Wherever possible, there must be independent validation of the concepts whose truth should be proved. He states that reason and logic would succeed once the truth is known. Conclusions emerge from premises, and the acceptability of the premises should not be discounted or accepted because of bias.

As an example, Sagan relates the story from the Chapter "The Dragon In My Garage" (which he notes follows a group therapy approach by the psychologist Richard L. Franklin^[1]) of the invisible fire-breathing dragon living in his garage. He asks, "what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there's no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true."

Sagan presents a set of tools for skeptical thinking which he calls the "baloney detection kit". Skeptical thinking consists both of constructing a reasoned argument and recognizing a fallacious or fraudulent one. In order to identify a fallacious argument, Sagan suggests the employment of such tools as independent confirmation of facts, quantification and the use of Occam's razor. Sagan's "baloney detection kit" also provides tools for detecting "the most common fallacies of logic and rhetoric", such as argument from authority and statistics of small numbers. Through these tools, Sagan argues the benefits of a critical mind and the self-correcting nature of science can take place.

Sagan provides a skeptical analysis of several examples of what he refers to as superstition, fraud, pseudoscience and religious beliefs, such as gods, witches, UFOs, ESP and faith healing.

Chapters

1. The Most Precious Thing
2. Science and Hope
3. The Man in the Moon and the Face on Mars
4. Aliens
5. Spoofing and Secrecy
6. Hallucinations
7. The Demon-Haunted World
8. On the Distinction Between True and False Visions
9. Therapy
10. The Dragon in My Garage
11. The City of Grief
12. The Fine Art of Baloney Detection
13. Obsessed with Reality
14. Antiscience
15. Newton's Sleep
16. When Scientists Know Sin
17. The Marriage of Skepticism and Wonder
18. The Wind Makes Dust
19. No Such Thing as a Dumb Question
20. House on Fire
21. The Path to Freedom
22. Significance Junkies
23. Maxwell and the Nerds
24. Science and Witchcraft
25. Real Patriots Ask Questions

See also

• Skepticism
• Falsifiability
• Logical fallacy
• Pseudoscience
• Junk science
• Pathological science
• Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay

References

• Sagan, Carl, "The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark". Ballantine Books, March 1997 ISBN 0-345-40946-9, 480 pgs. 1995 hardback edition: Random House, ISBN 0-394-53512-X, xv+457 pages plus addenda insert (some printings).

External links

• Schult, Jeff, "The Case for Science". American Reporter.
• Review in Smithsonian magazine
• Review in Science
• Review in NY Times
• Review in LA Times

Footnotes

1. ^ Franklin, Richard L. (1994). "Overcoming The Myth of Self-Worth: Reason and Fallacy in What You Say to Yourself". ISBN 0963938703