Hm. The Tlingit lived in the Pacific Northwest and engaged in hunting and fishing (and also, were enthusiastic slavers). The Aztecs had numbers and astronomy (and if you said the wrong thing about the Empire, you got to keep the gods fed with your blood---Stalin would have approved). No thinking man can contemplate a nuclear exchange (but I believe that the USSR was planning the first move of a war in Europe to be their dropping tactical nukes on the battlefield, and sending the army through the gaps).
I remember Cosmos when it first came out. I was a wee, elementary school nerd back then, and Cosmos is still a good series, but I can't watch this now without comparing with The Ascent of Man, seen here recently. Bronowski visited Auschwitz in his series, when what happened there and the blood spilled there were even fresher than they are now, and still came away with a positive view of technological progress. A generation's difference between the two series.
Sergej: I know what you mean. The difference between Bronowski and Sagan is immense. When I first saw Cosmos, I found the last episode to be a true disappointment. Where Bronowski had profound sentiments tempered with genuine humility to express, Sagan's single message was that all of man's accomplishments were utterly insignificant, but his Science (capital S) was absolutely brilliant and had all the answers.
You would have thought that Sagan would have taken his belittling theme to its logical conclusion and said that, given Sagan's other points, man's science must be pretty much rubbish as well.
Yeah, this is the worst of the series. I have a feeling that it was mostly written by Ann Druyan, she seemed to be able to convince Sagan that he was actually an expert on everything, including how to run a human society.
6 comments:
Cosmo?
Yes, Cosmo. The man after whom the universe was named: Cosmo Finkleman.
Okay, it's a typo.
What do you say, Sarek of Vulcan?
Hm. The Tlingit lived in the Pacific Northwest and engaged in hunting and fishing (and also, were enthusiastic slavers). The Aztecs had numbers and astronomy (and if you said the wrong thing about the Empire, you got to keep the gods fed with your blood---Stalin would have approved). No thinking man can contemplate a nuclear exchange (but I believe that the USSR was planning the first move of a war in Europe to be their dropping tactical nukes on the battlefield, and sending the army through the gaps).
I remember Cosmos when it first came out. I was a wee, elementary school nerd back then, and Cosmos is still a good series, but I can't watch this now without comparing with The Ascent of Man, seen here recently. Bronowski visited Auschwitz in his series, when what happened there and the blood spilled there were even fresher than they are now, and still came away with a positive view of technological progress. A generation's difference between the two series.
Sergej: I know what you mean. The difference between Bronowski and Sagan is immense. When I first saw Cosmos, I found the last episode to be a true disappointment. Where Bronowski had profound sentiments tempered with genuine humility to express, Sagan's single message was that all of man's accomplishments were utterly insignificant, but his Science (capital S) was absolutely brilliant and had all the answers.
You would have thought that Sagan would have taken his belittling theme to its logical conclusion and said that, given Sagan's other points, man's science must be pretty much rubbish as well.
Yeah, this is the worst of the series. I have a feeling that it was mostly written by Ann Druyan, she seemed to be able to convince Sagan that he was actually an expert on everything, including how to run a human society.
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