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In Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World" he talks about how Europe regressed and became incredibly religious. A lot of secular medicine was lost, and the Queen

In Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World" he talks about how Europe regressed and became incredibly religious. A lot of secular medicine was lost, and the Queen, the richest person in the last, was pregnant 18 times, 15 dies in childbirth and 3 did not live to be adults. Science has solved these problems not CEOs, or wealth and those are the things we worship in the US

clarionbell 5y ago
Carl Sagan was also incredibly wrong almost every time he talked about history. In many ways he was vanguard of the kind of hubris we commonly see today on social media, self assured of his own knowledge. Just to give you an example. He repeated common misconception about Library of Alexandria being something unique and it's burning being the break between high civilization and barbarism. But it was nothing of the sort.[1] The very fact that the library has been ransacked, burned or otherwise damaged both before and after the "pivotal event" Sagan describes, is a strong indicator of his ignorance. And doesn't stop there. Whenever Sagan talked about "Dark ages" or anything remotely related he was wrong. The very term has been considered inaccurate at the time, and it is even more so today.[2] [1]https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2020/02/05/carl-sagan-was-really-bad-at-history/ https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2020/02/05/carl-sagan-was-... [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Ages_(historiography) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Ages_(historiography)
- zapataband1 5y ago
  Dang, well Cosmos was a large scale production so we have several people to blame for the inaccuracies. I understand 'The Dark Ages' is considered pejorative and onver-simplified. But there was an overabundance of religous magick being practiced across Europe as the time and I think he makes a lot of good points in the book that I have experienced in my own life. People going towards crystals, or homeopathic remedies for example. And to me that's not so far from these accounts: 'In England, for example, the King’s Touch was believed to heal scrofula, a form of tuberculosis. Prayers to Christ, the Virgin, and saints were always considered the most efficacious form of help. Saint Margaret was invoked for help in childbirth (47.101.65); Saint Fiacre (25.120.227; 17.190.353) for relief from hemorrhoids."
ciphol 5y ago
I assume by "religious" you mean Christian. Before Europe became Christian, it wasn't secular, it followed a wide variety of other religions just as devoutly.
- Retric 5y ago
  Religions don’t cause a uniform level of devotion. It’s easy to fall into the assumption that most religions are similar but that’s because the west is really used to a single family of religions.

clarionbell 5y ago

Carl Sagan was also incredibly wrong almost every time he talked about history. In many ways he was vanguard of the kind of hubris we commonly see today on social media, self assured of his own knowledge. Just to give you an example. He repeated common misconception about Library of Alexandria being something unique and it's burning being the break between high civilization and barbarism. But it was nothing of the sort.[1] The very fact that the library has been ransacked, burned or otherwise damaged both before and after the "pivotal event" Sagan describes, is a strong indicator of his ignorance. And doesn't stop there. Whenever Sagan talked about "Dark ages" or anything remotely related he was wrong. The very term has been considered inaccurate at the time, and it is even more so today.[2] [1]https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2020/02/05/carl-sagan-was-really-bad-at-history/ https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2020/02/05/carl-sagan-was-... [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Ages_(historiography) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Ages_(historiography)

zapataband1 5y ago
Dang, well Cosmos was a large scale production so we have several people to blame for the inaccuracies. I understand 'The Dark Ages' is considered pejorative and onver-simplified. But there was an overabundance of religous magick being practiced across Europe as the time and I think he makes a lot of good points in the book that I have experienced in my own life. People going towards crystals, or homeopathic remedies for example. And to me that's not so far from these accounts: 'In England, for example, the King’s Touch was believed to heal scrofula, a form of tuberculosis. Prayers to Christ, the Virgin, and saints were always considered the most efficacious form of help. Saint Margaret was invoked for help in childbirth (47.101.65); Saint Fiacre (25.120.227; 17.190.353) for relief from hemorrhoids."

ciphol 5y ago

I assume by "religious" you mean Christian. Before Europe became Christian, it wasn't secular, it followed a wide variety of other religions just as devoutly.

Retric 5y ago
Religions don’t cause a uniform level of devotion. It’s easy to fall into the assumption that most religions are similar but that’s because the west is really used to a single family of religions.