0:00 good morning good afternoon or good
0:02 evening whatever the case may be folks I
0:05 find it difficult to believe that Dr
0:07 Carl San has been dead now for some 13
0:10 years I'm reminded of him just about
0:13 every time I open a book access an
0:15 Internet site or discuss scientific
0:17 matters with colleagues he's been on my
0:19 mind recently because of the heavy
0:21 attrition rate of my friends my heroes
0:23 are all passing away Isaac azimov dick
0:26 fan so many who have inspired and
0:28 encouraged me over the years Carl was
0:31 very much aware of the need for Science
0:33 Education for everyone not because he
0:36 expected that everyone would become a
0:38 scientist but because he felt that every
0:40 citizen should know at least to some
0:43 degree how the real world functions I
0:46 couldn't agree more in my own work I
0:49 daily come upon persons who have no
0:51 knowledge whatsoever about the simplest
0:53 of scientific ideas and even less about
0:55 the technology that has resulted from
0:58 science they adopt mystical ideas to
1:01 explain what they experience and that
1:03 naive T makes them easy prey for others
1:05 who can and will take advantage of them
1:10 years ago while working with Dr Sean
1:12 briefly at Cornell University on a
1:14 course titled critical thinking I
1:16 commented on the high percentage of
1:18 Asian students that I could see were on
1:20 campus Carl told me that the greatest
1:23 distinction he had found between Western
1:25 and Asian students was that many of the
1:28 western students were satisfied to work
1:30 for a passing grade in their classes but
1:33 the Asians expected that they should
1:35 obtain perfect grades not just
1:38 satisfactory ones that is an excellent
1:40 work ethic and it should be preached to
1:43 every student in my opinion in his book
1:46 The Demon Haunted World Carl expressed
1:49 how important an education is in today's
1:52 civilization he
1:54 wrote we've arranged a global
1:56 civilization in which most crucial
1:58 elements trans Transportation
2:00 Communications and all other Industries
2:03 agriculture medicine education
2:05 entertainment and protecting the
2:07 environment profoundly depend on Science
2:10 and Technology we have also arranged
2:12 things so that almost no one understands
2:15 Science and Technology this is a
2:17 prescription for disaster we might get
2:20 away with it for a while but sooner or
2:22 later this combustible mixture of
2:24 ignorance and power is going to blow up
2:26 in our
2:27 faces we in America 300 years ago to our
2:31 great shame underwent a period in which
2:34 we ba blamed innocent individuals we
2:36 called witches for troubles and
2:38 calamities choosing to believe that
2:40 these persons mostly women used
2:43 Supernatural powers to cause these
2:45 problems we hanged these innocent
2:48 citizens at the same time that our
2:50 brothers in England France Italy Germany
2:52 and Spain were burning them alive as
2:55 punishment Carl Sean pointed out that in
2:58 those earlier times there were reasons
3:00 for fear and Superstition reasons that
3:02 should not be part of our mindset again
3:05 in the demon Haunted World in
3:07 1995 he wrote I worry that especially as
3:11 the Millennium
3:13 nears pseudoscience and Superstition
3:15 will seem Year bye more tempting the
3:19 siren song of unreason more sonorous and
3:22 attractive where have we heard it before
3:25 whenever our ethnic or national
3:26 prejudices are aroused in times of
3:29 scarcity during challenges to National
3:31 self-esteem or nerve when we agonize
3:34 about our diminished Cosmic place and
3:36 purpose or when fanaticism is bubbling
3:39 up around us then habits of thought
3:42 familiar from ages past reach for the
3:46 controls the candle flame gutters its
3:50 little pool of light trembles Darkness
3:54 gathers the demons begin to stir I
3:58 cannot tell you how much those words of
3:59 Dr Sean have affected me in a manner far
4:03 more eloquent than I could ever have
4:05 managed he expressed my thoughts and I
4:07 hope that you being able to experience
4:09 his writings will also feel that he
4:12 spoke for you I sincerely hope so the
4:16 message of this great man cannot grow
4:18 old we must recognize that despite our
4:20 becoming more mature more rapidly in so
4:23 many ways we must be always Vigilant
4:26 it's been said before to forget history
4:29 is to be forced to relive its errors
4:32 these Demons of which Carl spoke are
4:34 still out there somewhere waiting for
4:37 their opportunity we cannot allow them
4:39 to come back to life our greatest enemy
4:42 by far is ignorance we have the weapons
4:45 to defeat it and we are increasingly
4:47 able to do so teachers of the quality of
4:50 Carl Sean exist in every culture and
4:52 every city and Village and every school
4:55 and home all over this planet that we
4:57 call home to nourish those teachers to
5:01 encourage them to assist and support
5:03 them should be one of our greatest our
5:05 most important goals when all people are
5:08 armed with knowledge and can organize to
5:10 oppose and banish hunger poverty disease
5:13 distress and discouragement those
5:16 elements cannot flourish and those are
5:19 the Demons of which Carl Sean wrote and
5:21 spoke I'll leave you with this short
5:24 tale some years ago I was seated in my
5:27 office reading on my computer screen
5:30 with great Amusement a joke about
5:32 astronomy that had appeared on the
5:33 internet I laughed and suddenly froze
5:37 looking at my left hand which had begun
5:40 to reach for the telephone folks I had
5:43 been about to call Carl and tell him
5:46 about this amusing story well I have
5:49 absolutely no belief in an afterlife
5:51 like Carl San I am a realist but if it
5:54 were possible to survive this life and
5:56 if Carl had been able to do that I'm
5:58 sure that he would now be out there in
6:00 the cosmos he so loved and respected
6:02 chasing an interesting Comet or testing
6:05 the temperature of a galaxy because his
6:08 work survives him and we can enjoy it
6:10 learn from it and most importantly add
6:13 to it I can feel Carl San was many
6:16 things but his greatest accomplishment
6:19 in my opinion was that he could teach he
6:22 did it painlessly convincingly
6:24 provocatively he not only knew his
6:27 subjects but he loved them in the
6:29 classic way that all great teachers have
6:31 followed he had a firm modulated voice
6:34 and a superb manner of expressing his
6:36 thoughts a man that was both poetic and
6:39 colorful he could be understood by
6:42 anyone who would read his
6:44 words I'm James Randy thank you and
6:47 thank you too
6:49 Carl we thank you for watching this
6:51 latest episode of James Randy speaks for
6:54 more of James Randy and the Educational
6:56 Foundation make sure you visit randy.
6:58 org
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