Anything you don't understand, Mr. Rankin, you attribute to God. God for you is where you sweep away all the mysteries of the world, all the challenges to our intelligence. You simply turn your mind off and say God did it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Sagan critiques using God as a default explanation for unknown phenomena, arguing it halts intellectual inquiry.
- In plain terms
- Attributing mysteries to God stops us from trying to understand them ourselves.
- What can you take from it?
- Use curiosity and investigation instead of supernatural shortcuts.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When do you stop asking why?
- Is ignorance a valid explanation?
Another view
Some argue faith addresses questions science cannot answer.
More from Carl Sagan
What I'm saying is, if God wanted to send us a message, and ancient writings were the only way he could think of doing it, he could have done a better job.
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