Carl Sagan - A Universe Not Made for Us

If we are seriously devoted to the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom, our search for truth must be a courageous enterprise indeed.

Soteriological concerns, pressing on the human condition as they might be, cannot be the basis or the criterion upon which we embark on this journey, for we have no reason to suppose that the truth has any concern for our welfare: there is no logical connection between what is real and what we would rather be real. If the universe has any concern for us, let that be a discovery we make in time, and not an assumption that filters our research from the start.

As the late Carl Sagan explains in the following clip, it is the sign of a maturing individual or a maturing society to overcome its childish egocentrism and its proclivity for anthropomorphism, and to accept to see reality for what it is rather than for what one would like it to be.

Douglas Adams had something similar to say, but with a bit more humor :)
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