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Hello All,
like most of you, I am a strong believer that aliens exist; however, I am still on the fence regarding abductions and direct contact with humans.
Therefore, I am always looking for both sides of the argument’ per se, in order for me to gather info. from both sides and come to my own conclusion
The excerptbelow, by famous astronomer/scientist/ufo enthusiast Carl Sagan is a fantastic read for ALL who are also open minded. Please, take 5
minutes to read it if you are also an open minded, thinker like me.
Waem regards,
Brandon
Interview With Carl Sagan
Author, Astronomer
NOVA: Can you tell us how you feel if someone came to you with good evidence that there was, in fact, alien life trying to communicate with us? How
would that make you feel as a scientist?
SAGAN: If someone came to me with compelling, bona fide evidence that we're being visited, my reaction would be "Whoopee!" And I'd want to play a
role in analyzing the evidence. I would try very hard to bring in the absolute best scientists in the world to study it, depending on what the
evidence is like. And I don't doubt that there would be a lot of cooperation from the scientific community. I don't think that scientists are
prejudiced to begin with. Prejudice means pre-judging. They're post-judice. After examining the evidence they presumptuously decide there's nothing
to it. There's a big difference between prejudice and post-judice.
NOVA: Speculate for a moment on the parts of human nature, the commonality of believing in abductions, or aliens anyway, and the part of human nature
that wants to search for other life forms in the universe.
SAGAN: I personally have been captured by the notion of extraterrestrial life, and especially extraterrestrial intelligence from childhood. It swept
me up, and I've been involved in sending space craft to nearby planets to look for life and in the radio search for extraterrestrial
intelligence...
It would be an absolutely transforming event in human history. Precisely because it's so exciting, the stakes are so high on whether it's true or
false, that we must demand the very rigorous standards of evidence... That's the circumstance in which our hopes may dominate our skeptical scrutiny
of the data. So, we have to be very careful. There have been a few instances in the [past]. We thought we found something, and it always turned out to
be explicable...
So, a kind of skepticism is routinely applied to the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence by its most fervent proponents. I do not see [in]
the alien abduction situation a similar rigorous application of scientific skepticism by its proponents. Instead, I see enormous acceptance at face
value - and leading the witness and all sorts of suggestions. Plus, the contamination by the general culture of this idea.
It seems to me there is a big difference between the two approaches to extraterrestrial intelligence, although I'm frequently written to [to] say how
could I search for extraterrestrial intelligence and disbelieve that we're being visited. I don't see any contradiction at all. It's a wonderful
prospect, but requires the most severe and rigorous standards of evidence.
NOVA: Could you please comment on the part of the quality of the evidence that is put forward by these so-called "abduction proponents."
SAGAN: Well, it's almost entirely anecdote. Someone says something happened to them...And, people can say anything. The fact that someone says
something doesn't mean it's true. Doesn't mean they're lying, but it doesn't mean it's true.
Although it may not seem ‘fair’ to all who have had extraterrestrial encounters, To be taken seriously, you need physical evidence that can be
examined at leisure by skeptical scientists: a scraping of the whole ship, and the discovery that i
[edit on 10-4-2010 by iamopenpminded]
[edit on 10-4-2010 by iamopenpminded]