Comments on: Virtual memorial http://monkeypi.net/2006/12/26/virtual-memorial/ Enough random posts... Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:51:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: theMonkey http://monkeypi.net/2006/12/26/virtual-memorial/#comment-1112 theMonkey Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:09:16 +0000 http://monkeypi.net/?p=122#comment-1112 Thanks, mgroves. Well said. I agree with you about noticing his apparent inner conflicts. I remember reading his account of meeting with the Dhali Lhama (sp?), and how much the meeting caused him to think. He really was affected by it. I also remember him detailing his inner conflict about animal testing. The treatment he received for his condition would not have been possible without extensive animal testing, and that treatment added at least two decades onto his life. He once said that being so vehemently against animal testing, only to find out that it added 20 years to his life, was something that gave him profound conflict. Thanks for your insight. :) Thanks, mgroves. Well said. I agree with you about noticing his apparent inner conflicts.

I remember reading his account of meeting with the Dhali Lhama (sp?), and how much the meeting caused him to think. He really was affected by it.

I also remember him detailing his inner conflict about animal testing. The treatment he received for his condition would not have been possible without extensive animal testing, and that treatment added at least two decades onto his life. He once said that being so vehemently against animal testing, only to find out that it added 20 years to his life, was something that gave him profound conflict.

Thanks for your insight. :)

]]> By: mgroves http://monkeypi.net/2006/12/26/virtual-memorial/#comment-1110 mgroves Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:02:23 +0000 http://monkeypi.net/?p=122#comment-1110 Whenever I watch Contact or read stuff from or about Sagan, I always get this idea that he was an incredibly smart, but conflicted man. Many atheists/agnostics/scientists/etc seem so cocksure of themselves and engage in mean-spirited intellectualist attacks and caricatures of relgious people/religions/the scientifically unwashed/etc. Sagan sometimes seems that way, but if you scratch below the surface, it seems that he was always struggling, thinking critically about his own views and not just dismissing strongly held beliefs that conflicted with his own. I think to be so sure about oneself as to preclude further self-critique (even in an inner or candid dialog) is just as flawed as the lack of critical thinking one points out in others. To sum up a comment that has become much longer than I set out to create: Sagan was a cool guy and I liked him. Whenever I watch Contact or read stuff from or about Sagan, I always get this idea that he was an incredibly smart, but conflicted man. Many atheists/agnostics/scientists/etc seem so cocksure of themselves and engage in mean-spirited intellectualist attacks and caricatures of relgious people/religions/the scientifically unwashed/etc. Sagan sometimes seems that way, but if you scratch below the surface, it seems that he was always struggling, thinking critically about his own views and not just dismissing strongly held beliefs that conflicted with his own.

I think to be so sure about oneself as to preclude further self-critique (even in an inner or candid dialog) is just as flawed as the lack of critical thinking one points out in others.

To sum up a comment that has become much longer than I set out to create: Sagan was a cool guy and I liked him.

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