The Demon-Haunted World

Enduring impact & favorite works

• Many commenters describe The Demon-Haunted World as formative for their thinking about science and self-correction.
• Favorite Sagan pieces include “The Dragon in My Garage,” Pale Blue Dot, Cosmos, Billions and Billions, and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.
• Several note a perceived lack of a single Sagan-like figure today, but point to multiple modern science communicators (physicists, YouTubers, podcasters) filling parts of that role.

“Pale Blue Dot” and human significance

• Some admire the “pale blue dot” passage as profoundly humbling and poetic.
• Others criticize it as a logical error: physical size of the universe doesn’t determine human significance, and they see it as needlessly belittling human achievements.
• Defenders answer that it’s a rhetorical device to convey scale and humility, not a strict philosophical argument.

Sagan, atheism, and philosophy

• There is an extended dispute over whether Sagan (and similar figures) were philosophically shallow “scientistic” critics of religion, or simply scientists speaking outside formal philosophy.
• Critics accuse him and later “New Atheists” of straw‑manning theology, ignoring centuries of work, and over‑privileging empirical science.
• Others respond that deep expertise in theology isn’t required to reject religious claims one finds baseless, and that his main strength was as an astronomer and communicator, not a professional philosopher.

Skepticism, compassion, and the skeptical movement

• Multiple quotes from the book highlight Sagan’s criticism of organized Skepticism: polarization, condescension, “us vs. them” attitudes, and lack of compassion for believers.
• Some readers are surprised skeptics revere a book that so sharply critiques their style; others say those passages are precisely why it’s foundational.
• One commenter stresses that the book is best read as a guide for examining one’s own beliefs, not as ammunition against others.

Human rationality, myth, and magical thinking

• Several discuss how entrenched beliefs rarely change just from logic or lending someone a book; motivation and social costs matter more.
• There’s reflection on cognitive “wiring,” confirmation bias, and the idea that even very rational people may be mostly irrational, just slightly less so than average.
• Others argue mythology and irrational narratives are inevitable products of the psyche; the realistic goal is to replace worse “wrong stories” with better ones via the scientific method.

Politics, prophecy, and today’s “demon‑haunted” world

• Sagan’s passages about a service/information economy, loss of manufacturing, concentrated tech power, and declining critical faculties are widely seen as eerily accurate for current conditions.
• Commenters connect this to disinformation, conspiracy culture, and fear‑based politics that actively “haunt” the public with manufactured demons.
• Debate arises over whether this slide is orchestrated, emergent from human nature, or both.

UFOs, astrology, and harmful vs harmless belief

• One long comment uses UFO debates to illustrate Sagan’s point: both true believers and some self‑described debunkers exhibit dogmatism and contempt.
• Another defends everyday astrology and crystals as mostly benign introspective tools, arguing that systemic economic forces are far more damaging than such superstitions.
• Others reply that Sagan’s criticism targets anxious dependence on such beliefs, not casual usage.

Reception and access to the book

• Some readers now find the “science cheerleading” sections less compelling with age, but still value the chapters on witchcraft, gullibility, and cognitive pitfalls.
• There is practical discussion about high current prices, used copies, and free digital versions; one reader offers a brief chapter‑by‑chapter impression after reading an online copy.