With wonder and humility, Carl Sagan, Scientist and Fellow Wanderer of the Stars.
In a society that depends so heavily on science and technology, it is perilous that so few understand it.
Democracy requires an informed and engaged public, capable of making rational decisions based on evidence, not emotion or misinformation.
Yet, we find ourselves in an age where facts are dismissed, expertise is ridiculed, and critical thinking is overshadowed by sensationalism.
The fragility of democracy lies not only in the institutions we build but in the minds of the people who uphold them. If we allow ignorance, fear, and tribalism to dictate our actions, we risk losing what generations before us struggled to achieve. The cosmos reminds us of our smallness and our shared destiny on this pale blue dot-a world that grows smaller as our divisions grow larger.
If we are to navigate the future, we must rekindle our reverence for knowledge and reason. Science offers not absolute truths, but a method of questioning and testing ideas, a beacon to guide us through the darkness of ignorance. Without this, the dangers of authoritarianism, environmental collapse, and societal disintegration loom ever closer.
We must ask ourselves: do we want to be a civilization that looks up to the stars with curiosity and wonder, or one that tears itself apart over illusions of superiority and fear? The choice, as always, is ours.