

“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...
The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”
― The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”
― The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

“Problem is (follow me closely here, the science is pretty complicated), if I cut a hole in the Hab, the air won't stay inside anymore.”
― The Martian
― The Martian

“In 2002, having spent more than three years in one residence for the first time in my life, I got called for jury duty. I show up on time, ready to serve. When we get to the voir dire, the lawyer says to me, 鈥淚 see you鈥檙e an astrophysicist. What鈥檚 that?鈥 I answer, 鈥淎strophysics is the laws of physics, applied to the universe鈥攖he Big Bang, black holes, that sort of thing.鈥 Then he asks, 鈥淲hat do you teach at Princeton?鈥 and I say, 鈥淚 teach a class on the evaluation of evidence and the relative unreliability of eyewitness testimony.鈥 Five minutes later, I鈥檓 on the street.
A few years later, jury duty again. The judge states that the defendant is charged with possession of 1,700 milligrams of cocaine. It was found on his body, he was arrested, and he is now on trial. This time, after the Q&A is over, the judge asks us whether there are any questions we鈥檇 like to ask the court, and I say, 鈥淵es, Your Honor. Why did you say he was in possession of 1,700 milligrams of cocaine? That equals 1.7 grams. The 鈥榯housand鈥 cancels with the 鈥榤illi-鈥 and you get 1.7 grams, which is less than the weight of a dime.鈥 Again I鈥檓 out on the street.”
― Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier
A few years later, jury duty again. The judge states that the defendant is charged with possession of 1,700 milligrams of cocaine. It was found on his body, he was arrested, and he is now on trial. This time, after the Q&A is over, the judge asks us whether there are any questions we鈥檇 like to ask the court, and I say, 鈥淵es, Your Honor. Why did you say he was in possession of 1,700 milligrams of cocaine? That equals 1.7 grams. The 鈥榯housand鈥 cancels with the 鈥榤illi-鈥 and you get 1.7 grams, which is less than the weight of a dime.鈥 Again I鈥檓 out on the street.”
― Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier

“Beauty doesn't have to be about anything. What's a vase about? What's a sunset or a flower about? What, for that matter, is Mozart's Twenty-third Piano Concerto about?”
― The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time
― The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

“When bad news is riding high and despair in fashion, when loud mouths and corruption seem to own center stage, when some keep crying that the country is going to the dogs, remember it鈥檚 always been going to the dogs in the eyes of some, and that 90 percent, or more, of the people are good people, generous-hearted, law-abiding, good citizens who get to work on time, do a good job, love their country, pay their taxes, care about their neighbors, care about their children鈥檚 education, and believe, rightly, as you do, in the ideals upon which our way of life is founded.”
― The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For
― The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For

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