Carl Sagan was one of the most well
–
known advocates of
using
a scientific understanding
of the Universe
to better appreciate
the beauty and fragility of our existence on a habitable
planet. In 1990 he was invited to deliver the Keynote Lecture at the 5
th
Emerging Issues
Forum, organized by the Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State University.
You can
link to the lecture
here
.
Please watch the lecture [
the fellow with the objectively spectacular eyebrows wraps up
his intro at around 6:12 in the video
], and reflect on it in light of the ideas and questions
we
have been exploring in class. Then write at least 1 page (
single
–
spaced, Times New
Roman, 12
–
point font, 1
–
inch margins
) on your reflections. In particular:
•
Do you agree or disagree with Sagan’s arguments regarding the importance
of scientific literacy a
mongst the general public?
•
What are the “lessons” that can be taken from Earth’s nearest neighbors in
the solar system? How do these lessons relate to recent or ongoing
challenges facing the human species?
•
This lecture was delivered over a quarter centu
ry ago. What are some of the
predicted outcomes of increasing atmospheric CO
2
that Sagan outlines?
How many of these continue to be issues moving forward?
•
What is the geopolitical analogy Sagan makes to argue that climate change
should be addressed aggr
essively even if one considers it a remote
contingency? Do you buy this analogy? Why or why not?
•
What are some of the potential mitigation strategies
for dealing with these
challenges
that Sagan suggests? Do you agree with his assessment of the
merits
and drawbacks of these approaches?
The above questions are only meant as suggestions to catalyze your thinking, but any
substantive thoughts that you have in response to the lecture and how it relates to either
the course material or your own experience
would be fully appropriate. Please feel free to
discuss your ideas about the lecture with others [indeed…I would love it if you did!], but
your response should be original and
written in your own words
. Copying from each
other or from other sources
will not be tolerated.
The writing assignments will be graded based on the following criteria:
(1)
format (length, spacing, etc.)
(2)
science content
(
quality,
connecting
to the course materials, etc
)
(3)
overall content
and
thoughtfulness of discussion
The
assignment will be due via submission to Canvas by 11:59pm (EST) on
Tuesday, December 3.
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