In 1995, astrophysicist Carl Sagan published his book The Demon-Haunted World where he made predictions about what Earth would be like 20 years in the future. Incredibly, what he said in the 90s has been confirmed today.
In his book, Sagan wrote that pseudoscience and scientific illiteracy would take over, with ever more people trusting in them, while critical and skeptical thinking would take a backseat.
The astrophysicist has been extremely accurate, describing the greater part of humanity's despair and powerlessness when it comes to politics, which affects a significant part of our lives.
The scientist was spot-on about how the ability to critically think would wane in the majority of people and how various superstitions and pseudoscience would grow in popularity.
"The goal of the latter is to make you feel good, even if it means turning your back on the truth.
Science is something more than just accumulated knowledge. It's a way of thinking. I have a bad feeling about the kind of America my children and grandchildren might find themselves living in - when the United States becomes an economy of services and information; when nearly all major industries are moved to other countries; when great technological might is concentrated in the hands of a few and not a single representative of the public interest will be able to even touch upon the problems; when people will have lost the ability to control their fate and pose informed questions to those governing them; when everyone will clutch their own little crystal and nervously peruse over their horoscope; when, deprived of critical thinking and unable to tell the difference between the truth and that which makes us feel good, we'll slide down a slippery slope, almost unnoticeably, back to superstitions and darkness, " wrote the physicist in his book, quoted by Science Alert.
And even though Sagan foretold we'd find ourselves in times in which we'd be lacking the ability to analyze and criticize received information, we have an opportunity to get ourselves out of this situation.
