source file: mills2.txt Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 10:22:10 -0800 Subject: Sagan, metaphysics and Music From: John Chalmers Carl Sagan was a very complex individual who evolved from a brash young whiz-kid to one of the most eloquent popularizers of science in the US. He also accomplished a great deal scientifically for which he failed to receive proper recognition from the National Academy of Science. Some of his statements about religious belief do sound condescending, but I think the tone of his last work,"The Demon- Haunted World" is not, and his accounts of his feelings toward his parents' deaths are very moving. I have no idea what Sagan thought of xenharmonic music. I doubt he ever heard any, except perhaps for the astronomically inspired works of Terenzi, Stockhausen (astrology in his case), etc. I imagine he would have reacted to it emotionally as the rest of us do if what he heard was musically valid. There is considerable debate these days about the future of science. There may or may not be a 21st century science as distinguished from a 21st century technology. The concern is whether we will ever have the technical means to discover new physics, whether the cost of scientific research will become prohibitive in an over-populated and polluted world, whether we will ever be able to discover how the brain works, etc. I'm optimistic, myself, and believe science will continue to advance and accumulate new knowledge about the physical universe and our place in it. What 21st or 22nd century science will look like, I have no idea, but I am sure it will subsume, not contradict, the bulk of 20th century science. My lack of enthusiasm for "alternative" science and "mysticism" is not because I am sure there is nothing beyond the reach of scientific explanation, but because the evidence supporting these alternative beliefs is so poor. As Sagan often said, _"Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence"_. My second reason is that there is so little original or novel thought in most of these systems. We've managed to discard alchemy, phlogiston, "life force," Atlantis, Lemuria, and other scientific superstitions and errors, but I don't see comparable progress in the metaphysical fields. Most metaphysical works that I have seen are intensely conservative, and while no one worships Marduk, Zeus, Huitzilopochtli, Baal, etc. anymore, the same themes reappear even in the most SF'nal UFO religions. So, why revive or import someone else's beliefs, when we've largely freed ourselves from our own superstitions. While there may well be a metaphysical realm beyond the reach of science, most of what purports to be "wisdom" seems to me to be telling us more about the human psyche than about the universe. I think therefore that most of these belief systems belong to the realm of literature rather than to cosmology or ontology. Their emotional power is undeniable, however, even for materialists like myself and I do think that they may serve as powerful inspirations for significant music. If they help you compose or perform better, use and cherish them, but keep them separate from science. --John Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Sun, 16 Mar 1997 19:52 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA30777; Sun, 16 Mar 1997 19:52:21 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA30767 Received: from by ella.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) id KAA27205; Sun, 16 Mar 1997 10:50:34 -0800 Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 10:50:34 -0800 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@ella.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@ella.mills.edu