The legendary astronomer and science communicator saw the dangers of anti-intellectualism long before they arrived.
The Visionary Who Looked Beyond the Stars
Astronomer Carl Sagan had a gift for making science feel deeply human. In the 1980s, his groundbreaking series Cosmos transformed complex concepts about the universe into something poetic and accessible.
But while Sagan inspired people to look up at the stars, he also warned about what could happen if we stopped looking inward, at our reasoning, our skepticism, and our ability to think critically.
Shortly before his death in 1996, Sagan sat down with Charlie Rose and issued a chilling prediction about what might happen to America if it turned away from science and rational inquiry.
“Ignorance and Power”
Sagan warned that America’s growing disconnect from science could spell disaster.
“We’ve arranged a society on science and technology in which nobody understands anything about science and technology,” he said. “And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power sooner or later is going to blow up in our faces.”
His concern wasn’t limited to misunderstanding how science works, it was about what that ignorance could enable.
“Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don’t know anything about it?” he asked.
To Sagan, democracy required an informed citizenry, people capable of skeptical thinking, reasoned debate, and intellectual humility. Without that, he warned, the public would be at the mercy of whoever could best manipulate their fears.
Vulnerable to the “Next Charlatan”
Sagan explained that science wasn’t just a body of facts, it was a way of thinking.
“Science is more than a body of knowledge; it’s a way of thinking,” he said. “A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility.”
He warned that when people lose the ability to question claims and demand evidence, they become susceptible to manipulation.
“If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we’re up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along.”
The word charlatan hit especially hard. It wasn’t tied to any one person, it was a warning about the pattern that emerges when critical thought collapses.
The Cost of Abandoning Reason
Sagan’s words have never felt more relevant. Today, misinformation spreads faster than ever, often outpacing science itself. From anti-vaccine movements to climate change denial, modern society is facing exactly the kind of “combustible mixture” he feared.
He also emphasized that education was the foundation of a functioning democracy.
“It wasn’t enough, [Thomas Jefferson] said, to enshrine some rights in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The people had to be educated and practice their skepticism,” Sagan reminded. “Otherwise, we don’t run the government, the government runs us.”
Now, as public trust in experts continues to erode and education itself becomes politicized, Sagan’s warning feels less like theory and more like a mirror.
Still Time to Listen
Sagan never claimed to be a prophet, he was simply a scientist who understood humanity’s patterns all too well. His plea was simple: invest in science education, protect curiosity, and teach critical thinking as if democracy itself depended on it, because it does.
More than two decades later, his message still echoes: the antidote to manipulation and division is education, skepticism, and wonder.
As Sagan often reminded his audience, “We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” But first, we have to keep asking questions.
Watch the full video below:
Featured image from: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons