Accuracy Quote by Carl Sagan
“Scientists can routinely predict a solar eclipse, to the minute, a millennium in advance. You can go to the witch doctor to lift the spell that causes your pernicious anaemia, or you can take Vitamin B12. If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. If you're interested in the sex of your unborn child, you can consult plumb-bob danglers all you want . . . but they'll be right, on average, only one time in two. If you want real accuracy . . . try amniocentesis and sonograms. Try science.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Cosmos, Carl Sagan, 1980
Science provides reliable, testable predictions, while superstition offers uncertain, anecdotal hope.
In simple terms: Science works; superstition doesn’t.
Key Takeaway
Trust evidence, not myth.
Themes
science
skepticism
health
prediction
Mood
thoughtful
analytical
Type
educational
inspirational
When to use this quote
- medical decisions
- childbirth planning
- vaccination
- personal health choices
Key Concepts
empiricism
probability
risk assessment
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you decide when to trust data over tradition?
- What role does fear play in choosing unproven remedies?
A Different Perspective
Superstition can give comfort despite low accuracy.
![“[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion, why do you not believe in materialistic science, which has an unparalleled record of fulfilled prophecy? Consider, for example, eclipses.” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/875/carl-sagan-160_belief_when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-a_25095.jpg)
