--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look…" description: "\"“Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Take a good long look at it. Stare at the dot for an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/carl-sagan-160_extraterrestrial_ann-druyan-suggests-an-experiment-look-b_1060602.jpg" --- # Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the… ![“Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Take a good long look at it. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so species of life that inhabit…” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/carl-sagan-160_extraterrestrial_ann-druyan-suggests-an-experiment-look-b_1060602.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/carl-sagan-160_extraterrestrial_ann-druyan-suggests-an-experiment-look-b_1060602.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/carl-sagan-160_extraterrestrial_ann-druyan-suggests-an-experiment-look-b_1060602.jpg) > ““Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Take a good long look at it. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so species of life that inhabit that speck of dust. Now take it a step further: Imagine that everything was made just for a single shade of that species, or gender, or ethnic or religious subdivision. If this doesn’t strike you as unlikely, pick another dot. Imagine it to be inhabited by a different form of intelligent life. They, too, cherish the notion of a God who has created everything for their benefit. How seriously do you take their claim?”” [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contemplates the arrogance of assuming the universe exists for a single species, urging humility and broader perspective. **In simple terms:** We’re not the center of everything. Key Takeaway Embrace cosmic humility. Themes science philosophy humility anthropocentrism Mood reflective inquisitive humble Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - space exploration - religious belief - ethical decision‑making Key Concepts cosmic perspective existential inquiry Questions to Reflect On - How would you act if you were not special? - What responsibilities arise from a shared universe? A Different Perspective Human‑centered views can limit empathy for other life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extraterrestrial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraterrestrial/) [God Created](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-created/) [Intelligent life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent-life/) [Pale blue dot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pale-blue-dot/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science vs religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-vs-religion/) ## Related quotes > [“Consider again that pale blue dot...imagine that you take a good long look at it, imagine that you are starring at it for any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/consider-again-that-pale-blue-dot-imagine-that-you-take-a-good-long/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [It does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little bit about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-does-no-harm-to-the-romance-of-the-sunset-to-know-a-little-bit/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken..."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-science-it-often-happens-that-scientists-say-you-know-that-s-a-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [There is perhaps no better a demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/there-is-perhaps-no-better-a-demonstration-of-the-folly-of-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Be grateful everyday for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/be-grateful-everyday-for-the-brief-but-magnificent-opportunity-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“The scope and audacity of John Kennedy’s May 25, 1961, message to a joint session of Congress on “Urgent National Needs”—the speech that launched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-scope-and-audacity-of-john-kennedy-s-may-25-1961-message-to-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/look-again-at-that-dot-that-s-here-that-s-home-that-s-us-on-it/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/those-afraid-of-the-universe-as-it-really-is-those-who-pretend-to/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Our posturings, our imagined self-importance , the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe are challenged by this point of pale light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/our-posturings-our-imagined-self-importance-the-delusion-that-we-have-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe that utterly dwarfs —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/once-we-overcome-our-fear-of-being-tiny-we-find-ourselves-on-the/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/that-s-here-that-s-home-that-s-us-on-it-everyone-you-love-everyone/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-we-are-to-survive-our-loyalties-must-be-broadened-further-to/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“One consequence of this train of argument is that, even if civilizations commonly arise on planets throughout the Galaxy, few of them will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/one-consequence-of-this-train-of-argument-is-that-even-if/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-has-been-said-that-astronomy-is-a-humbling-and-character-building/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“The Earth is the only world known so far to harbour life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-earth-is-the-only-world-known-so-far-to-harbour-life-there-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More by Carl Sagan > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/on-the-scale-of-worlds-to-say-nothing-of-stars-or-galaxies-humans-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-one-of-us-is-in-the-cosmic-perspective-precious-if-a-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-our-time-we-have-sifted-the-sands-of-mars-we-have-established-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ “\[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :\] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-about-fulfilled-prophecies-he/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Don't judge everyone else by your own limited experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/don-t-judge-everyone-else-by-your-own-limited-experience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/books-permit-us-to-voyage-through-time-to-tap-the-wisdom-of-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-live-on-a-hunk-of-rock-and-metal-that-circles-a-humdrum-star-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That's where we live. That's home. We humans are one species and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-tiny-blue-dot-set-in-a-sunbeam-here-it-is-that-s-where-we-live-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/humans-who-enslave-castrate-experiment-on-and-fillet-other-animals/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every star may be a sun to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-star-may-be-a-sun-to-someone/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Explore all 1,043 Carl Sagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More Extraterrestrial quotes > [Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/some-pundits-have-proposed-that-the-aliens-have-come-here-to-breed/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [In a movie, it's often important to have aliens whose gestures and facial expressions can be 'read' by humans. And in the days before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/in-a-movie-it-s-often-important-to-have-aliens-whose-gestures-and/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [For all I know we may be visited by a different extraterrestrial civilization every second Tuesday, but there's no support for this appealing idea.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/for-all-i-know-we-may-be-visited-by-a-different-extraterrestrial/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ I would do it \[study UFOs\], but before agreeing to do it, we must insist upon full access to discs recovered. For instance in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-edgar-hoover/i-would-do-it-study-ufos-but-before-agreeing-to-do-it-we-must-insist/) [J. Edgar Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-edgar-hoover/) > [In the firm belief that the American public deserves a better explanation than that thus far given by the Air Force, I strongly recommend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-r-ford/in-the-firm-belief-that-the-american-public-deserves-a-better/) [Gerald R. Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-r-ford/) > [Human paleontology shares a peculiar trait with such disparate subjects as theology and extraterrestrial biology: it contains more practitioners than objects for study.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-pilbeam/human-paleontology-shares-a-peculiar-trait-with-such-disparate/) David Pilbeam > [A contact with an extraterrestrial civilization is the greatest challenge for mankind in the Third Millennium. We would finally realize that we are indeed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hesemann/a-contact-with-an-extraterrestrial-civilization-is-the-greatest/) Michael Hesemann > [In my official status, I cannot comment on ET contact. However, personally, I can assure you, we are not alone!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-camarda/in-my-official-status-i-cannot-comment-on-et-contact-however/) Charles Camarda > [“We are so used to the notion of our own inevitability as life’s dominant species that it is hard to grasp that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/we-are-so-used-to-the-notion-of-our-own-inevitability-as-life-s/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Clearly, unless thinking beings inevitably wipe themselves out soon after developing technology, extraterrestrial intelligence could often be millions or billions of years in advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/clearly-unless-thinking-beings-inevitably-wipe-themselves-out-soon/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [With control of the universe at stake, a crash program is imperative.We produced the A-bomb, under the huge Manhattan Project, in an amazingly short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-keyhoe/with-control-of-the-universe-at-stake-a-crash-program-is-imperative/) Donald Keyhoe > [I've been asked about UFOs and I've said publicly I thought they were somebody else, some other civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-cernan/i-ve-been-asked-about-ufos-and-i-ve-said-publicly-i-thought-they-were/) [Gene Cernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-cernan/) > [“What hand is holding the voting "trump card" that sold the peoples' souls? It starts with a knowledge of truth and the purpose that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-bond/what-hand-is-holding-the-voting-trump-card-that-sold-the-peoples/) [Tracey Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-bond/) > [We all know that UFOs are real. All we need to ask is where do they come from, and what do they want?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-all-know-that-ufos-are-real-all-we-need-to-ask-is-where-do-they/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [The evidence is overwhelming that Planet Earth is being visited by intelligently controlled extraterrestrial spacecraft. In other words, SOME UFOs are alien spacecraft. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanton-t-friedman/the-evidence-is-overwhelming-that-planet-earth-is-being-visited-by/) [Stanton T. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanton-t-friedman/) [Browse all 117 Extraterrestrial quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraterrestrial/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Take a good long look at it. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so species of life that inhabit that speck of dust. Now take it a step further: Imagine that everything was made just for a single shade of that species, or gender, or ethnic or religious subdivision. If this doesn’t strike you as unlikely, pick another dot. Imagine it to be inhabited by a different form of intelligent life. They, too, cherish the notion of a God who has created everything for their benefit. 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