THOUGHTS THAT RESONATE – Dr Carl Sagan

This morning, I was reading a book by one of my favourite thinkers and an amazing scientist Dr Carl Sagan – The Demon Haunted World. Dr Sagan held a special fascination for me since childhood. I grew up watching his series Cosmos on television. As a school kid in a world without internet, Google and YouTube, he became my Science, History and Geography teacher – a motivator like no other.

There is this one interesting episode where he actually demonstrates how to calculate the circumference of the Earth - which was first done by the ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer Eratosthenes around 240 BCE. This left an indelible mark on my curious mind.

Years later, as a teacher, I would often use this as an example of scientific thinking. The power of thought.

Today as I read his words to his mentors, he describes his classes in the University of Chicago where a student of Physics would be expected to “know Plato, Aristotle, Bach, Shakespeare, Gibbon, Malinowski and Freud - among many others.”

True enough, as an educator, I feel many a great thought has been lost in the maze called curriculum.

Think about those lines from Shakespeare’s Caesar – “Et tu, Brute?” (You too, Brutus). The final act of betrayal by a true friend in the name of ambition and power.

What about Aristotle who believed that excellence is a habit, not a one-time act? He argued that a good life requires consistent moral behaviour.

Plato (driven by reason) believed that societies would only achieve true justice when governed by those who possess ultimate wisdom.

The historian Gibbon who said that history is largely a "register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind”.

They were thinkers who are valued for their words, their ability to inform and inspire the next generation.

As we enter the classrooms of today, it is equally important to share these thoughts, to broaden our horizons, to let ideas linger, create an impact. We keep reading, we keep listening and we share these with the generation that is poised to control the chaos.