SPACE IS INFINITE BUT THE SPHERE OF TRUTH HAS NARROWED

I saw one of the episodes of the new Cosmos.  It was interesting.   I read a review of it in Sky and Telescope and they mentioned how graphics and technology have improved over what Mr. Sagan had at his disposal.  I enjoyed the new Cosmos and I thought that it has much of value to offer.  Yet, I was surprised to see rather simple animation, almost Saturday morning level in the program.  So this drove me watch the old Cosmos and to listen to Sagan's album on vinyl (so glad I kept those). It is very interesting how much classical music is in this old album.  Mozart, Vivaldi.  It is quit impressive.  There is a  sense of wonder and curiosity in the old Cosmos music.  Sounds weird I know.

I wonder if the new Cosmos contains a sense of distain which was absent in the old one.  I do not have this feeling that this distain is present in Science alone.  Science and society are different from just 30 years ago (duh), not different but so different in a way which may not bode well for the future.  There is more of a sense of here is the answer, our system has all of the answers and everyone should listen.  In my short experience it does not seem that knowledge is something which someone figures out and then everyone else accepts it as truth- that is the road to dogma.

The mosaic in Palazzo Massimo in Rome has always intrigued me.  It is based on the golden rectangle.  Another way to think of it is the pattern of seeds on the sunflower.  But the longer one looks at it there is more than one way to view it and enjoy it.  In fact the different views are valuable.  To put it another way it just does not seem that one view/answer fits all.  If one system has all of the answers, if that system comes to dominate what reason would people have to preserve what is felt to be dated or even unacceptable?  This did happen once in human history and 80 percent of all Latin Literature and 90 percent of all ancient Greek literature disappeared forever. And we humans spent the next 700 years digging out of the pit of ignorance.  And I must add in some areas we have made no progress at all beyond what Cicero or Aristotle figured out.

I seem to have this feeling that today some people (more than I would prefer) know the answer and we should just listen.  Dogma is being made to look appealing.