Been catching up on Cosmos episodes over the last few days. Science Channel had taken it off the air for a while, but they've started back thru the series again. Next time it comes around, I highly recommend episode 7 ("the Backbone of Night") in which, among many things, Sagan delivers a concise explanation of why Plato was full of shit.
Altho I can't help but notice how much change there's been in the 25+ years since Cosmos (see: any episode that shows "state of the art" computer technology), it's also hard to escape the suspicion that a show like that could never get produced today. Well, maybe on a narrowcast cable network, like the one it's being shown on now. But the idea that PBS or anyone would produce for a mass audience a show that both unapologetically discussed evolution as the fact that it is, and which approached organized religion and pretty much all mystical traditions with either healthy skepticism or complete disdain (with smatterings of disinterest)... well, I fear we won't be seeing any new series like that again anytime soon.
House of Dioxin
Now Appearing Nightly in the Exotic Mondo Mundo Lounge
i wasn't old enough to really get Cosmos when it first aired, although i know i watched some of it. i would love to see it again.
i've been watching a lot of star trek: the next generation, and the really striking thing is that they didn't come up with the idea of wireless networking. it seems quite unnatural to me now that data should have to physically connect to the ship's computer.
I was very young when I watched Cosmos the first time around. I've only seen a couple of the reruns lately but I've been surprised by how much I remember -- surprised that I remember anything to be honest. It just goes to show what a compelling program it was. Georg, if you see the one where they show the 3d mmodel of what 4d would look like, please save it for me. I remember that segment having a deep effect on the way I thought and imagined, and I'd very much like to see it again.