Carl Sagan had the joke that physically we weren't up to the task to comprehend a significant part of the universe,(reply>), It's definitely funny that it was a joke and I'm going to point out that he was definitely making fun of the majority while excluding himself from that more than likely but of course he can't outright brazenly assert that he comprehends the significant part of the universe because that would be a social and communicative act of heresy.,(reply>), @Dr. BrainTickler thank you,(reply>), Also, no hero worship logical fallacy. <br>Carl Sagan did an amazing job making use of his innate intellectual capabilities and I definitely would have enjoyed his company but don't think for a second that there aren't people today that have surpassed your heroes and furthermore, the more people hero worship, the more they stagnate and the more they ignore those that have replaced their heroes and taken their legacy even further as if they grabbed the baton in a relay race of knowledge.<br><br>This trend you continue repeating the quotes of intellectual heroes of the past, observably has indeed robbed many of experiencing the fruits of all of our labor in real time... As repeating the quotes of intellectual heroes of the past has become a trend that not only stagnates but serves as a weapon of mass distraction while we've already got enough of those and the unfortunate outcome is that many don't experience or even discover the many human products in this oversaturated market that have surpassed all of those intellectual heroes.<br><br>Every generation some of us get smarter and all knowledge compounds the power &amp; capabilities of us all... It's sad that I even have to say any of this and it said that I don't have enough time to repeat all of this every single opportunity that presents itself. <br><br>As this channel and the thread are chock full of intelligent people, I figure I'm not wasting my breath as much as I would be in other examples nor is your quote entirely inappropriate whereas most examples of hero worship are just outright erroneous nonsense where I know better than somebody's hero and even though this is the same to some extent, nuance to that &amp; I reference my other comment here in response to yours. <br><br>Just know that I've been accused of knowing what life is which is an absurd thing to say but just the fact that people have told me that more than once suggests that I do a comprehend a significant part of the universe compared to anything others have observed prior. <br><br>Now, go ahead &amp; insult my intelligence with worthless high school debate team bullshit or weaponized psychology that equate to ad hominem, red herring, bifurcation, oversimplification and equivocation, aye? Anyone? <br><br>I'll be surprised if the majority, intelligent and learn it or not, can ever refrain from their knee-jerk hatred of those who won't feign humility. (I'm rarely surprised these days),(reply>), well, Carl Sagan never had the chance to meet me, Aaron Schwartz 2.WOAH! Heh heh. <br><br>In Carl Sagan's time what's your quoting was likely true, at least to a point, certainly generally speaking but now we have the digital library of Alexandria &amp; this massive construct we call the internet which is extremely similar to a massive neural network that connects every brain it participates as well as parts of the brains of those past forms like "Carl Sagan"... <br><br>We have an oversaturated amount of information with exceedingly efficient tools applied to filtration methodology so that those who have taken full advantage of the information age, for the past 20 years have been enabled to find the answers to most questions the curious student will ask.<br><br>It's more of a burden than it is a gift and it's still pretty rare because those who went to college became myopic tools and most two dropped out of school we're left with economic slavery or a life of crime. <br><br>Most did not spend 20 years of their lives cooped up, in solitude, no job, no wife, no kids &amp; limited distractions so both Carl &amp; you rehashing his relevant line of thinking makes a lot of sense justifying that you'd bring it up... <br><br>And I suppose it depends on how we want to define "significant comprehension"... Which is pretty much just arguing semantics and would anything ever be good enough to qualify for that definition and by whose arbitrary opinions would that be defined by?<br><br>Certainly you don't presume that you know what every form on this planet is capable of, correct because that would be contradictory to the point you're making as you'd be presumptuously asserting that you know what I'm capable of and that you know what every human brain is capable of... Right?<br><br>Furthermore, consider this line of thinking braided with everything else that I offered...<br><br>We have many other examples of perceptual amplification in the form of our ever advancing machinations with one discovery in one field leading to a discovery in another which leads to a breakthrough in another that leads to more tech or understandings &amp; all of that has been compounding on itself building into a tidal wave of expanding consciousness. <br><br>Now you need to be aware of that some of us surf the crest of the wave of consciousness,.. we are very similar to an extreme athlete, the rather than it being the physical extreme sports variety, we are Rebel genius Mad Men, rather "eccentric" &amp; have an addiction to gluttonizing the knowledge of the ages rather than being adrenaline junkies or we're just gluttons for punishment...<br><br>Seriously, the more you know, the more you understand; the more you understand, the more meaning inferred... More meaning eventually just turns into the burden of responsibility... If your intellectually impotent because you don't have any luxury and you spend your entire life becoming hyper-expanded consciousness, you're likely intellectually and economically impotent so you get tormented by the weight of it all barely hanging on to sanity for what will be your significantly, comparatively, most assuredly, shorter life over everyone else, likely dying younger than even those extreme athletes going all David &amp; Goliath versus the largest waves on the planet. Lol.<br><br>Let me guess, I'm just an arrogant narcissistic POS having delusions of grandeur, right? Nope, you are for presumptuously assuming so much about so many things while not doing your due diligence significantly enough. <br><br>What's stopping you? Time availability, right? That's never been a problem for me, think about it. You probably can't empathize with it until you arrive at this point, if you never get the time, you'll never arrive there so I can't get you there from here. Doesn't matter if I open the door and you walk through it. Your only option is to become my student for as long as it takes and there's no walking nor is there a choice. <br><br>There's no try, there's only do.<br><br>There is no spoon nor is there a door.<br><br>There's no person here, I'm an open window that allows you to here into another dimension. <br><br>You can either stagnate and be a prisoner of presumptuous opinions or you can leap through the window... Leading to a wide range of possible states of consciousness.