Carl Sagan - I wish I could have met him

Carl Sagan tops my list of people (dead or alive) that I'd like to meet. He is thoughtful without being provocative, insightful without over-speculating, and he approaches difficult subject matter with poise, respect, and well-defended ideas. He doesn't come off as pretentious or intimidating. When addressing how the cosmos began, and how may perceive it to have been created by a god or gods he says:

"But if we wish to pursue this question courageously, we must of course ask the next question, where did god come from. If we decide that this is an unanswerable question, why not save a step and conclude that the origin of the universe is an unanswerable question. Or if we say that god always existed, why not save a step and conclude that the universe always existed, there's no need for a creation, it was always here."

This video discusses how the Hindus were way ahead of their time, realizing the earth was much longer than a few human generations, and gives a brief introduction to Hinduism, as it relates to modern cosmology.



Even better, this is the first part of his last interview. It's frustrating that everything he says is still relevant today.