A Wave of Reason
“A Wave of Reason” is the seventh installment in the Symphony of Science music video series. It is intended to promote scientific reasoning and skepticism in the face of growing amounts of pseudoscientific pursuits, such as Astrology and Homeopathy, and also to promote the scientific worldview as equally enlightening as religion. It features Carl Sagan, Bertrand Russell, Sam Harris, Michael Shermer, Lawrence Krauss, Carolyn Porco, Richard Dawkins, Richard Feynman, Phil Plait, and James Randi.
Video Lyrics
Bertrand Russell:
When you are studying any matter
Or considering any philosophy
Ask yourself only: what are the facts,
And what is the truth that the facts bear out
Carl Sagan:
Science is more than a body of knowledge
It’s a way of thinking
A way of skeptically interrogating the universe
If we are not able to ask skeptical questions
To be skeptical of those in authority
Then we’re up for grabs
Michael Shermer:
In all of science we’re looking for a balance
between data and theory
Sam Harris:
You don’t have to delude yourself
With Iron age fairy tales
Caroline Porco:
The same spiritual fulfillment
That people find in religion
Can be found in science
By coming to know, if you will, the mind of God
Lawrence Krauss:
The real world, as it actually is,
Is not evil, it’s remarkable
And the way to understand the physical world
is to use science
Richard Dawkins:
There is a new wave of reason
Sweeping across America, Britain, Europe, Australia
South America, the Middle East and Africa
There is a new wave of reason
Where superstition had a firm hold
Phil Plait:
Teach a man to reason
And he’ll think for a lifetime
Carl Sagan:
Cosmology brings us face to face with the deepest mysteries
With questions that were once treated only
in religion and myth
The desire to be connected with the cosmos
Reflects a profound reality
But we are connected; not in the trivial ways
That Astrology promises, but in the deepest ways
Richard Feynman:
I can’t believe the special stories that have been made up
About our relationship to the universe at large
Look at what’s out there; it isn’t in proportion
Bertrand Russell:
Never let yourself be diverted
By what you wish to believe
But look only and surely
At what are the facts
James Randi:
Enjoy the fantasy, the fun, the stories
But make sure that there’s a clear sharp line
Drawn on the floor
To do otherwise is to embrace madness
