# Quote — Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain

> Proponents of doctrinal religions—ones in which a particular body of belief is prized and infidels scorned—will be threatened by the courageous pursuit of knowledge. We hear from such people that it may be dangerous to probe too deeply. Many people have inherited their religion like their eye color: they consider it not a thing to think very deeply about, and in any case beyond our control. But those with a set of beliefs they profess to feel deeply about, which they have selected without an unbiased sifting through the facts and the alternatives, will feel uncomfortably challenged by searching questions. Anger at queries about our beliefs is the body's warning signal: here lies unexamined and probably dangerous doctrinal baggage.

- Author: [Carl Sagan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan.md)
- Book: [Broca's Brain](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain.md)
- Page: 339
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#Broca's_Brain_(1979)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain/proponents-of-doctrinal

## More from this book

> Much of human history can, I think, be described as a gradual and sometimes painful liberation from provincialism, the emerging awareness that there is more to the world than was generally believed by our ancestors.

p. 240 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain/much-of-human.md)

> I believe that the extraordinary should certainly be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

p. 73 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain/i-believe-that.md)

> All inquiries carry with them some element of risk. There is no guarantee that the universe will conform to our predispositions. But I do not see how we can deal with the universe—both the outside and the inside universe—without studying it. The best way to avoid abuses is for the populace in general to be scientifically literate, to understand the implications of such investigations. In exchange for freedom of inquiry, scientists are obliged to explain their work. If science is considered a closed priesthood, too difficult and arcane for the average person to understand, the dangers of abuse are greater. But if science is a topic of general interest and concern—if both its delights and its social consequences are discussed regularly and competently in the schools, the press, and at the dinner table—we have greatly improved our prospects for learning how the world really is and for improving both it and us.

p. 13 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain/all-inquiries-carry.md)