I started the Carl Sagan Google Doodle Campaign for fun. It's still fun. We're not changing the world. We are, for what it's worth, letting our voices be heard. I don't take myself too seriously, but I do enjoy the thought that something I say or write could inspire the next Feynman or Hawking or Sagan. That thought alone drives me: the thought that, while I might never be the fire itself, I could still be the spark that ignites the flame that sets the whole world on fire.
This makes me think of the young girl who attends one of the martial arts classes I teach. Her face lit up with the biggest smile when she talked to me and found out that her Sensei knows about Pi Day. I told her it was also Albert Einstein's birthday, and I could just see the genuine awe and wonder in her eyes. Maybe our little chat that evening on March 14 at the academy will be a memory she keeps, that sparks her interest in science into a passion that guides her to a career. This nine year old girl could be the next Einstein. Who knows?
Like I said, the possibility alone drives me to keep writing, and keep doing things like the Carl Sagan Google Doodle Campaign.
I enjoy the small victories, like seeing our Change.org petition get over 500 signatures in a little over a month's time. If Google gives the world a Carl Sagan doodle on November 9, regardless of whether we had any influence on that decision or not, it will feel like a victory.
"What will you do if Google makes a Sagan Doodle?" someone asked me recently. At the very least, I'll keep the Facebook page going, as a tribute to what we accomplished in a year as well as a continued tribute to both Sagan and science. If Google doesn't give us a Sagan doodle, then the campaign continues on for at least another year.
Thing is, the Carl Sagan Google Doodle Campaign isn't really about Carl Sagan, or Google, or a doodle. I mean, it is, but it's about more than that. Yes, Sagan deserves the tribute. Yes, people will be better off for knowing who Carl Sagan is, and will benefit even more if they read his works and watch Cosmos. And yes, it would be quite a treat for us Saganites to see a Google Doodle honoring the man who brought science to us regular folk.
But the goal is to get more people interested in science. Sagan was a master of making science both interesting and accessible to the public. Pointing to Sagan as a face of science and an ambassador of critical thinking and the scientific method helps inspire people to see the beauty and poetry of science - even if Sagan's own contributions to science don't compare with the Feynmans and Hawkings of the world. It's Sagan's love and passion for science that instilled in us our own love of science and the universe. That same love and passion can (and does) continue to instill those feelings in others.
If Google gives us the Sagan Google Doodle we've been asking for, we will continue to speak on behalf of science. And maybe we'll find another cause to fight for along the way. Regardless, we will keep looking toward the stars.
— Dead-Logic
The Carl Sagan Google Doodle Campaign
The Carl Sagan Google Doodle Campaign
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