Portrait of Carl Sagan
Center-left · Scientist · From history

Carl Sagan

American astronomer and science communicator, 1934 to 1996

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Popularized science through the TV series Cosmos, warned of nuclear winter and climate change, and campaigned against the arms race.

Carl Sagan sits in the left-libertarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: leaning state-led and strongly libertarian. The clearest positions are strongly peace-first on war and peace, strongly secular on religion and strongly progressive on culture.

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Where Carl Sagan sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyLeaning state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly libertarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationStrongly globalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentStrongly nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyStrongly tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly peace-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismLeaning non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Carl Sagan

Stephen Hawking British theoretical physicist, 1942 to 201899%Yuval Noah Harari Israeli historian and author98%José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Prime Minister of Spain, 2004 to 201198%Helen Clark Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1999 to 200897%Bertrand Russell British philosopher and pacifist, 1872 to 197097%Albert Einstein Physicist, 1879 to 195597%Peter Singer Australian moral philosopher97%Olof Palme Prime Minister of Sweden, 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 198696%

People furthest from Carl Sagan

Vladimir Putin President of Russia, 2000 to present (with a term as prime minister)1%Ruhollah Khomeini Supreme Leader of Iran, 1979 to 19891%Benito Mussolini Prime Minister of Italy, 1922 to 19431%Jair Bolsonaro President of Brazil, 2019 to 20221%

Political views closest to Carl Sagan

Effective altruismUses evidence and reason to find the most effective ways of doing good, often favoring…95%Secular humanismBases ethics and public life on reason and science rather than religion.95%Social liberalismDefends individual rights and open societies while backing public services and equal…94%SolarpunkImagines a hopeful future of clean technology, local communities and green cities living…94%

Read more about Carl Sagan

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Biographies of Carl SaganBooks on effective altruism

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Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: NASA/JPL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.