Most of the people that I deal with are human. So I've had a lot of experience with that. — Carl Sagan

Most of the people that I deal with are human. So I've had a lot of experience with that.

Author: Carl Sagan

Insight: There's something almost absurd about this statement that makes it stick with you. Sagan, one of history's greatest science communicators, is basically saying: I study the universe and cosmos, but mostly I encounter regular people. It sounds obvious until you sit with it and realize he's naming something we often skip over. We live in a world of abstractions. We think about "society," "the economy," "human nature"—big concepts that feel important and serious. But Sagan's reminder is that these abstractions only exist because actual, specific, messy humans are involved. Every policy affects individuals with different fears and hopes. Every conflict involves people with reasons, even if we disagree with them. His insight is that understanding people isn't some side project; it's the main work. What's unexpectedly useful here is permission to take everyday interactions seriously as data. When you get frustrated with someone's stubbornness, or confused by why they believe something you don't, you're not wasting time—you're learning about the species you're part of. The more you pay attention to how actual humans work, the less confident you become about sweeping judgments, and the more patient you might be with the complicated machinery of being alive together.

Source: Psychology Today, 1996