We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

Understanding the systems we depend on

Most of us rely on systems we don't understand at all. Your phone connects to invisible networks, your car runs on controlled explosions, your food gets from farm to table through logistics that would've seemed like magic fifty years ago. Yet ask someone how their WiFi actually works, or what's happening chemically when they cook an egg, and you'll often get a blank stare. We've outsourced understanding to experts while still making choices—about what to buy, what to trust, what's safe—that really benefit from knowing the basics.

This gap matters more than it might seem. When you don't understand how something works, you become vulnerable to manipulation. It's easier to spread false claims about vaccines, AI, or climate when people feel confused rather than informed. And there's a quieter cost too: that sense of being a passenger in your own life rather than someone who grasps the world you're moving through.

The solution isn't becoming a physicist. It's curiosity at a functional level—enough to ask good questions, spot nonsense, and feel genuinely connected to the reality you're living in. Sagan was pushing back against passive acceptance, against the idea that technology is just something that happens to us.