# The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

10 Hacker News commenters recommended The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for teaching scientific thinking, separating science from pseudoscience, and the Baloney Detection Kit, which many say changed how they judge evidence.

## Why people recommend it

- Practical tools for spotting bad reasoning (3 comments): "These will help you distinguish between rational thinking and rationalizations." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47229053)) "I drill this into my children, they have it memorized." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46990915)) "Especially the Baloney Detection Kit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47124431))
- Influential and a longtime favorite (2 comments): "DHW framed it spectacularly for me, and is one of the most influential books I have read." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46990014)) "I remember this being one of my favorite books back in college" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46230925))
- Feels relevant to today's world (2 comments): "Go read Carl Sagan's 1996 demon haunted world and it's only gotten worse from there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48574545)) "Literally everything he described in there is precisely the world we live in today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47706417))
- Explains rational thinking and pseudoscience (2 comments): "Carl Sagan also has an excellent book on distinguishing science from pseudoscience" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291280)) "These will help you distinguish between rational thinking and rationalizations." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47229053))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/g-del-escher-bach.md): 47 recommend
- [Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-fast-and-slow.md): 17 recommend
- [Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-in-systems.md): 17 recommend
- [The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/selfish-gene.md): 14 recommend
- [Cosmos by Carl Sagan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmos.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345409469?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780345409461) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan", https://hackerapproved.com/p/demon-haunted-world/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).