I consider it an extremely dangerous doctrine, because the more likely we are to assume that the solution comes from the outside, the less likely we are to solve our problems ourselves.

The remark warns against a kind of intellectual and civic passivity: if we persuade ourselves that salvation will arrive from “outside” (whether from authorities, technology, providence, or imagined external agents), we weaken the habits of responsibility, skepticism, and collective problem‑solving needed to address real-world crises. The “dangerous doctrine” is not merely a mistaken belief but one with consequences—encouraging dependence, discouraging inquiry, and making societies easier to manipulate. In Sagan’s broader outlook, the antidote is scientific thinking and democratic self-reliance: confronting problems with evidence, humility, and human agency rather than outsourcing hope to external rescuers.