"It makes good evolutionary sense for children to have fantasies of scary
monsters. In a world stalked by lions and hyenas, such fantasies help
prevent defenseless toddlers from wandering too far from their guardians."
(p. 109)
Here, as elsewhere, Sagan proffers an explanation to his taste without,
apparently, being aware (a) he has provided no evidence, just an "it could
be", and (b) that he is trapped just as much by his reductionist world-view
as the oddest UFO fanatic is by his own view.
I am not a YEC either, but careless use of "evolution," especially without
acknowledgement of the unanswered questions, does no favor to a would-be
scientific view of the world.
Yours in Christ,
Geoff