The Symposium
Day 3: "The 'Big Picture'--Exploring Questions on the Boundaries of Science" (Zellerbach Auditorium)
- How can progress be made in the quest for "ultimate explanations" in cosmology? Is the universe a purposive order? What are the logical dynamics of the "3-M circle" of ultimate explanation--Mind-Math-Matter?
- What is consciousness? Do we have free will? Is the concept of "causal closure" a real constraint from physics that is also applicable to the nature of the mind?
- Is there life "out there"? Is life in any sense written into the laws of nature?
- How can ethical culture and institutions be strengthened to respond to the accelerating growth of technological power? What should scientists do to address the ethical challenges raised by the astonishing success of their enterprise? Are new habits, new covenants, new institutions, and new cultures needed for the future of science and for the appropriate stewardship of its accelerating powers?
MORNING:
- Special plenary lecture:
Freeman Dyson: "The Future of Science"
- Vaclav Smil: "Ethics in Science and 'The Power Paradox'"
- Special Interdisciplinary Panel Discussion on Free Will and Consciousness
Physics: George Ellis (chair), Hans Halvorson, Anton Zeilinger
Philosophy: John Searle (chair), Robert Bishop, Nancy Cartwright (invited),
Nancey Murphy
Neuroscience: William Newsome (chair), Gerald Edelman, Christof Koch
AFTERNOON:
- Beyond Physics
Michio Kaku: "The Future Vision: Artificial Intelligence and Extraterrestrial
Life"
Paul Davies: "Biocentricity and the Anthropic Principle"
Robert John Russell: "Science and Religion"
- 3-M Debate (Matter, Mind, Mathematics)--The Nature of Ultimate Reality
Chair: George Ellis
Panelists: Gerald Gabrielse, Eleanore Stump (invited), Leonard Susskind,
Max Tegmark
EVENING:
- 7:00-11:00 PM Celebratory banquet honoring Professor and Mrs. Townes in
the historic Rotunda Building in Oakland