Inselhalle

Conference Room L1

Access for Nobel Laureates and pre-registered Young Scientists only

Please see your personalized schedule for details.

Moderators:

Leonhard Möckl
Lindau Alumnus 2022
FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Germany

Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

For millennia, scientific progress was equated with human progress. Discoveries such as the wheel, the movable type printing press, and antibiotics were scientific, but they also had a direct, positive impact on society. However, this seems to have changed. Nowadays, scientific progress does not necessarily improve human life. For example, does information technology always strengthen our ability to reach our full potential? Or does it sometimes hinder this development? Consider the ongoing debate about the problematic influence of social media and the potential threats posed by AI and its use in creating fake news. Furthermore, it seems like scientific progress does not treat everyone equally. This has always been the case, but the gap between areas of the world that benefit and those that are left behind seems to be increasing.

In light of this global challenge, we must ask if we need an "updated" vision for future scientific culture. Why focus on making better LEDs or faster GPUs when people in other parts of the world need research on basic issues such as neglected diseases, nutrition, and infrastructure? Can we trust that as long as we push forward, all problems will be solved? Is this the most efficient way? On the other hand, is efficiency even a category for science? Should we be efficient?

In this workshop, we will discuss these questions in light of the Lindau Guidelines, specifically Goals 1, 2, 8, and 9. Our goal is to develop concrete, actionable suggestions to help individual scientists shape the interaction between science and the public space.