Introduction
Despite an ever expanding body of scientific knowledge, the comprehension of our surrounding world - i.e. the whole of the discoveries and observations rethought under the light of our historical and humanistic values - has scarcely advanced. The gap between the natural sciences and the human/social sciences, which started during the age of Enlightenment - what C.P. Snow called in 1959 "the two cultures" - is in fact barely disappearing. We are nevertheless forced to admit that both cultures are looking at the same world, albeit using complementary tools.
There are numerous reasons for such a fragmentary dialogue between these two cultures : historical at first as some communities have been suspiciously looking at the unknown being demystified through science; then epistemological as the natural sciences tools have lately allowed an accumulation of knowledge at a speed that had never been reached before; instrumental, finally, as each discipline uses tools which are not necessarily applicable to the others.
Our time is particularly propitious for attempts to bring these two developing cultures closer together : certain extremist and/or harmful positions of the natural sciences and humanities have been clearly identified - pseudo-science serving the 20th century politics for some, and philosophical and religious radicalism limiting scientific development for the others. In addition, the present moulding of our vital environment and of our planet by natural and technical sciences call for a thorough analysis of the role they play in the future knowledge society. In fact, many fields of new scientific convergence already allow us to lift away the obstacles of the double culture by showing us the benefit of a common or convergent approach : the neurosciences, which already allow us understand partially the mechanism of understanding; the history of the Humanity - thanks to genetics - allows in certain cases the passage from hypothesis to veracity by adding biological facts to historical discoveries and theories; climatology and the environmental sciences by blending the complexity of the physical phenomena and of human behaviour.
The Swiss university system -with its longstanding international reputation in education and science- is committed to bridging the two cultures closer together. To meet the challenge it has created the World Knowledge Dialogue Foundation and its inaugural project, the Crans-Montana symposium. The stability of our society and the multiculturalism by which it is characterized allow us to take the necessary step back for a "cross viewed" analysis of the great scientific discoveries, of their interpretation and of their consequences for tomorrow's world.
André Hurst,
Rector emeritus, University of Geneva |
Prof. Francis WALDVOGEL, M.D.
"President emiritus of the Swiss
Federal Institutes of Technology"
Program Director of the WKD |
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