Reflections of a Physicist on the Cultural Ocean of His

of ourtime. might mapthewayonhowtoovercomegreatchallenges and crossroads view cross-sectional this how discuss briefly shall Wescience. of branches view, thesimilarities and thedifferences ofdevelopment of thevarious sciences. In thistalk we shall approach, through animpressionistic personal chemistry to biochemistry and biology, frombiologytohumanandsocial homogeneous and interconnected endeavour spanning from physics and transformation. Thus, science,aprivileged form ofenquiry, shouldbea an evolving body of ideas, actually in a physical Universe in continuous na buscadasrespostasaosgrandesdesafiosdonossotempo. do saberearticular consistentemente como estavisãotransversalpodeajudar abordar assemelhanças e asdiferençasnodesenvolvimento dos váriosramos Através deumavisãoimpressionistaepessoal,estacomunicação visa química à bioquímica e à biologia, da biologia às ciências sociais e humanas. constituir-se comoumcampohomogéneoeinterligado que vaidafísicae a ciência, enquantoformaprivilegiadadeinvestigação e interrogação, deve fundamentalmente, num Universofísicoemcontínuatransformação. Assim, no contexto de umconjunto de ideias em constante evolução e,mais CULTURAL OCEAN OF HISTIME REFLECTIONS OFAPHYSICISTONTHE [email protected] CENTRO DEFÍSICADOPORTO ORFEU BERTOLAMI, The purpose ofknowledge is tounderstand our worldinthe context of ABSTRACT O objetivodoconhecimento é compreenderomundoemquevivemos RESUMO

UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO -FACULDADEUNIVERSIDADE DOPORTO DECIÊNCIAS

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 31 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 32 époque, which might reflect upon his/her work through a subtle and complex aeons oftime. unthinkable over spam that those as well as phenomena fleetest the examine observable Universe; and weexpect that these methods are equally useful to in the existing particle accelerators to the ones extending beyond the about thephysicsthatdescribescalesmuchsmallerfrom onesscrutinised the assumptionthattheseverymethodsendowuswithmeans tospeculate are familiar with on our day-to-day life. Furthermore, this reflection relies on understanding of the world on scales completely different from the ones we intoaccount take must the assumptionsconcerningmethodsandtoolsthatprovide uswithan nature this of reflection a course, Of laws. hidden that allows usexploring the inner workingsofNature and unravelling its perspective of ourunderstanding of the Universe as well as about the science of ourtimeinvolvesnecessarily acosmic,historicandanepistemological a reflection by any physicist and, most particularly, by this one, on the culture historical period we are living in. In fact, I think that it s natural to expect that opportunity to share some ofminesketchy thoughts andconcerns about the of thismostprestigiousconference. Furthermore, I am most grateful for the and togiveacontributiontheproceedings Universidade doPorto(FLUP) talk at this conference to celebrate the centenary of the Faculdade deLetras da understanding of Nature might reflect upon the way aesthetics, culture, way aesthetics, the upon history, etc, are perceived. In thistext, I will be predominantly concerned with reflect might Nature of understanding chain ofassociations,choices andbelieves,conversely, his/herphysical For sure,aphysicistisnotinhumefromthecultural trends ofhis/her Let me start saying that I am most honoured bythe invitation to deliver a INTRODUCTION James Joyce- A Portraitoftheartistasayoungman prism ofalanguagemanycoloured andrichlystoried the greyfringed fleeceofclouds.No,itwasnottheir reflection oftheglowingsensibleworldthrough the russet andgreen ofappleorchards, azure ofwaves, itself. Didhethenlovetherhythmic riseandfallof colours: itwasthepoiseandbalanceofperiod he wasshyofmind,drew lesspleasure from the words better thantheirassociationsoflegendand than from thecontemplationofaninnerworld individual emotionsmirrored perfectlyinalucid colour? Orwasitthat,beingasweakofsight Words. Was ittheircolours?Heallowedthemto glow andfade,hueafterhue:sunrisegold,the supple periodicprose?” existence at about 13.8 thousand million years. This “birth” is usually referred space-time that wereferto,asourUniverseisbelievedtohavecame into e Bertolami e Lobo,2009andreferences therein). The region ofobservable discussion about the space-time, see,forinstance, Bertolami, 2010 e 2011 has no“holes”and1temporal and 3spatial dimensions (forabroad representations of reality, physicists assume that space-time is continuous, or not,takeplaceatastagethatwerefertoasspace-time. In itssimplest 1951), etc. ideas scientific and the scientific method of enquire, the importance of case studies (Conant, teach to and convey to methods pedagogical the research, the dichotomy between the apparently antagonist applied and fundamental discussion concerningtheprioritiesamongvariousareasofresearch, the publicfundingforresearch(see mundane ones concerning the inevitable questions about the fairness of grounds. philosophically untenable and seenascompletely unacceptable on political rationality, uncheckedbyethical principles is,onvariousaccounts, of peopleinthenearfuture(Ripple “untold suffering” thattheunfoldingclimatecrisiswillcauseon millions by thewarningofmorethan11 thousandscientistsconcerned withthe well knownreflections(Born,1968;Bronowski,1979)and,morerecently, some (20--), movement Pugwash ensued the (1955), manifesto -Einstein work. This concernhasmanifestitselfinvariousformssuchastheRussell- to actsocounterbalance some ofthemostharmful implications of their and assuch,inmanyinstances,physicistsscientists have beencompelled necessarily on the side of the human progress and for the benefit of humankind Hiroshima, physicists are painfully conscious that their discoveries are not respect tothelegacyandimplications of theirdiscoveries.Indeed,after the physicists,andscientistsingeneral, concerning their responsibility with poignant lessons learnt from the 20 we areallwellawarethatthisisnotanentirely accurate statement. Indeed, aesthetics movements, economical, political and social trends. However, somewhat detached from the“noise”ofhumanculture,somewhataway associated withahighformofrationality and thus,itmightbeseenas the latter issue. This isaparticularly relevant point: physicsisunquestionably Physicists believe that any phenomenon as well as all forms oflife, sentient THE COSMICPERSPECTIVEOF A REFLECTION Of course,tothesefundamental issues,wecouldalsoaddthemore On a broader sense, after Auschwitz, the very thought of an absolute th century have changed the perspective of et al. e. g. , 2019). etlm, 04, h historical the 2004), Bertolami,

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 33 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 34 that allowsforaverification of thepredictionsBigBangmodel. observation ofearlystarswithratherfewelements is yetanotherprediction remaining elements had tobesynthesized in the interiors of the stars, andthe the implies prediction This falsification. its for allows clearly that model the when temperatures were about 10 according to the model, were synthesized a fewminutes after the Big Bang, observed abundanceoflightelements, He that weobserveatpractically throughout thewholeelectromagnetic spectrum. complex processes of assembly is the galactic structures and their networks by the attractive and universal gravitational interaction. The result of these wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. Later, structures are “carved” -relativistic particles, “cold dark”,thatdonotmanifest themselves in any Dark Matter galaxies and superclusters of galaxies. Indeed, within the so-called Cold phenomena such astheformation of structureslike galaxies, clusters of evolution, and this reconstruction includes complex and highly non-linear 2011. differences between cosmology and,forinstance, archaeology see Bertolami, for example, Bertolami, 2006. Foradiscussion about the similarities and the to For anextensive discussionoftheBigBangmodel and itsimplications, see, Physics High-Energy from physics, of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, fromStatistical Mechanics to Plasma Physics. areas known all virtually use Mechanics. Infact,predictionsandcomputations within theBigBangmodel Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics), Nuclear Physics andStatistical General Theory ofRelativity, QuantumField Theory (thetheorythatmerges physical model that can be seenasa“paradigm” whose corner stones are the observational cosmology. Thus, the Big Bang model is a fully operational meaning to an enormousamount of evidence in astronomy, astrophysicsand aworking be matchedtotheexperimental/observationaldata. is just knowledge, scientific model, ahypothesis,whichcancrumbleonceanytheoreticalpredictioncannot all likewise knowledge, this all But whose implicationshavebeenscrutinisedindetailthroughoutseveraldecades. is basedonasolidbodyofevidence,theoreticalandexperimental/observational, the manifestationsthatweobserveatpresent. The existenceofthisinitialevent to as“BigBang”,gaveoriginspace-timeandallthematter, whichevolvedto 2006, foranacessiblediscussion). observed bendingoflightbytheso-called gravitational lenses, amongother phenomena(see, 1

Furthermore, theBigBangmodel,matchesimpressively wellthe The BigBangmodelallowsforadetailed description of theUniverse This modelallowsforhighlynon-trivial predictions andprovides It isbelieved thatdarkmatter is responsible forthecohesionofgalaxiesandclustersgalaxies, 1 thestructureformationscenarioistriggered by unknownnon- 11 11 K. This is a well-defined prediction of prediction well-defined a is This K. 4 , He 3 , deuterium and Li e. g. 7 , Bertolami, , which, which unfoldedtheinvention of thewritingsystemsatabout5.500years ago. of settlements into villagesandtheensuedincreaseinsocialcomplexity, raising domesticated animals. The next important step wasthe transformation as considerable areas of land were shaped for agricultural purposes and for species of extinction mass made human first the to led it as environment the the so-called Neolithic Revolution. This change was not free of impact on life based ontheagriculture, a change that tookplace at about12x10 ancestors evolved from a gathering-hunting way of life to a sedentary form of with aninherited anatomic equipment that was verymuch like our own, Sapiens atcirca of 100x10 referred to as the Cognitive Revolution, which gave origin to the Homo our ancestorstoaddresscomplexconceptual challenges, a processusually Africa at about 250x10 at about2.5x10 in Habilis Homo the of appearance the primates; first the Africa of evolution REFLECTION (atmosphere, biosphere,cryosphere,hydrosphereandlithosphere). the radiation of the Sun hasshaped our planet and all its sub-components And ofcourse, the continuous and rather steady transfer of energy from shape continents, give origin to oceans, trigger the activity of volcanoes, etc. transformation due tothe dynamics of theplate tectonics, which continuously the extinction of species takes place in a planet in a continuous processof about 65millionyearsago. We shouldkeepinmindthattheappearanceand about 70 million years; the Cretaceous-Palaeogene extinction took place at first the diversity; incredible its by at appeared primates first the years; million 225 about at appeared mammals matched be only could forms life of life, atabout520million years, inwhicharobustandwidespreademergence (see, forinstance, Bertolami e Couto,ed.,2015):theCambrianexplosionof with aconsiderable plasticity. Here,justafewcardinal facts canbementioned 3.6 thousandmillionyears. and eventually life. Indeed, the first evidence of life in our planet dates about might havetriggered the synthesisofaminoacids, RNA andDNA molecules atmosphere Earth primordial in methane and ammonia hydrogen, water, of the processofgravitational accretion of thesurroundingmatter. The presence ago and, in this process, its planetary disk in which the Earth appeared due to galactic gas and dust, our Sun was formed at about 4.6 thousand million years how a galaxy like ours wasformed about 10 thousand million years. Fromthe The starting point of any reflection about the Humankind involves: the involves: Humankind the about reflection any of point starting The THE HISTORICAL (PREHISTORICAL)PERSPECTIVE OF A Once established, lifedeveloped itselfratherslowlyatthebeginning,but From theBigBangwecanexplaingalaxyformationand,inparticular, 6 yearsago;theemergence oftheHomoSapiensalsoin 3 yearsago; and the profound change that allowed 3 yearsago.Fromthereon,endowed 3 years,

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 35 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 36 transition fromtheHolocene to the“HothouseEarth”state). 2019) fora discussion and a proposal of a physical model to understand this (Bertolami e Francisco,2018a2018b;Barbosa,Bertolami e Francisco, and, eventually, tothevery breakdownofthecivilization it as weknow stabilizing ecosystems (Steffen Earth’sof collapse the trigger might that temperature, average main higher a with state, new a in ES the decades, few a of scale time a in facing, be shall Holocene conditions. It isaveryprobable that without thesemeasureswe lithosphere and their interactions and feedbacks,asclosepossibletoits that encompasses atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere,hydrosphereandupper Earth System (ES), the integrated biological, physical and geological system (the Holocene period) call for global stewardship measures to maintain the the climate change onthestable climate conditions ofthelast11.700 years these seriouschallenges as wellthealready visible andpalpable effects of which mightbefull blown inaboutadecade or so.Forus,itisalsoclear that we might be facing an important crisis, in fact, an “Age of Uncertainty”, that speculate to us lead difficulties poverty,These war,etc. unemployment, already plaguedwithhistoricandsocio-economic problems suchasfamine, These mightcauseconsiderable damage tothesocialfabricofoursocieties work, quantumcomputers,genomicedition,Internetofthingsandsoon. robotic of use spread wide intelligence, artificial as such technologies new such astheclimatic emergency aswelltheonesassociatedtoemerging the planet. Civilization as ourspeciesisatthe verge ofdominating all the resources of Kardashev I a Type already are we Anthropocene, the to due classification, this to According classification. Kardashev the today call we what forward speculated that itmightbethesignatureofanadvanced civilization Nikolai Kardashevafterhavingobservedanextremely bright farawayobject, about 70yearsago(Steffen changes on the surface of the planet, which, according to experts, started at 2002), thenewgeological age inwhich the Humankindismaindriverof ago; years and the beginning of the 74 Anthropocene (Crutzen e Stoemer, 2000; Crutzen, Hiroshima, in Bomb Atomic the of dropping the ago; years 17 the at Revolution Scientific the namely: I justmentionthethreeonesthatareparticularly relevant forourdiscussion, developments that were unanimously morerelevant that anyother, however, we refertoasaquasar. Ironically, Kardashev missedthe opportunity to report a quite extraordinary discovery. 2

It isclear thatthe Anthropocene posesquitenewchallenges to Humankind It isinteresting to pointoutthatin1960’s, thesovietradioastronomer From thereon,itisalmost impossible tosingleoutasetofhistorical In fact, the object observed by Kardashev was a new kind of galaxy with a quite active nuclei that today et al. et al. , 2014). , 2018;Bertolami e Francisco, 2019) th century in Europe at about 400 about at Europe in century 2 andput conceptualization oftheworld. Having it towardsabroaderperspective ofthecreative process intheintellectual contexts. historical specific to settled the importance of thehistorical context of ourdiscussion,let us gear associated inherently are which criteria, rationality its implied of puts itverymuchinlinewithallintellectual and humanconceptualizations, and enquire scientific the of dimension historical This theories/hypotheses. of set given a around enquiry scientific in broadterms,aresearch programme that encompass themain thrust ofthe Imre Lakatos (1979), falsification might take the form an historical process or, may remain an usefulworkinghypothesis. This meansthat,asdiscussedby and mayrequire aconsiderable spam oftimeandhence,forwhile,thattheory and sometimes the theoretical refutation of agiventheoryisnotimmediate However, this physicist is also in agreement with the idea that the empirical provide theoretical and empirical statements that allow fortheir refutation. to capability their is assumptions, scientific valid as feature, main their and conjectural fundamentally are theories scientific that (1959), Popper Karl to science, this physicist acknowledges his broad agreement of the idea, due that led to the prevailing ideas concerning the philosophical assumptions of In any case, without any considerations about the historical developments activity. scientific the of assumptions the about discussion philosophical a opinion of this physicist, it would be completely misplaced to engage into for theunderstanding of reality as wellanditshistorical evolution. In the about the conditions that allow for an articulate discourse about the elements dominance atgalacticlevel. further andreach the level of a Type IIIKardashevCivilization achieving capability to dominate resources atthescaleofoursolarsystem ortogoeven will beeverabletoreach the levelofa Type IIKardashevCivilization in its overcome the challenges and hurdlesahead, it isimpossible to predict if it theforeseeable in future. In this respect, even if we assume that humankind will manage to of humans asan number significant any bethought for habit cannot alternative and purposes scientific for designed essentially Space. However, it is important to understand that these colonies will be subsequently human outposts inMarsandelsewhere in the nearby outer the Moonand,withacquired knowledge, itmightbepossibletohave to e Of course, a reflection about the culture of our time ensues an analysis an ensues time our of culture the about reflection a course, Of THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVEOF A REFLECTION Shifting our discussion towards a cosmic perspective, it is reasonable xpect that in thenext decades, it will be able to establish colonies on

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 37 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 38 the fieldofpossibilitiesthat the mostdaringandinterestingquestionsarise: thefieldof sets what terms, possibilities is theboldnessofcreativity and ofthediscoveries.Itiswithin broad in For sure, possibilities”. of “field as given form of discourse is what sets its limits. We choose to call these limits system ofknowledgeandsocietyingeneral. historically agreed andshapedbytheinteractions among agents ofagiven the elementsofaSR.Obviously, bothrealities are collective constructions, of the OR. Speeches, tales, institutions, and so on, are, on the other hand, terms, evenspaceandtime,infact,space-time, become objective structures particles, bodies, material structures inspaceandtime,and,verygeneral reality (OR) aswell as ofasubjective reality (SR). The OR iscomposed by their energies towardsthenewsetofprecepts. and meanings.Intheseinstances,theagentsactasactive creators, focussing concepts new by replaced are they ideas, and innovations findings, new face to inadequate becomes meanings of field given a once however, tradition, historians, poets, scientists, etc, who,most often, are the guardians of the considered thepastandwhatisregardedascontemporarysoon. music, therulesoffashion,harmony, taste,etc,aretheonesthatsetwhatis consider the historical usage and evolution of the grammar, semantics, etc. In anachronisms. Inliterature, to theaboveaesthetic dynamics oneshouldalso determine how aesthetic movements arise,mature and, afterawhile, become are theonesthatunleashsocialmovements.Inarts,aesthetic fashions within the broad sphere of human affairs, social pressures ofvarious sorts nuclear weak interaction and thegravitational interaction. But, ofcourse, namely: the nuclear strong interaction, the electromagnetic interaction, the and theforcesthataffect themarethemostbasicinteractions of Nature, interactions amongtheelementsofagivendiscourse. words, musical notes, etc, and their evolution is setinmotion duetothe through: equations,poems,symphonies,texts,theories,etc. themselves manifest elements whose meanings” of “field a assumes world II. I. How vastistheUniversebeyond itseventhorizon? What isthephysics withinthe event horizonofablackhole? A quite interesting feature of the field of meanings in the context of a of context the in meanings of field the of feature interesting quite A objective an of sense the builds one that meanings of field a within is It are composers, meanings of field each the of builders the course, Of In therealm of themostbasicentities of reality, theelementary particles The elements of adiscourse arecomposedby:particles, bodies, cells, On quite general grounds,any“discourse”abouttherealorimaginary c. b. a. crop upintomind: V. IV. III. Another interesting way toexpandtheimagination is throughthecreation In whatconcernsarts,awaytogauge the limits of the imagination is Fractality or whatisreferredtoinartasthe In fact,wecould ask: What are thelimitsofimagination? In mathematics, issues ofthistypeoftenarise. We canmention,for Is ourUniverse an element of a much vaster web ofuniversesthat make Having set the basic elements and forces in action within the various fields rwns f art Ece ad hog te ecito o imaginary of description the through and Escher Maurits of drawings etc, tonewrealmsofthought. This canbeseen,forinstance,inthe of alternative space andtime frameworks, whichleadviewers,readers, complex compositionsofBach,Bruckner, Mahler, andmanyothers. Proust, Joyce,andmanyothers.Inmusicthisisalso evident inthe This can be clearly witnessed through the reading of Shakespeare, Tolstoi, stretch language toitslimits, creating completely new aesthetical worlds. ofa means the of reality, objective or subjective, historical or eventhemundane,which of or language narrative setting. Indeed, thiscanbeseeninmostdetailed descriptions the of complexification the through complexity withwhichapatternfillsspace. Benoit Mandelbrot, to the so-called fractal dimension, an index of the On itshand,thisscale invariance, gives origin,after the mathematician given representation that remains unchangedthroughoutdifferent scales. mathematics, this isassociated to theinvariance, self-similarity, ofa 1904), that is, a pictorial representation recursively appearing within itself. In in Misset Jan by designed image an with cocoa of brand Dutch Even though, this is an impossible question to answer, several possibilities new horizonsforitsdevelopment. theorems hadaprofoundimpact for mathematics and havesetcompletely be showntofalseortrue(Aczel,2001). The Gödel’s incompleteness in the context of axiomatically constructed theories, all theorems could was completely new inmathematics, which havealwaysassumedthat, answers, a possibility that till Kurt Gödel’s, incompleteness theorems, both admit to seemed puzzling, rather which, problem Anumbers? real the of infinite denser the and numbers natural the of infinite the between Cantor’s transfinite numbers theory, that is: is there an intermediate infinite instance, the “Continuum Hypothesis” thatappearsinthecontext of string theorylandscapeproblem(Susskind,2005); the of context the in instance, for arises, that issue An Multiverse? a up time mightassumeasin cities, asinthe Invisible Cities Einstein’s Dreams ofItaloCalvino,orthemultiple forms of Alan Lightman. Droste effect (afterthe

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 39 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 40 period anddorefuteorcontradictanyother(Bertolami,2003, 2008). the artistic discourses arecomplementary to theaesthetics of anyhistorical timeless and aim to capture the chance and therenewal. The literary and and throughtheir holistic essence. The literary and the artistic discourses are description of theappearances, the qualities that areperceived at theirtotality instance, the literary discourse,that,byitsverynature,isfocussedonthe through analytic reasoning. Ofcourse,thisistheveryantithesis of,for of invisible components, initially considered intangible, that are accessible could beperceived throughoursensestothesearchofquantitative analyses these objects are composedof. This leadsthediscussionofphenomenathat quantitative study of the mostelementary and fundamental structures that qualitative philosophical analysis oftheobjects of studyasawholetothe the scientific discourse has proven its use when its emphasis shifted from the describe thempictorially below. But,infairlybroadterms,wecansaythat art, of there aresomeparticularities that areinherentofeachdiscourse. We shall works and theories scientific new of emergence of processes the to original worksofart. subset ofelements leads, throughanactive exercise ofimagination, to new and scientifictheories. raw material that,throughagreatdealofimagination, give risetomodels admit a suitable replication of results and a set of logical inferences to the causes ofatransformationthat took place within arelevant sample, which the on research systematic a for allows which method, scientific the of and relevant facts. These can then be examined via experimentation (observation) and, likewise,howaSRleadstonewworksofart. forces that lead a description of an OR of meaningforeach particular discourse, it remains to explain the dynamic vn huh te ecie eeet ae ary eea ad common and general fairly are elements described the though, Even In whatconcernstheSR,aesthetic confrontation for agivenselected For agivenOR,

the starting point istheselection of aparticular subset of

at a given time to the scientific theories interpretable with thebestavailable rationality criteria of agivenhistorical then physicists understood that the world per se is inaccessible, but just ensued byRelativity andQuantum Mechanicsinearly20 have strikingepistemological implications, potentially as deeptheones in extremelysmalldistances,10 extreme high energies (10 the phenomena driven by gravity and quantum mechanics and involves theoretical synthesis, QuantumGravity, atheorythat presumably describes which suggestthat certain facts and observations will require a new Theory of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics lead to developments day-to-day scientificwork. new theories. Variation, creativity and originality are the very essence of the revolutionary developments or ground shifting discoveries and completely to attached necessarily not work, scientific day-to-day the of dynamics very In oppositiontoKuhn,weviewclashesbetweenfactsandconceptsasthe revolutions. scientific the characterize that shifts paradigm the for account between facts andconcepts was putforwardby Thomas Kuhn(1962)soto that awell-knowndescriptionofdevelopments in termsofthecontradiction the crushing and containing forces of tradition, religion and ideology. Notice the new interpretation of the facts. Throughout History, theories had to face resulting pressuresetsthewheelsofcreativity that aretherawmaterial for set of facts and phenomena cross the “barrier” of the existing theories. The In termsofthecornerstone physical theories of the 20 The logic depicted in Figure 1isthat a New Theory arises whenever a DEVELOPMENT OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES 19 times the energy/mass ofaproton),concentrated -35 Fig. 1 m(seeFig.2). This synthesis might th century, assince th century, the

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 41 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 42 of Macroevolution(Gould,2002)(Fig.3). living beings is shaped within the ever-encompassing envelope of the Theory conditions of the surrounding environment. That is, the overall logic of the and DNA (Jacob, 1993), are all driven by the pressure to get adapted to the of the living world, from the functions of the organs, cells, chromosomes the physical sciences. Indeed, it is found that the overwhelming complexity similarities, the development of Biology has distinct features from the one of attention ofthetheoreticalphysicists(Weinberg, 1994). context. The searchofthisnewtheoretical framework attracts a great deal of Despite a great deal of common experimental and methodological Despite agreatdealofcommonexperimentalandmethodological DEVELOPMENT OF BIOLOGY Fig. 2 Fig. 3 encompassing understanding theory oftheHumanissomewhatbeyondreach. all or final a sense, this In continuously. themselves unfold these as events a daunting task.Inthis respect, Human Sciences are always behind the and general theories inHuman Sciences is anincredibly demanding, if not social worlditaimstodescribe andunderstand. Thus, buildingmeaningful such theyarecontained within theanthropological, historical, intellectual and the moonsoflatteraretoosmalltoyieldrelevanttidal forces. Mars donot exhibit any plate tectonics activity. The former has nomoon, and one arising from the plate tectonics and its causes. For instance, Venus and dynamics ofexo-planets will unraveldifferent dynamical drivers thanthe envelope theory(Frankel,2009)(Fig.4). to the one of Biology, the Plate Tectonics Theory playing the role of the the livingmatter. elsewhere in the Universe reveals that adaptation is not a general property of however thishypothesismight have tobereviewed if thediscoveryofLife Human sciences aim to understand manifestations of human culture and as DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMANSCIENCES An interesting question is whether the The dynamics of evolution of thegeological sciences is somewhatsimilar DEVELOPMENT OF GEOLOGY This featurehasbeenobservedinalllivingorganisms knownsofar, Fig. 4

knowledge of the geological

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 43 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 44 even the Universe as a whole, and toperceive the humancondition, experiences human revive and reproduce reflect, to and “beauty” capture to aim tounderstandtheinnerworkingsofNature. Artistic manifestations aim originality. Ofcourse,their scope iscompletely different. Physical sciences movements, being drivenpredominantly by theforcesofcreativity and by thewishtobreakfreefromconstraining facts, existingtheoriesand physical theories andofthe arts andaesthetic movements. Both are guided ontological complexity of social facts and their developments (Hollis, 1994). of culture andofpolitical economy that aim to describe the ever growing cornerstone theoriesareindicatedforillustrationpurposes(Fig.5). of theHuman Sciences is depicted in the diagram below, wheretwogeneral A putative representationoftheparticularities that characterize the evolution (Clark, 2005).Pictorially, weexpressitsdynamicsas shown inFig.6. aesthetic manifestations are also oneofthe main drivers ofcivilization itself and expressthemostfundamental cravings ofhumanexistence. Arts and manifestations are the one of the most basic drivers of the human condition We find striking that there are similarities between the development of development the between similarities are there that striking find We THE ARTSOFAESTHETICS AND DEVELOPMENT The inner circles are indicative of the continuously evolving theories in vivo Fig. 5

its relationship with society, Natureand and as it breathes . Arts and aesthetic (Fig. 7). shown below, wherethe outer boundary represents the current technologies 2015). The development of the technology can be represented pictorially as inspired bythewishtounderstandandmanipulate the world(Weinberg, technological developments can beunderstood astheyarebothoriginally and itshistorical period, and sonon. The parallelism between science and the of innovation with respect the technological development of agivensociety developments are invariably related withpressuresofthe market, the degree physical theories.Sure,theobstaclestoovercome in whatconcernstechnical technology, thesetofalltechnical developments, and thedevelopment ofthe There are also interesting parallels between the evolution dynamics of the OFDEVELOPMENT THETECHNOLOGY Fig. 6 Fig. 7

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 45 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 46 IV. Nowadays, even in the developed societies, there are pockets of resistance III. Forinstance, inSovietUnion,developments in biology, inbranchesof II. I. points andtraps. A fewarbitraryexamples areinorder: and current cultural trends, but they can also set up quite strong attracting III. Humansarebeingsdrivenanthropologically, geographically and II. I. among each other. In this enlarged set of fields of meanings, we can state that: can be added, are open, andcan have important and palpable intersections context of all fields of meanings. This sum assumes that the fields of meanings 1878; Buckhardt, Marx, 1859;Durkheim,1893). 1944; Malinowski, in discussions seminal the instance, issue initsanthropological, cultural, and sociological dimensions (see,for naive andtentative, ofculture. We deliberately avoid thecomplexity of the necessarily definition, a with advance to conditions in now are we evolve,

The resistance to scientific discoveries and to the scientific method itself method scientific the to and discoveries scientific to resistance The Culture isthewayHistoryenters intoourlife; Culture isthesynthesisofagivenhistorical period, andwhatmaterializes In China, during the Ming Dynasty (1405-1433), Admiral Zheng He used to the Theory of Evolution, to vaccines, to the scientific thinking and thinking scientific methods, andlobbiesinfavour ofalternatives medicines, deniers ofthe the to vaccines, to Evolution, of Theory the to Marxism-Leninism; theoretical physics and insocialscienceswerehamperedbythetenetsof religious motivationsareaconstantforcethroughoutHistory; by groupsofinterest moved byeconomical interests, ideological and the worldformanycenturies; territories and resources. This historic decision has shutdownChina to were muchlessdevelopedthanChina,noeffort wasmadetoconquernew regions visited new the that judged having however, oceans; Pacific the his hugeandsophisticated armada tonavigate through theIndianand Of course,cultural and socialdevelopments can setusfreefromhistorical historically byculturalconstraints. what willbecome; the pastintopresent,projectingthroughitscountlessimplications We characterize culture as thesumofall discourses that take placeinthe Having sketched howthe various branches of science, arts and technology CULTURE guide itsevolution; activities, and manyotherbizarre ideasabouttheworldandforcesthat evidence ofacausalrelationship between climate change andthehuman Anthropocene is already part of our culture and likewise all contemporary art and withinwhichhumancivilizations thrived and developed. For sure,the remarkable climatic stability that prevailed in theprevious11.700 years in a newgeological age, Anthropocene, after the Holocene, the period of Uncertainty, whichmustbefollowedbyan Age ofChoice. of thehumanactivitiesonEarthSystemarenotrefrained. and even a breakdownofthe human civilization as weknowit if the impact may befacingtheproblemsofmassiveunemployment, generalised poverty unlikely thatwithoutasetofsuitablemitigating and regulatorymeasureswe understand the perils that the future may unfold. Furthermore, it is not at all quantum computers, genomic edition, internet of things and soon, to intelligence, artificial such technologies new disruptive with coupled once mention the dramatic social effects that a roboticdriveneconomy mighthave to suffices it Indeed, fronts. technological and economic the in deregulation achievements, however, it also showsunsettling signs of unbalance and States. ensured onlythroughactionsthatgobeyondtheboundariesofnational by the climatic change, and as a global mechanism its functionality can be is currently being seriouslyaffected by human activities as can be observed System Earth the Furthermore, measures. based State local with countries all transversally afflicting problems of most solve to impossible literally is it independent sovereign statesisdysfunctional,asinaglobalworldlikeours sense, thehistoricaldivisionofworldintodisconnected and juridical III. Itisonlythroughscience,technology, anewjuridical order and II. I. resistance againstchangeandthedevelopmentofscience,wecansaythat:

Science and technology provide humansthemeanstobe dominating science Europe, in century XVIIth the in Revolution Scientific the Since In fact,sinceaboutthesecondhalfoflastcentury, weareliving In thisrespect, our time can beregarded essentially as an Age of Our brave new world comprises remarkable cultural, scientific and social OUR BRAVE NEW WORLD AND THE AGE OF CHOICES In fact, point (III) isparticularly pressing given that on a quite broad currently witnessing(Bertolami,2018a,2018b). are we effects whose and System Earth the on inflicting are we changes stewardship measures,that we shallbeable to avert the impact of the force inthe Anthropocene; and technologyhavebecamecrucialdriversofHistory; Many otherexamplescouldbeputforward,however, despitethishistoric

REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 47 REFLECTIONS OF A PHYSICIST ON THE CULTURAL OCEAN OF HIS TIME Orfeu Bertolami | 48 V. IV. Inmyunderstanding there is noscenario for thefutureinwhich therole III. The struggletomitigate and endfamine,povertyinequalitymust II. I. our opinion,themostpressingones: of thechallenges ahead we presentashortlistofthemostdemanding and, in into necessarily takes that account ethical, historical, political and social perspectives. evidence As anexample scientific hard on based approaches the challengesaheadwillrequiremultidimensional and multidisciplinary considering the complexity of ourtime and itsimplications. Hence, facing not aloneintheUniverse,etc. the implications of a material proof of the most likely possibility that we are outer Space; to reflect upon the possibility of a post-human future; to foresee 2009; BertolamieGomes,2018). argue that these demands ask for a “cosmic responsibility” (Bertolami, 2008; ignorance, religious and ideological hate and the ensued wars. We could species on the planet, and face more seriouslythe challenge of overcoming we mustalsoassumeamoreactive ethical responsibility towards all living To thesealready quite demanding setofcollective goals, wecouldaddthat Anthropocene and the ensued process of destabilization of the Earth System. as theonesof Age ofUncertainty must be faced in the context of the from other historical periods, like famine, poverty and inequality, aswell through songs, films, etc. And naturally, all civilizational challenges inherited and sci

There is urgency in devising mitigation strategies, through stewardship In Portugal, the very thought of a future without a bubbling and innovative new completely a with System Earth the endow must measures These FLUP, inmisalignment with itstradition of opennesstonewideas, of socialsciencesandhumanitiesisnotcrucialimportance; remain atthetopofanyglobalagenda; global juridicalframework; Earth the on activities human System; the of impact the control to measures, By itsverynature, the future is unpredictable, and even more so when SOME TENTATIVECONCLUSIONS So tocreateconditionsforestablishinghumancoloniesinthenearby And forsure,wemustbepreparedtofacecompletelynewissues: with FLUP infacingthechallengesoftimefuture. most influential Faculties, and I very much hope to continue collaborating a privilege to be a member of a University, which has FLUP as one of its partnerships andchallenges, is simplyinconceivable. In fact,Iconsider entific discoveries it has been assimilated by the culture of our time our of culture the by assimilated been has it discoveries entific abs/0801.3681 thinking Cosmology across cultures: impactofthestudyUniverseinhuman abs/1001.4196 em: Disponível com/2018/12/01/a-humanidade-no-antropoceno/ August. linha]. [Em Disponível em: wards aphysicallymotivated planetary accounting framework Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity Porto: U.PortoEdições. talk atFNACColombo linha]. Disponívelem: Gradiva. em: and the Dimensionality of the World and challenge. Springer. Disponívelem: Khronos. In Archaeology Utopia_2018.pdf linha]. June. Disponível em: in f h Erh ytm n h Anthropocene. 5.900. the in System Earth the of tion BERTOLAMI, Orfeu; COUTO, H., ed. (2015) - - (2003) Orfeu BERTOLAMI, - (2004) Orfeu BERTOLAMI, - (2006) BERTOLAMI,Orfeu BERTOLAMI, Orfeu (2007) - The Adventures of Spacetime. In Mr. Palomar. In on reflections new Some - (2008) BERTOLAMI,Orfeu heritage cultural thinking: Cosmological - (2009) Orfeu BERTOLAMI, of mystery the and formula Mystical The - (2010) BERTOLAMI,Orfeu BERTOLAMI, Orfeu (2011) - Digging down the past. - (2018b) Orfeu BERTOLAMI, - (2018a) Orfeu BERTOLAMI, - (2019) F. FRANCISCO, Orfeu; BERTOLAMI, M.; BARBOSA, - (2001) D. Amir ACZEL, REFERENCES BERTOLAMI, Orfeu; FRANCISCO, F.- descrip BERTOLAMI,AFRANCISCO, (2019) Phase-space Orfeu; http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0607006 [m ih] Gaaa San Dsoíe em: Disponível Spain, Granada, linha]. [Em . Minkowski Spacetime:ahundred yearslater . [Em linha]. 14. Disponível em: . . Consciências https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.10535 . http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0411026 . Lisbon,December. http://arxiv.org/abs/0801.3994 . [Em linha]. 4. Disponível em: Disponível 4. linha]. [Em . http://web.ist.utl.pt/orfeu.bertolami/Bertolami_ The Mysteryofthe Aleph, Mathematics,the O Livro dasEscolhasCósmicas What isfairtoasksociety to fund? icro ieái e icro científico: discurso e literário Discurso . [Em linha]. [S. l.]: Springer. Disponível . Washington: WashingtonPress. Square tpa uoin n scientific and utopian Utopia: . A Humanidade no Antropoceno https://forumdemosnet.wordpress. https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.4528 . . Europhysics Letters Do Big Bang aoHomem . . [Em linha]. [S. l.]:

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