The Goethe-Institut asks about the future of humanity | Culture | '
It is already the second cultural symposium of the Goethe-Institut, which takes place this year from 19 to 21 June in the Goethe-city of Weimar. With well over 50 events, lectures, discussions and art actions one wants to dedicate urgent questions of the future. The starting point of the debates are the current social upheavals that have been set in motion by globalization and digitization.
Deutsche Welle: Johannes Ebert, "The route is recalculated" is the title of the symposium of the Goethe-Institut in Weimar. Which route do you mean and where should it lead?
Johannes Ebert: We are on a threshold and a turning point, that's how we perceive this, in the social situation worldwide. Where do you go from this turning point, and what are the factors that influence us? So we focus on this year's first to the question of how to orient yourself in the world – in terms of: how to find his way? The second topic concerns issues of control systems and autonomy: how does man retain his independence and independence in the face of, for example, digital influence, the control of algorithms?
Johannes Ebert
A third theme asks for regression – that the political situation is evolving around the world from openness to re-nationalization and restriction of freedoms. In a fourth block, the Diginomics, we ask ourselves, where does the economy steer in the face of new models of platforms, given new digital elements? That's the special thing about the symposium: we lay these four strands next to each other and look, where are the connections? How does one affect the other?
Which social upheavals do you particularly have in mind?
Of course the digitization that influences us very much – positive as well as negative. In this way, we are looking to the future – for example, at how the relationship between robot and human will develop, for example in the medical field. Or the question of how digitization affects the war, for example with killer drones. Of course, there are many opportunities, a lot of positives – but also many questions. The same goes for personal autonomy when my data is collected and used everywhere. There will also be a panel during the culture symposium, for example comparing how countries like China, Estonia and India handle data. In that sense, digitization is a big change for me.
Finally, globalization: how do we deal with the fact that on the one hand our world is becoming more and more alike, ever more similar – that there are big questions that can no longer be answered on a national level? However, on the other hand, there are people who feel threatened or depressed, which can then lead to a renationalisation and foreclosure tendency.
The consequences of this insecurity of which you speak can be seen everywhere: the populists on the rise, religious extremism, the emergence of nationalism and isolation, rejection of multilateralism. Is the world currently turning backwards?
Yes, that's exactly the question we want to look at at the symposium. How do people interact with each other on the internet? How does the data help restrict people? Or what techniques are there to work against populist movements in the field of art? Such things will keep us busy.
Brave new world: Will robots determine our destiny in the future?
In your view, do we experience a kind of cultural war – between supporters of the "keep it up" and the backward fighters?
I'm a bit shy to use the word war in such things …
But you already have the feeling that something big is going on here?
Yes, there is something big going on. But not everything that happens is negative. The digitization above all, but also the political developments show that we as a society really have to think about where the journey is going and how we want to shape it as a human being. The symposium contributes to this discussion. We focus on these aspects. By the way, this time we do not touch on the important topic of ecology, as we are involved in several other events as Goethe-Institut.
Do you see an alternative route?
I think so, (laughs) I'm an optimist. But everyone has to start with themselves. We also need to reach people who may disagree or simply deny things with our discussion. This is a big job that is not easy.
Johannes Ebert, born in 1963, has been General Secretary of the Goethe-Institut since 2012.
The future symposium "The route is recalculated" takes place from 19 to 21 June in Weimar. The opening keynote will be given by British futurist and designer Anab Jain. Celebrity guests include Indian writer Pankaj Mishra ("Welcome to the Age of Anger"), Harvard physics professor and navigation expert John Huth, and Australian AI expert Toby Walsh. The Greek artist collective "Most Mechanics Are Crooks", which thematizes self-staging in the digital media, is also present. The E-Werk in Weimar serves as a festival center, as it did in 2016 at the first cultural symposium of the Goethe-Institut, at that time on the subject of "sharing and exchanging".
The interview was conducted by Stefan Dege.
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