For anyone interested in the latest debates over the nature of consciousness – from
neuroscience and quantum physics to Buddhist theories of the mind – the Swiss Biennial
2016 "The Enigma of Human Consciousness" was a feast of big ideas and a very
enjoyable and convivial gathering. A memorable event!

Steve Paulson, Executive Producer / Co-Founder of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Wisconsin Public Radio

Topic 2022
 Medienmitteilung  Press release
Modern science has, over its 400-year history, witnessed several revolutions in the natural sciences and the life sciences. But it has yet to bring about a revolution in the mind sciences. Of all the odd notions to emerge from debates over consciousness, the oddest is that consciousness does not exist, at least not in the way we think it does. It is an illusion like “Santa Claus” or “American democracy”. This is how the US-American science writer John Horgan describes the core of the current debates.

Phenomenal consciousness, our subjective experience and our ability to directly conceive what we experience and consciously perceive—the perspective of the first person—, seem to lie beyond the traditional methods of science. According to the Australian philosopher David Chalmers this is the difficult and “hard problem” of consciousness—the “explanation gap”. It might be solved by the notion that information—along with matter and energy—is a fundamental property of reality by accepting the ancient mystical doctrine that everything is at least a little bit conscious. This revives, as a consequence, not only dualism, but also panpsychism—the view that all things have a mind or a mind-like quality. 

Where do consciousness and the mind really come from, and how do they fit into our ideas about the nature of life and the human future? I cannot promise that the 14th Swiss Biennial will answer these questions, but I can guarantee a stimulating day of surprising stories and provocative thinking from researchers working at the edge of scientific innovation, the nature of consciousness, the human mind and Buddhism—and the economics of sustainable development.

Since 1995, when I founded the Swiss Biennial on Science, Technics and Aesthetics, the Biennial has been attracting a global audience, bringing experts from brain and consciousness studies to Switzerland. The work of over 200 scientists and scholars who have spoken in the past 25 years in Lucerne has addressed scientific and spiritual issues of our modern age, the cultivation of ecological awareness and sustainable living—and the resonance between Buddhist thought and science devoted to interdisciplinary research, intellectual partnership, and public discourse. The Biennial continues to engage in tackling humanity’s greatest questions about our awareness and consciousness as well as the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In the spirit of the 1st Eigenthal-Trialogue on Consciousness, Science, and Politics on 24 October 2022, the most urgent topics from economics, politics, and ecology as well as the nature of consciousness will be discussed in an open-minded atmosphere in the Hotel Hammer, Eigenthal near Lucerne. I also cordially invite you to this special event.
More information via this link.

I wish you spiritually rewarding days.

Dr. phil. René Stettler
Founder
Swiss Biennial on Science, Technics + Aesthetics

Trailer (Youtube)











Speakers and Chairpersons

DR. FRITJOF CAPRA (CONFIRMED)
Physics, Philosophy, Systems Theory
Center for Ecoliteracy, Berkeley – USA
www.ecoliteracy.org / www.fritjofcapra.net

MANFRED FOLKERS (CONFIRMED)  
Post-Growth Economy and Buddhism
Oldenburg – Germany
www.samtusta.de

DIEGO HANGARTNER, Pharm.D. (CONFIRMED)
Teacher, Practitioner, Translator
Founder, Institute of Secular Ethics and Mental Balance
Co-Founder, Mind and Life Europe
Küsnacht – ZH, Switzerland
www.diegohangartner.com

DR. THUPTEN JINPA LANGRI (CONFIRMED)
Buddhism and Religious Studies
Founder, Institute of Tibetan Classics, Montreal
Chair, Mind and Life Institute
Hadley, MA – USA
www.mindandlife.org

MARION NEUMANN (CONFIRMED)
Filmmaker
THE MUSHROOM SPEAKS (2021)
World Premiere at CPH:DOX / Visions du Réel –
International Film Festival Nyon
Suisse Cinema Release, Spring 2022
www.marionneumann.net

PROF. DR. NIKO PAECH (CONFIRMED)  
Post-Growth Economy and Sufficiency Research
Carl von Ossietzky Universität, Oldenburg
Zukunftsinstitut
www.zukunftsinstitut.de

DR. JILL BOLTE TAYLOR (CONFIRMED)
Neuroanatomie und Neurowissenschaft
Neuroanatomy and Neuroscience
Indiana University School of Medicine
Bloomington / IN – USA
https://medicine.iu.edu

MARGARET WERTHEIM (CONFIRMED)
Science writer and Cultural Historian of Physics
Institute For Figuring, Los Angeles – USA
www.margaretwertheim.com

PANEL DISCUSSION LEADER 2022

STEVE PAULSON (CONFIRMED)
Executive Producer and Co-Founder
of To the Best of Our Knowledge
Wisconsin Public Radio
Distinguished Scholar at the Wisconsin
Institutes for Discovery
http://discovery.wisc.edu/discovery

Abstracts
Abstracts

Programme
Flyer
Poster

Organization
Venue
Swiss Museum of Transport, Lidostrasse 5, 6006 Luzern, Coronado Hall

Bus No. 6, 8, 24 to “Verkehrshaus”
S3 to “Verkehrshaus”


Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne, Main entrance














Date
Saturday, 22 October 2022, 9 AM – 6 PM

Concept
René Stettler

Organizer
NGL - SAA Neue Galerie Luzern - Swiss Academic Association
P.O. Box 3501, CH-6002 Lucerne / Switzerland
Tel.: +41 (0) 41 370 38 18

Simultaneous translation (GER/EN - EN/GER)
English-German and German-English
Conference Consulting OEG, Vienna

Tape and video recording
Private taperecording and videotaping are not allowed.
All rights reserved to the Swiss Biennial and the NGL-SAA.

Documentation and technical support
scicchimicchi.ch gmbh, Bruno Lori, Ebikon (Audio / Overall dramaturgy)
Stefan Gallego, Lucerne (Video)
Roberto Conciatori, Lucerne (Photos)

Entrance tickets
Normal ticket: CHF 190.00

Concessions (students, senior citizens against ID):
Students: CHF 120.00
Senior citizens (AHV): CHF 150.00
No seat reservation - Admittance to the conference hall 8.15 AM

Registration / Ticket order

PLEASE BUY YOUR TICKET AT THE BIENNIAL WELCOME DESK (CASH)
AT 8.30 AM TOMORROW 22 OCTOBER 2022, SWISS MUSEUM OF TRANSPORT

Send a normal e-mail
You can order your ticket(s) by sending an e-mail to info at neugalu.ch
Please, mention your first and last name, profession, address, city, country, telephone number, e-mail address as well as the number and category of the desired ticket(s): normal ticket for CHF 190.00, student ticket (against ID) for CHF 120.00, senior citizen ticket (against ID) for CHF 150.00.
Your registration / ticket order will be confirmed within a working day by a personal e-mail (not by an automatically generated response to the sender). You will be billed (pdf) via e-mail and the ticket(s) will be sent to you by normal post (also to destinations abroad) once your payment has been received.

Important: Invoiced tickets are due for payment in accordance with the stated payment deadline. An exchange or return of one or more tickets is generally excluded. Lost or destroyed tickets will not be replaced or refunded.
- Return of tickets 15 - 30 days before the event: 50% of the invoiced amount is due for payment.
- 1 - 15 days before the event: the invoiced total amount is due for payment.
It is a matter of the free decision of the Neue Galerie Luzern – Swiss Academic Association as the organizer to assess good will.

Covid 19 information (updated)

Your personal health lies close to our heart.

As an event organizer, we comply with the legal requirements of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), so that your health and well-being are guaranteed. This includes social distancing, the ventilation of the Coronado hall as well as a safety concept for the catering in the foyer.

Support the Biennial with a voluntary ticket surcharge
via the Biennial Supporter Ticket

You can support the Biennial with a voluntary contribution. Instead of a regular ticket you can order a “Biennial Supporter Ticket”. With the voluntary surcharge you support us in meeting the extraordinary Covid requirements due to which we will miss substantial ticket revenue.

Normal ticket CHF 190.00: The Biennial Supporter ticket costs CHF 290.00

Ticket senior citizens (AHV) CHF 150.00: The Biennial Supporter ticket costs CHF 240.00

Admission ticket students CHF 120.00: The Biennial Supporter ticket costs CHF 180.00

Ticket order

Please mention the Biennial Supporter Ticket and category (normal ticket, senior citizen (AHV) or student ticket) in your order via e-mail to info at neugalu.ch
Example: I order 1 senior citizen (AHV) ticket as Biennial Supporter ticket (= CHF 240).

Many thanks in advance.

The Swiss Biennial newsletter
If you are interested to get more information about the Biennial and other themes, please subscribe to the Biennial newsletter here (12 times per year).

The Swiss Biennial 2020 "The Mystery of Consciousness" online
All the lectures and the panel discussion can be watched online (in English or German). All the lectures are available online at art-tv.ch/biennaleluzern for CHF 50.00 (unlimited access). Send an e-mail to info at neugalu.ch. Mention your first and last name, address, city, country, phone number, and ask for the password to see all the videos. You will then be billed and the password sent to you via e-mail once your payment has been received.
















All the lectures and the panel discussion of the Biennial 2018 can be watched online.
(in English or German)
All the lectures are available online for CHF 40.00 (unlimited access). Send an e-mail to info at neugalu.ch. Mention your first and last name, address, city, country, phone number, and ask for the password to see all the videos. You will be billed and the password sent to you via e-mail once your payment has been received.

All the lectures and the panel discussion of the Biennial 2016 can be watched online.
(in English or German)
All the lectures are available online at art-tv.ch/biennaleluzern for CHF 40.00 (unlimited access). Send an e-mail to info at neugalu.ch. Mention your first and last name, address, city, country, phone number, and ask for the password to see all the videos. You will then be billed and the password sent to you via e-mail once your payment has been received.

Advisory Board
Ruedi Bechtler, Artist / Entrepreneur, Herrliberg
Dr. rer. nat. Ulrich Claessen, Group Chief Technology Officer, Maxon Motor AG, Sachseln
Hanspeter Fischer, Architect HTL, Ennetbürgen
Walter Graf, Lecturer HSLU / Construction Economist AEC, Lucerne
Juliette Hüsler, Filmmaker, Hamburg / Berlin
Dr. Uli Sigg, Entrepreneur, Sigg Collection, Mauensee
Margaret Wertheim, Science Writer and Author / Artist, Venice Biennale (2019), Los Angeles
Nancy Wimmer, Author and Director, microSOLAR, Munich

Food and beverages
Lounge

Books
Lounge

Survey Biennial 2022
Survey

Accommodation
Hotel zum Rebstock (Conference Hotel)
St. Leodegarstr. 3, CH-6006 Lucerne Map
Tel.: +41 (0) 41 417 18 19

Special offer:
Single room CHF 150.00 with a hearty breakfast
Double room CHF 220.00 with a hearty breakfast
Reservation «Swiss Biennial»

Photo below: Location (yellow circle), Hotel zum Rebstock, Lucerne














Other hotels
For your hotel reservation as well as up-to-the-minute prices please contact the Lucerne Tourist Board
Tel: +41 (0) 41 227 17 27, E-Mail: luzern at luzern.com or book online via www.luzern.com

 Lucerne map
How to get to the Swiss Museum of Transport

Photo below: Biennial venue (yellow circle), Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne















Biennial Posters 1995 - 2022