enter the future
standpoints and
ideas in dialog
Digitalization, climate change, rapid shifts in values in the world of work – industry and society in general are facing huge challenges. In this context, it would be too short-sighted for companies to limit themselves to developing technical innovations and adapting production processes. They must also do their part to constructively shape the associated fundamental transformation of society. How can people be motivated to be sufficiently agile and open, so that they really do drive profound change and see it as an opportunity? How do beliefs and patterns of orientation need to change? What interactions need to be considered? How can the fundamental transformation of society succeed?
With the “enter the future” event series, which was launched by WITTENSTEIN SE in November 2020 and is now being continued by the Wittenstein Foundation, we want to enter into a fruitful dialog with society on how we can safeguard our resources for future generations. Innovation and progress are the key factors for us to achieve this goal. As a rule, two speakers talk about one topic from different perspectives – that is the basic formal idea behind “enter the future”. This is followed by a discussion with the audience. The speakers are high-profile individuals from business, science and society. The talks are based on scientific principles, but are kept understandable for the audience interested in the topic. Every contribution, every thought is important. We therefore cordially invite you to enrich the discourse with your ideas.
nineth event:
consensus or conflict – how polarized is our society?
(C) Gesine Born
The nineth “enter the future” event will take place on November 6, 2024.
Are you fed up with dancing on eggshells just to avoid saying the wrong thing when it comes to gender or racism? Is it discriminatory to mention immigration and crime in the same breath? Or should our society instead devote far more thought to how everyday forms of speech promote inequality? Is it our duty to make sustainability a top priority in our everyday lives, or are we Germans already doing more than the rest of the world anyway?
These seemingly disparate questions all have one thing in common: they take inequality-related issues to extremes in a way that induces people to adopt very vehement, irreconcilable and often highly emotional positions. There is more and more talk of a “split in society” – yet is public opinion really so divergent? Or are conflicts merely sparked by certain trigger points, where otherwise peaceful consensus prevails? More clarity is urgently called for about the state of opinion in our society – not least because divisions can literally be talked into existence.
Topic:
Consensus or conflict – how polarized is our society?
Speaker:
Professor Steffen Mau, Professor of Macrosociology at the Humboldt University of Berlin and SPIEGEL bestselling author
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
eighth event:
fresh in the head –
how we free ourselves from digital sensory overload
The eighth “enter the future” event will take place on April 17, 2024.
Online meetings, screen work, surfing the Net, social media, streaming, chatting, gaming, online 24/7 ... How does the digital sensory overload to which we expose ourselves every day affect our “Stone Age brain”, our thinking and our behavior? What do the latest research findings reveal and what myths need to be dispelled? And how should we adapt our use of digital technologies in everyday life – both private and business – in order to become more focused, more productive and more creative again? These are exciting and relevant questions that concern us all – children, young people and adults alike.
Topic:
Fresh in the head – how we free ourselves from digital sensory overload
Speaker:
Professor Martin Korte, Professor of Cellular Neurobiology at TU Braunschweig and author of numerous books
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
Registration open until April, 15, 2024.
seventh event:
new space –
from science fiction
to daily reality
The seventh “enter the future” event took place on November 29, 2023.
What just a few years ago was dismissed as science fiction has meanwhile become a reality in our day-to-day lives. Access to the internet in even the remotest corners of the globe, space tourism as an unforgettable experience for private individuals or satellite monitoring of agricultural land – all of this is made possible by technological advances and the commercialization of space.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic:
New space – from science fiction to daily reality
Speaker:
Professor Klaus Schilling, CEO of Zentrum für Telematik würzburg e.V.
Hans Koenigsman, former Vice President and Chief Engineer of SpaceX
Guest:
Michael Najjar, Photo Artist and Pioneer Astronaut
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
The sixth “enter the future” event took place on April 27, 2023.
Is it really true that everything around us is becoming more and more complex? Or could it be that complexity is actually the great constant over time, and that it is simply a matter of new challenges regularly taking priority over others? Yet who ultimately decides on these priorities? Politicians? Society? And if so, which society? What do we do, or not do, in order to retain or regain the necessary guidance? Or is this guidance something we never in fact had in the first place and will never be able to have in the future either? It’s a complex subject.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic:
Finding our way in a multipolar world – Key concepts on the spiritual situation of the time
Speaker:
Professor Peter Sloterdijk
German philosopher, cultural scientist and author. He taught philosophy and aesthetics at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe until 2017.
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
sixth event:
finding our way in a
multipolar world –
key concepts on the
spiritual situation of the time
The sixth “enter the future” event took place on April 27, 2023.
Is it really true that everything around us is becoming more and more complex? Or could it be that complexity is actually the great constant over time, and that it is simply a matter of new challenges regularly taking priority over others? Yet who ultimately decides on these priorities? Politicians? Society? And if so, which society? What do we do, or not do, in order to retain or regain the necessary guidance? Or is this guidance something we never in fact had in the first place and will never be able to have in the future either? It’s a complex subject.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic:
Finding our way in a multipolar world – Key concepts on the spiritual situation of the time
Speaker:
Professor Peter Sloterdijk
German philosopher, cultural scientist and author. He taught philosophy and aesthetics at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe until 2017.
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
fifth event:
biological transformation – what is it good for?
and what have mushrooms got to do with it?
The fifth event took place on October 13, 2022.
“Biologization” and “biological transformation” mean nothing less than the increasing integration of principles of nature in modern economic sectors as well as the development of products or solutions with the help of the life sciences. This creates new opportunities and potential for solving the central and essential challenges facing humanity – for example climate protection, nutrition, health, the use of scarce resources or circular economies. “Business as usual” is not an option here but our duty to future generations. New approaches are called for. The keynotes will cover a whole range of challenges and possible responses and highlight specific, selected areas for application.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic: