La scienza è un atto di ribellione | Francesca Vidotto | TEDxTreviso

[Music]

the day then the theme of the day

today you know it was telling the future me

I live abroad work abroad when

they tell me about Treviso and about mine

roots ba I get a blow to the stomach

because if you’ve been a little bit too

in withdrawal from radicchio you can know

how difficult it is but here I think

that you are an expert in radicchio too

that’s not what I want to talk to you about

I want to talk to you about what keeps me

far from the treviso and will give more

I want to talk to you from my job I take care of it

of science, and so I will speak to you

of the roots of science then of

usually when it comes to science often

in the public debate is more in mind

technology no

the applications of science the things of

I’m on the other hand, I’m far from them

of applications I deal with physics

theoretical and I deal with trying to

study the universe on a very large scale

and space and time on the scale more

small where the laws of the

quantum mechanics

I try to build a new theory that

I put all these things together

how do you do it obviously with the

mathematics is done by writing equations but

especially what we do

when we discuss when we try to

build these new theories what

we are doing is looking for a new way

to see the world a new vision a

new way to think how it works

world around us

here then build a new theory

it’s a bit like building a building is

a subtle game of balances in which

everything must be in harmony

but be careful because science is not

simply a cumulative process in

which I build by adding a plan one

above all else what we do there

I said fundamental physics

it means we are going to look at them

foundations let’s look at whether to

base of our building

maybe there are some posts that are now

rotten and you have to replace it

or it could happen that this

building continues to grow a

expand and at some point in this

balance game

the building can not already over one of

these pillars and then it can happen

that it is better to remove completely

this pillar therefore at the base of the

science there is always a putting back into

question

every thing every thing even their own

roots even to their own foundations

when we do this at the beginning it is

always an act of rebellion then to me

it is to be thought at that moment in the

history in which for the first time at least

for what we know

someone did this act of

courage this act of rebellion

there is a moment in history

of humanity and in the history of

thought in which something is created

new in which for the first time instead

that instead knowledge is knowledge

it does not grow anymore by an act of faith

students do not come to students anymore

that required to learn by heart

what his own teaches him

master of faith replaces

critical thinking if you want faith

trust does not replace trust

only that to the student towards the teacher

master banks towards a student that

it puts on the same level and allows

to his student to criticize it then there

I said there is a moment in history

of humanity in which this for that

that we know happened for the

first time and is on the shores of that

that is today the turkey in miletia

we are in the sixth century before Christ and

milito lives what at the time was the

greater and wise than time tales

the miletto school and the school of

founded by talets is characterized

precisely for this internal debate i

students of anaximene tales

anassimandro take the theories of

tales absorb them make a kind of

what he calls a gesture of love

because only when it is

He deeply knows the theory about

which one is working, one can understand

where you can go and change it for

make this a better make the

students of tales

their teacher’s theories change

but in this way they make them alive

give the possibility to these theories of

continue over time and improve

then something else also happens to

miletto happens that for the first time

in fact it replaces an act of

faith has an explanation given in terms

of some history about some deity

it replaces precisely we said the

critical thinking

what it means means that if it was raining

if there was a thunder previously it came

the priest told us that it is hidden

zeus who was angry had

threw the thunder had come

rain for the first time to the ceilings

andro offers

that rain is a natural phenomenon

it is a phenomenon that we can understand

rationally and proposes that there is everything

a water cycle that explains it

he also proposes other theories, other theories

precisely the naturalistic theories that

allow to explain the phenomena

natural

then you see in mileto

there are no more laws of nature

the laws of heaven given by ideas and by

priests but there are laws of the

nature that men build

discussing with each other

then it is not a coincidence that this happens

right in the same place where it is

the first parliament of humanity a

mileto

there is an amphitheater in which representative

of the different Ionian cities si

they found to discuss the laws

so no more common is a deity

a priest who dictates the laws but a

set of men who create gods and laws

for men he creates laws

discussing meeting and mileto is

in fact, a meeting point is the

link between the east and the

caravans of merchants from the east

then from colonies and miletus then settlers

that will arrive in the south of Italy no

mileto is also the place where the

know ancient at the time know of the

Egyptians of Babylon was already a knowledge

ancient of which, however, in mileto we discuss

then all these are known

factors

the fact that there is a discussion

democratic law

the fact that

there is a mixing of people are not

perhaps just these same factors that

they made it more than a thousand years later

Venice that incredible place

they called the eastern door, it was not the

place where different peoples are

they met people arrived they arrived

people from all over the world and from Venice

merchants were leaving in all of them

directions to look for new goods

meet new peoples venice was one

republic the laws were discussed

secular way

so thanks to this

Venice has become the center where

scientific books were printed

which otherwise would have been put to

place at the stake in other places in Venice

they were printed they were distributed

in all of Europe it is always laicity

independence from the church allowed

the foundation of one of the oldest

University of the world students who

they were fleeing from Bologna and from the others

cities where they must be prosecuted by

religious power found refuge to

Venice and in the Venetian Republic

so we also have a center

scientific

here are all these values

the rebellion cultured rebellion of which

I spoke first of all secularism and democracy

opening the mixing these are

all values ​​that I can call mine

roots that pay attention when we talk about

roots we never talk about the past

I do not want to take the whole thing with me

I do not want to take me behind the past

war sails and hatred

when we talk about redi we make one

choice

we make a choice of the values ​​that are

important for us today for the present

for the future then these are values

that I can take with me I can

bring them to the scientific community

in which I work and in which I live

this great family of researchers

united by the passion for some

for some strange theory for some

scientific challenge

I was lucky enough to work in

this environment where they can meet

and work together as I call mine

academic brothers

so much sharing is going whole

days to discuss these together

Academic brothers come from all over the world

world

this human wealth is one of the things

that I love most in my work

here I will tell you all this with

emotion because I realized that

a moment a bit particular of mine

life I realized that I am

exactly how many years I’ve been

away from Treviso how many those I have

I lived here I left

known different people

I grew up I also changed not

there’s more a unique place than I can

call home

there are so many houses but I’m not alone

I also changed treviso

also changes treviso thankfully

despite the pockets of ignorance of

racism and fascism that unfortunately

still there are

despite all this there is a city

that grows that opens a city more

colored and a city ​​that creates and I in

I can still hear from this city

home

[Applause]