The Return of Yesterday

Europe’s Long Decades and the Threat to Human Scale
Lecture

The political and social consequences of the Reformation were intimately linked with profound changes in technology that had taken place in the previous 100 years. Central to the intellectual revolution of the Renaissance was the humanist idea of human scale. Since then, we have struggled to balance the requirements of progress with those of scale. The advent of the personal computer has accentuated this challenge as never before. Not only have crises proliferated since the 1990s, the Decade of Delusion, but the loss of human scale has magnified their impact. The need to control technology and return to human scale is now an imperative.

The keynote speech in honor of the founding rector of the IWM, Krzysztof Michalski, was delivered by the new IWM Rector, Misha Glenny.

Agenda

6.30 p.m.

Reception

7.00 p.m.

Keynote speech:
The Return of Yesterday. Europe’s Long Decades and the Threat to Human Scale

8.15 p.m.

Informal diner