Dr Francesc Miralles, Commissioner for Planning, Innovation and Strategic Development, is being inducted as a Numerary Member of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (RAED), with the lecture "Advancing the understanding of the Grand Challenges and the SDGs. A perspective for the social sciences with Böhm, Chalmers and Lakatos".
The induction ceremony, to be held on Wednesday 11 March at 6.30 pm in Room A at the headquarters of Foment del Treball (Via Laietana, 32, Barcelona), will include a response by Dr José Daniel Barquero Cabrero, PhD in Social and Human Sciences; Legal and Economic Sciences; and Business Administration and Senior Management. Full Member.
The event can be attended in person and followed via streaming. Confirmation of attendance is required through the RAED website.
About the induction lecture
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify the Grand Social Challenges that humanity must address in the coming decades. Issues such as climate change, poverty eradication, migration flows, hunger, water scarcity and gender equality received unanimous approval from the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. In tackling these Grand Challenges, information and communication technologies (ICT), such as the Internet, smartphones, robotics and artificial intelligence, play a central role.
The World Bank, the OECD, the United Nations and other institutions stress the need for a better understanding of the digital divide affecting vulnerable groups. Advancing this understanding requires a renewed practice in the social sciences that incorporates people’s perceptions, feelings and values, and moves beyond current scientific practice. Quantum theory and studies on consciousness are proposed as pathways to achieve this goal.
Quantum theory contributes to this approach through the work of Böhm and Penrose. Studies on consciousness by Chalmers and Noë broaden perspectives within the social sciences.
This research on the Grand Challenges proposes, following Imre Lakatos, a scientific programme rooted in quantum theory and operationalised through theories of consciousness.