From March 31st to April 1st, 2023, the conference entitled “Science, not Delusions” took place at the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw, organized on the occasion of “Atheism Days 2023” by the Kazimierz Łyszczyński Foundation in partnership with the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
The Science Now Foundation had the great privilege and pleasure of co-organizing this event, providing technical and substantive support during the conference.
A special guest was Professor Richard Dawkins, one of the most prominent living scientists, not only because of his achievements in the field of evolutionary biology, but above all in promoting a scientific worldview.
It is worth noting that Richard Dawkins has been invited to Poland many times before, but has consistently declined. However, this time, in view of recent events in our country, and thanks to the perseverance of Nina Sankari, Vice President of the Kazimierz Łyszczyński Foundation, he decided to come to Warsaw. From his comments, it is clear that he did not regret this decision.
🧐 The lecture opening the conference, entitled “Darwin in Genes – Traces of Evolution in the Genome,” was given by Professor Paweł Golik from the Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology at the University of Warsaw and was positively received by Professor Dawkins himself, who emphasized how difficult evolutionary biology issues were presented in a very accessible way during the lecture.
👍 The conference program was filled to the brim with interesting topics, each touching on a current and important problem of our times. For example, in the panel “Science as a source of knowledge vs. non-scientific, pseudoscientific views,” Prof. Ewa Bartnik, Dr. Tomasz Witkowski, Sami Abdallah (Lebanon), and Professor Konrad Talmont-Kaminski discussed changes in the perception and understanding of the world around us over the last few decades. The main theme was the phenomenon of the popularity of conspiracy theories and the proliferation of pseudoscience, as well as the role that social media has played in this process.
👍 Maciej Podgórski, President of the Science Now Foundation, moderated the panel entitled “Education – not Indoctrination,” during which Rafał Betlejewski, Shirajum Erin (Bangladesh), Lech Mazurek, and Christian Kobluk shared their stories and opinions on the role of education in shaping worldviews, the harmful effects of school and extracurricular indoctrination, as well as ideas on how to avoid indoctrination in the process of shaping young minds and in everyday life.
🤸 The conference ended with a banquet, during which Professor Richard Dawkins received the Atheist of All Time award for his historical contribution to the fight against obscurantism and his achievements in promoting a worldview based on science around the world. A moment later, the banquet participants sang “Sto Lat” (Polish birthday song) together to celebrate the professor’s birthday, which had occurred a few days earlier.
❤️ The Now Science Foundation thanks the Kazimierz Łyszczyński Foundation and the Freedom from Religion Foundation for the opportunity to support and participate in this important event. We also warmly invite everyone to future editions in the coming years.
fot. Marek Łukasiewicz
