IMPULSES FROM SALZBURG – PERSPECTIVES ON WORK

1. IMPULSES FROM SALZBURG – PERSPECTIVES ON WORK Public presentation of the conference Universität Salzburg Univ-Prof. DDDr. Clemens Sedmak Univ-Prof. Dr. Gaudenz Assenza 23 May 2007

2. Every nation and every man instantly surround themselves with a material apparatus which exactly corresponds to their moral state, or their state of thought. Observe how every truth and every error, each a thought of some man’s mind, clothes itself with societies, houses, cities, language, ceremonies, newspapers. Observe the ideas of the present day…see how each of these abstractions has embodied itself in an imposing apparatus in the community, and how timber, brick, lime, and stone have flown into convenient shape, obedient to the master idea reigning in the minds of many persons… It follows, of course, that the least change in the man will change his circumstances; the least enlargement of ideas, the least mitigation of his feelings in respect to other men…would cause the most striking changes of external things. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1838 (1887). ‘War’ (Lecture delivered in Boston, March 1838). Reprinted in: Emerson’s Complete Works, vol. XI. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 177.

3. KEY DETERMINANTS OF INNOVATION IN SCIENCE AND POLICY Personal development Multiplicities of worldview Comprehensive exploration of innovative ideas Risk taking, expanding the frontiers

4. Determinant 1: Personal development 1) Personal development and scientific development are two sides of the same coin. 2) A change in feeling and thought of scientists leads to a transformation of the science they produce, and this in turn leads to a change of policy. Where does the change come from? The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. Albert Einstein

5. Determinant 2: Multiplicities of worldview • Assumptions matter. • Behind assumptions are worldviews. • Make these worldviews explicit. • Allow multiple worldviews. Example: The assumption in neoclassical economics that human beings are purely self-interested. Imagine what would happen to science (and our lives) if we had a different image as a starting point, for example, if instead of seeing ourselves as maximizers, we would perceive the different impulses that influence us in any given moment. What if we are not purely self-interested but our decisions oscillate between a spectrum of impulses ranging from pure self-interest to altruism? What if it is up to us to choose which impulses we wish to follow in any situation?

6. Determinant 2: Multiplicities of worldview The hardest thing is to take less when you can get more. Kim Hubbard An elegant (and correct) calculation based on faulty premises will give just as wrong an answer as a simple mistake in addition. James Trefil You can't make somebody understand something if their salary depends upon them not understanding it. Upton Sinclair

7. Determinant 3: Comprehensive exploration of innovative ideas Example: Basic income. • Paid to all as an entitlement (universal) • Paid to individuals,not households • Not conditional on work • People can have unlimited additional income

8. Determinant 4: Risk taking, expanding the frontiers Progress is nothing but the realization of utopias. Oscar Wilde Imagination is more important than knowledge. Albert Einstein The historian has before him a jigsaw puzzle from which many pieces have disappeared.  These gaps can be filled only by his imagination.  GaetanoSalvemini

9. WORKSHOP HIGHLIGHTS Decent work