G. Longo. The evil of banality, to appear in Cornell’s book series :Mechanema: AI and the Humanities, 2025: the-evil-of-banality.pdf (inFrench, “Actes du colloque ENMI 2024”, Centre Pompidou, Paris (V. Puig,cur.), 2025 : le-mal-banalite-ENMI24.pdf) https://www.di.ens.fr/users/longo/files/the-evil-of-banality.pdf Dedicated to Ulrich Loening (1932 – 2025)
By Giuseppe Longo Abstract: New Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Towards a “scientific precautionary principle”Giuseppe Longoa*a Centre Cavaillès, CNRS and Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France*Corresponding author: Giuseppe Longo, Email: giuseppe.longo@ens.fr AbstractTo the ordinary precautionary principle, we should add a more precise “scientific precautionary principle”. In short, we cannot act on nature based on ‘dogmas’ that are … Read more
by Giuseppe Longo https://blogs.mediapart.fr/les-amis-de-la-generation-thunberg/blog/310723/nouveaux-ogm-pour-un-principe-de-precaution-scientifique Au principe de précaution, nous devrions ajouter un « principe de précaution scientifique ». Bref, que l’on ne peut pas agir sur la nature sur la base de principes qui sont manifestement faux. La science est l’invention de cadres théoriques nouveaux, à partir d’un recul critique quant aux principes mobilisés et … Read more
G. Longo, Le cauchemar de Prométhée. Les sciences et leurs limites. Préface de Jean Lassègue, postface d’Alain Supiot. PUF, Paris, 2023. Dans la mythologie grecque, Prométhée – le «prévoyant» – déroba le feu aux dieux et le transmit aux hommes. Zeus, courroucé par ce transfert technologique, condamna Prométhée à un châtiment itéré à l’identique, à … Read more
Intersecting paths across mathematics, biology, and epistemology A colloquium in honor of Giuseppe Longo and Ana Soto ENS Paris and online, 21-22 October 2022 Organizers: Maël Montévil, Barbara Bravi and José Antonio Pérez Escobar In this colloquium, we celebrate the 75th birthdays of Giuseppe Longo and Ana Soto. We have chosen to show their … Read more
By Giuseppe Longo In un mondo imbevuto di tecnologia e di scienza come quello in cui ci troviamo, la matematica è considerata la conoscenza per eccellenza di ciò che è astratto, oggettivo e vero: perno su cui basare ogni sapere e tribunale per distinguere l’utile dall’inutile, il reale dall’illusorio. Tuttavia, la matematica non è la … Read more
Abstract: The current pandemic was an announced possibility. Its possible causes were known: destroyed ecosystem niches, declining biological diversity, intensive farming, abuse of genetic and biologic manipulations. This paper deals with some aspects of the biological (and social) history of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic but also with the history of previous epidemics, including the AIDS … Read more
Giuseppe Longo reviews the book “A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution” by Nobel Prize winner, Jennifer Doudna, and Samuel Sternberg Abstract: Nobel Prize winner, Jennifer Doudna, and Samuel Sternberg survey recent advances in a pioneering area of molecular biology. In an accessible and elegant style, the authors present … Read more
An open conversation led by Maël Montévil (theoretical biologist, IRI et IHPST, Université Paris I) and Victor Chaix (AAGT-AI). with Prof. Ignacio Chapela (microbial ecologist and mycologist, University of California, Berkeley) Dr. Angelika Hilbeck (agricultural ecologist, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, Zuerich) Prof. Giuseppe Longo (mathematician and epistemologist, CNRS-Ecole normale supérieure, Paris) Introduction Private … Read more
by Giuseppe Longo and Matteo Mossio Published in Interdisciplinary Science Reviews ABSTRACT Through the comparison between two major, long-lasting theoretical frameworks – geocentrism and genocentrism – we discuss the different epistemological role played by metaphors in physics and biology. Throughout its history, physics developed theories and mathematical formalisms, which either do not seem to rely … Read more
SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: science in the spotlight An online public Round Table Tuesday 6 Oct. 2020, 13:30 – 17:30 CEST The current pandemic and the socioeconomic measures to control it have created a lot of controversy. Governments claim that their control measures are based on science. Scientists are indeed making progress in understanding the … Read more
Abstract The reflections on the nature of time in Relativity Theory will be hinted in reference to the new bridges recently proposed by Connes and by Rovelli’s “perspectival” approach, two major steps towards a unification of quantum, thermodynamical and relativistic times. The so called “time of philosophers”, a time of the cognizing ego, from Saint … Read more