Federico Faggin is an Italian physicist and engineer and founder of the Faggin Foundation that supports scientific research on the nature of consciousness and reality. He proposes that consciousness lies at the heart of nature, perceived as a quantum phenomenon, and, as such, he is challenging the traditional view of the physical world as the primary reality.

The book in which he works out this position, ‘Irreducible’, appeared in Italian in 2022 and has now been translated into English by the Essentia Foundation. We are organising this workshop to discuss these ideas with Federico and each other. Short introductions from different disciplines will be followed by a (hopefully) lively discussion.

If you wish to attend this event, please send an email to Sarah Durston (S.Durston-2@umcutrecht.nl).

About the Speaker

Federico Faggin is an Italian physicist and engineer, designer of the world’s first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004, and recipient of the US national medal for technological achievements. His ground-breaking contributions helped found modern computing, revolutionizing industries and shaping the digital age. In recent years, Federico has turned his mind towards the profound questions of the nature of consciousness and reality, and founded the Faggin Foundation to support scientific research in these areas.

About the Organizers

Sarah Durston is a professor in neuroscience at the UMC Utrecht Education Centre and chair of the Sentience and Science Foundation. After running the developmental neuroimaging lab, NICHE, in the UMCU psychiatry department for nearly twenty years, she turned her interests to consciousness and the implications of our (implicit) metaphysics for the way we understand our world. She worked on this topic as a fellow at IAS in 2021-2022.

Yair Pinto obtained his master’s in physics. After his studies he obtained a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology. He currently works at the Brain and Cognition department of the University of Amsterdam. His main research focus is unity of consciousness and free will.

Programme