Ciro Cattuto is an Italian physicist and complexity scientist whose work explores the intricate relationships between human behavior and digital technologies. Since 2008, he has served as Scientific Director of the ISI Foundation, based in Turin, Italy. He is also the founder and principal investigator of the Sociopatterns Collaboration. Throughout his career, Cattuto has held a range of influential research, fellowship, advisory, and board positions in Italy, the United States, and Japan. In this thought-provoking InterDialogue, we trace Cattuto’s intellectual journey from theoretical solid-state physics into complex systems science, a multicultural path that unfolded across three continents. We also discuss his contributions to data science and complex network research, including his work on some of the first digital social networks. We then examine what it means to conduct interdisciplinary research and how such collaborations can be cultivated more effectively. Cattuto also draws on his experience at the intersection of complex networks and epidemiology as a case of interdisciplinary bridge-building in practice. We further discuss the research priorities and guiding principles of the ISI Foundation, especially in relation to its current focus on computational social science and opportunities for policy impact. Finally, we reflect on both the promise and the profound challenges associated with the growing integration of artificial intelligence into scientific research and society more broadly. Timestamps 1:41 – Cattuto’s background and trajectory in complex systems science 9:19 – ISI as a hub of European complex systems science 11:46 – Interdisciplinary collaborations at ISI 14:38 – Interdisciplinarity and institutional funding frameworks 16:52 – Interdisciplinarity across generational, disciplinary, and national boundaries 19:36 – Computational social science and other interdisciplinary research areas at ISI 24:06 – Translating research into policy and governance 25:26 – Social science contributions to AI and computational research 27:36 – Studying complex systems using AI 29:59 – Challenges...

Investment in science is a pillar for any dynamic, equitable modern society, and promoting scientific literacy across all levels of society can help foster innovation, dialogue, and consensus that crosses disciplinary and cultural boundaries. Science also helps to uncover answers to foundational questions that have captivated, confounded, and divided our species for millennia. But what is “science,” and what kind of “evidence” ensures that an approach is scientific? If we take “science” to broadly mean, in its purest sense, a “dynamic search for the truth,” or more explicitly, “the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence,” as the Science Council aptly defines it, then science extends beyond the established, highly specialized disciplines of reductionist natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, geoscience, and space science) that have been so successful in fostering our understanding of our planet and the cosmos. Under this definition, science also includes the rigorous data-driven (qualitative and quantitative) social sciences, the inherently non-reductionist “holistic” sciences such as ecological and Earth system sciences, and the budding interdisciplinary field of complex systems science, as well as robust traditional knowledge systems based on multi-generational experiences, observations, and reasoning. As with science, “evidence” can mean a lot of things as well, including primary research, pre-existing data, past and planned experiments, and the referencing of peer-reviewed publications and primary sources. It can also include local and traditional knowledge, thought experiments, theoretical proofs, contemplation, verifiable personal experience, and empirical observation. Broadening and weaving together these forms of scientific evidence holds the potential to address complex, interconnected global challenges and explain deep mysteries that could help unify our polarized societies around foundational understandings. Foundational Questions Foundational questions can transcend the divides of generations and cultures: Cosmology, physics, and evolutionary biology have shed...

Our Elemental Origins It is easy for us humans – with our self-proclaimed superior intelligence over other species, and ability to innovate and exploit the natural world to our whims – to forget or ignore that we are in fact part of nature. This is not solely an existential statement, or even an acknowledgement of the dependency that we have on nature for our long-term survival as a species. From our behaviors and physiology, to the very molecules, elements and atoms that makeup the cells of our body, we are nature. One must even expand the meaning of “the natural world” to truly appreciate where we come from. The history of those aforementioned atoms and elements in particular, extends well beyond the evolution of our species, and even beyond the evolution of our planet and solar system. The fundamental building blocks that makeup our bodies and the diverse and beautiful planet that we depend upon, are born from the cosmos. To illustrate this interconnectedness between our existence and health, the natural world here on earth, and the vast universe, let us focus in this article on one specific element: magnesium. But before we do so, let’s give a shout-out to carbon, lithium, iron, gold and so many other elements whose multi-billion year biographies can also uniquely illustrate the connection between our present reality as resource consuming earthlings and the high-energy events that have happened during the evolution of the universe. Magnesium Magnesium is a metal with the atomic number 12, and is believed to be the 9th most prevalent element in the universe. Magnesium is the 8th most abundant element found in the earth’s crust, which is made up of approximately two percent magnesium through a range of compounds (it does not occur on its own naturally on earth). Magnesium is also the third most dissolved...

Both in Brazil and internationally, physicist Marcelo Knobel has been a champion of higher education institutions and investment in scientific research, for the good of any modern society. In addition to being a full research professor, Knobel is the former rector of the University of Campinas, where he fostered interdisciplinary collaborations and innovative education programs. He has also done research on what he calls “effective communication” between higher education institutions and the public, while practicing what he preaches by disseminating articles, opinion pieces, books, and a podcast intended for a non-specialized audience. In the fall of 2022, I had my first InterDialogue with Knobel, in which we spoke about many mutual interests related to interdisciplinarity, the importance of a public appreciation of science, and the need for researchers and research institutions to improve their communication with the public in an age of rampant misinformation. We also spoke extensively about the buildup of the scientific research ecosystem in Brazil over decades, its rapid dismantling under the past administration, and the long-term consequences to Brazilian society via phenomena such as the brain drain of talented graduate-level students and researchers from Brazil. Chapters 00:00 – Introduction and Background of Marcelo Knobel 01:15 – The Importance of Investment in Higher Education and Scientific Research 06:16 – The Consequences of Budget Cuts and Brain Drain on Research 14:31 – Improving Communication Between Research Institutions and the Public 20:42 – Challenges in Reestablishing Trust in Science and Evidence 32:26 – How Supporting Science is Necessary for a Fair and Sustainable Future