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...

Luiz Davidovich is a Brazilian theoretical physicist with vast experience working at the science-policy interface. This was our second recorded Interdialogue, and this time we met at his lovely FINAP office in Rio de Janeiro, again speaking in depth about the importance of investing in science in both the developing and developed world.  In our wide-ranging conversation, we also ventured into foundational questions about the quantum world and the nature of reality, with a focus on his personal research in quantum metrology. Furthermore, we spoke about some timely recent projects with FINEP focused on bioeconomics, sustainable development and the conservation of the Amazon rainforest. Davidovich is the former president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, as well as the former secretary general of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He is the recent recipient of the prestigious TWAS Apex award for his work in quantum optics and quantum information, and for promoting fundamental scientific research, globally.  Chapters 0:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:02 – The improving state of scientific investment in Brazil 00:12:20 – Current roles and projects for fostering scientific research 00:17:31 – The Amazon and bioeconomics 00:28:28 – The importance of intercultural collaboration, mutual respect and knowledge sharing between scientists and Indigenous peoples 00:41:47 – The importance of funding science, technology and innovation in Brazil 00:47:08 – Interrelated theoretical and experimental research into quantum systems interacting with the environment 00:57:03 – What is quantum metrology? 01:02:12 – The fun of doing scientific research and the social responsibility of fostering science 01:04:19 – Quantum computing, artificial intelligence and energy 01:13:58 – General AI, quantum entanglement and consciousness 01:19:03 – The dangers of anti-science, pseudoscience, misinformation and inequality, and the importance of effective scientific communication and engaging early science education

In late 2022 I had an enlightening interdialogue with Luiz Davidovich, a renowned Brazilian physicist whose research has focused on quantum optics and quantum information, which includes pioneering research into quantum decoherence.  Davidovich is a research professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, and has been recognized with numerous national and international awards for his research. Hi is the former president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the former Secretary General of The World Academy of Sciences. We covered a range of topics centering around the destruction of the Brazilian scientific research ecosystem and the erosion of the Brazilian public’s trust in science during the Jair Bolsonaro years, in which Davidovich served as the president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. With broad perspectives combined with many first-hand accounts, Davidovich spoke with me about complex Brazilian history, his own harrowed path to becoming a physicist, and the importance of governments viewing science as a long-term investment, not a cost.  He began with a story of how as a graduate student turned political refugee under the Brazilian dictatorship of the 1970’s, he was compelled to leave Brazil in order to receive his PhD at the University of Rochester, followed by a research assistantship at the ETH in Switzerland.