Three Wonderful World events attended on stage Thursday May 28th

During Wonderful World - Den nordiske festivalen  for filosofi & vitenskap (Wonderful World - the Nordic festival for philosophy and science), which was held May 27-30th this Spring, I took part in three events on thursday May 28th, two of which were scheduled in advance:

I took part as a panelist, with Melanie Challenger, in the event «Returning to animal – the true human condition», which was attended by about 75 people

I chaired the panel «Å begripe dyp tid» (Comprehending deep time), featuring Bjørn Lindberg, Helge Jordheim and Dagmar Hagen. This event was attended by about 130 people.

In the evening, I was also invited to be a panelist during «Wonderful nachspiel», along with Ole Martin Moen and Gunstein Skomedal and chaired by Torkild Jemterud. This somewhat more spontaneous panel was attended by about 30 people.

See also:

Ethics event chaired at Wonderful World festival; attended by 100+

Interview in Wonderful World festival magazine - on world´s most important idea

In May, an interview with me appeared in the festival magazine of the Wonderful World festival, in the column «Fem filosofer på festival» (Five philosophers at the festival). The interview was done by Kristoffer Hatteland Endresen, who raised the question (in Norwegian): What is the most important idea that we should be familiar with to understand the world in 2026?

Wonderful World 2027 to be held June 2-5th, 2027

The next round of Wonderful World - Den nordiske festivalen  for filosofi & vitenskap (Wonderful World - the Nordic festival for philosophy and science) will take place in Stavanger June 2-5th. This will be the fifth time the festival is arranged. I am a member of the festival´s program council.

Wonderful World evaluation meeting, department summer party attended

Last Friday I took part in an evaluation meeting in the program council for the Wonderful World festival, at Måltidets hus. I also took part in the summer party of University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies.

Ethics event chaired at Wonderful World festival; attended by 100+

Today, during the first day of Wonderful World – den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap, held for the fourth year in Stavanger, Norway, I chaired the event «Når butikken trumfer etikken», with Mathea Slåttholm Sagdahl (University of Oslo), Peder Skjelbred (University of Oslo) og Espen Gamlund (University of Bergen) in the panel on stage. Some 113 people attended.

Featured in UIS news story on Wonderful World festival

I am mentioned in an intranet news story published by University of Stavanger on the forthcoming 2026 version of the philosophy and science festival "Wonderful World". 

During the festival I will chair two events and participate in conversation with Melanie Challenger (see "Upcoming academic events" in the top margins). I am further a member of the festival´s program council.

To chair panel on deep time during Wonderful World festival

I´ve agreed to chair the panel event "Å begripe dyp tid" (Comprehending deep time) during Wonderful World - Den nordiske festivalen for filosofi & vitenskap (taking place in Stavanger May 27-30th), with the panel featuring Bjørn Lindberg, Helge Jordheim and Dagmar Hagen. The event takes place Thursday May 28th at 8 pm.

Participating in two events during Wonderful World 2026

I have agreed to take part in two events during this year´s Wonderful World – den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap, which is to take place in Stavanger May 27-30th.

Wednesday May 27th: Chairing the event "Når butikken trumfer etikken" at Scene 2, 17:00–18:00. Features Mathea Slåttholm Sagdahl, Espen Gamlund and Peder Skjelbred.

Thursday May 27th: Taking part in the event «Returning to  animal – the true human condition» at Scene 2, 15.30-16.30, featuring Melanie Challenger (I am not mentioned online yet).

Program council now featured on Wonderful World festival´s homepage

The program council for Wonderful World - Den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap is now featured on the festival´s homepage.

Wonderful World program committee meeting attended

Today I have attended a meeting in the program committee for Wonderful World - Den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap, at the campus of University of Stavanger.

Fourth and final Wonderful World event 2025 attended on stage, on ecocentric democracy

Today, on the fourth and final day of the philosophy and science festival "Wonderful World - den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap" (Stavanger, Norway May 28-31st), I took part in my fourth event this time around, «Kan Norge bli et økosentrisk demokrati?» (Can Norway become an ecocentric democracy?). I was part of a discussion panel that also included Andrew P. Kroglund, who recently published abook on "Ecotopia", and fellow philosopher Hedda Hassel Mørch. The event was chaired by journalist Ingvild Paulsen, and attended by about 70 people. 

Over these four days, I have reached a total audience of about 335 people. Moreover, I have attended about 3-4 events each day.

Two Wonderful World events attended on stage, on Mars exploration and personhood

Today I have taken part in two events at the Wonderful World festival which is being held May 28-31st in Stavanger, Norway.

First, I took part in the panel discussion «Kom Mars du skjønne milde», on exploration of and travel to Mars, with Brage W. Johansen and UIS colleague Alex Nielsen. The event was chaired by Johanne Pontoppidan Tuxen, and attended by about 45 people.

Then somewhat later I took part in the event «Er alle egentlig bare én person?» (Are everybody really the same person?), which featured an introduction by Hedda Hassel Mørch, and a discussion between her, me and Terje Sparby. The event was chaired by Jostein Gjertsen, and attended by about 70 people.

Comments given after John Ellis´ lecture at Wonderful World festival on Theory about everything

Yesterday evening I took part as a commentator in the event «Teorien om alt – fysikkens hellige gral?» (The theory about everything - the holy grail of physics?), following John Ellis´ lecture on the subject. The event was part of the Wonderful World festival, a science and philosophy festival being held in Stavanger, Norway, May 28-31st (third year), and was well attended, with about 150 people in the room. UIS colleague Anders Tranberg also served as commentator, while UIS colleague Eero Aleksi Kurkela chaired the event.

Screenshot from Wonderful World.

Mentioned in two UIS news story articles on the Wonderful World festival

I am mentioned among the University of Stavanger´s participants on stage at the Wonderful World festival, a science and philosophy festval that is held for the third time this week, May 28th to 31st (Wednesday to Saturday). On the university´s open webpage the news story/event page is titled "Wonderful World", on the university intranet it is titled "Rabatt på dagspass for UiS-ansatte på Wonderful World". The article is written by Karen Anne Okstad.

I am in the program council for the festival, and will take part on stage in four events this week.

Update on Wonderful world festival: 4th event scheduled with John Ellis; Mars event update

On Wednesday May 28th I have been scheduled to comment on a lecture by John Ellis on "The theory of everything - the holy grail of physics?" (Teorien om alt fysikkens hellige gral?) at the Wonderful world festival, which is held in Stavannger May 28-31st.

The Mars event on May 30th now has a new poster, featuring a certain Elon Musk.

Mars event renamed and rescheduled (Wonderful world festival)

The Wonderful World festival event on Mars was previously called "Mars og jordboerne" (Mars and the earthlings) and scheduled for Saturday May 31st. It has been renamed "Kom Mars du skjønne milde" (a wordplay on a Norwegian saying about May) and is now scheduled for Friday May 30th. I will take part along with Brage W. Johansen and UIS colleague Alex Nielsen.

Scheduled to discuss "Is everyone the same person" at Wonderful World festival May 30th

I have been scheduled to comment on Hedda Hassel Mørch´s talk «Er alle egentlig bare én person?» (Is everyone the same person?) at the Wonderful World festival in Stavanger on Friday May 30th.

The portrait photo is kind of old, but I guess I´m still the same person.

See event page.

Scheduled for research talk after screening of "Life and other problems" April 23rd

I have been scheduled to take part in a research talk after screening of the Danish documentary "Life and Other Problems" at Odeon cinema in Stavanger on Wednesday April 23rd, which is organised in collaboration with Kåkå - Kverulantkatedralen in the run-up to the Wonderful World philosophy and science festival which is held in the end of May. I will be talking with Tomas Drønen (professor at VID) and chaired by Jørg Arne Jørgensen (Kåkå).

Scheduled for panel discussion at Wonderful World on ecocentric democracy

I´ve been scheduled to take part in another Wonderful world event on May 31st, a panel called "Kan Norge bli et økosentrisk demokrati?" (Can Norway become an ecocentric democracy?), drawing on the theme of Andrew P. Kroglund´s recent book Økotopia - på sporet av en ny naturforståelse.

Third Wonderful world program council meeting

Today I attended the third meeting of the program council of the philosophy and science festival "Wonderful world", which is held in Stavanger, Norway, May 28-31st (there was also a meeting March 6th which I attended).