Questions and answers at a table for the world
112 thinkers prepare to meet at global town hall in Berlin

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droppingknowledge.org

The Table of Free Voices, seen here in a photo illustration, will be the site of a groundbreaking meeting of thinkers from around the world in Berlin on Sept. 9.


“Will China take over as the world's superpower from the U.S.?” “Can humanity improve itself without profit as a motive?” “Is it possible to continue globalization without losing our cultural identity?”

These questions — among 10,000 from people around the world — will be winnowed down to 100, then submitted to some of the planet's biggest thinkers, a sort of intellectual G-8 that will gather in Berlin on Sept. 9.

The Web site dropping knowledge is sponsoring the thought summit, which will bring together 112 artists, scientists, philosophers and others near Bebelplatz Square, site of Nazi book burnings in 1933.

They include Harry Wu, the dissident held by the Chinese government in 1995 before being expelled from China; Oscar Olivera, a Bolivian anti-globalization activist; the German filmmaker Wim Wenders; and Bill Joy, former Sun Microsystems chief scientist and now a venture capitalist.

Actor Willem Dafoe will pose the questions to the panelists, who will gather around a massive table to discuss topics from national security to personal values, racism to environmental concerns.

The Berlin event will be the first public meeting of what its creators envision as a global town hall meant to allow the common person to participate in a discussion of international issues.

“We're launching what we think will be an infrastructure for a global community of citizens,” said Dr. Ceasar L. McDowell, dropping knowledge's U.S. director of operations, in an interview from Berlin. “There's a need to have something that allows people to share their knowledge with each other on a platform that's not controlled by an interest group or a government, with no one trying to drive an issue.”

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