!Symmetry, Proportion and Seriality: The Semantics of Mirroring and Repetition in Science and the Arts

The panels, which follow the plenary addresses in Sections I, II and III, are
intended as forums for open debate between the panellists and the
audience. The brief outline below is accordingly intended only as an opening
gambit and as a suggestion regarding possible discussion topics.
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!SECTION II) SYMMETRY – INDETERMINACY – CHANCE
When perceiving and constructing the world around us, symmetries are
fundamental structural elements which guarantee stability, predictability,
interpretability. The attempt to understand the world has therefore long
been guided by the quest for symmetries, eventually even by enforcing them
as a construction principle. However, such a program is under permanent
challenge by the world's apparent tendency for constant change and
transformation, and quantum mechanics (or, at least, its wide-spread current
understanding) tells us that the material world is fundamentally much less
determined than our senses suggest to us. Indeed, randomness, chance,
chaos and uncertainty are constitutive ingredients of such change, and
therefore can be considered as driving forces and essential sources of
evolution, pattern formation, and beauty. We will scrutinize the present
understanding of the mutual roles of symmetry, chance and uncertainty in the
arts and sciences, for their diverse interpretations of the world, and for
various concepts to shape it.
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