The MMM will be developed in an educational laboratory, the Laboratory for Experiential Learning (LEL). The LEL – located in an old brewery complex 30 minutes from Nuremberg – will offer free room of experimentation, host an international artist and scientist in residence program, and will organize numerous events before, during and after 2025. The Laboratory will work in the best Cartesian sense, applying the principle of doubt to itself, questioning all the found certainties of learning (PAST) before embarking on new paths to find the Philosopher’s Stone (FORWARD).

THE PAST Like no other symbol, the Nuremberg funnel stands for the desire to find a shortcut to learning, i.e. to learn mechanically and to “set up” knowledge in the form of data and store it in the brain as in a machine. This way the Nuremberg Funnel became a metaphor for the eternal desire to acquire knowledge quickly and without effort.

But this is a misconception! Originally, the Nuremberg poet Georg Philipp Harsdörffer chose the concept of the “funnel” as a metaphor for the careful use of time. In his textbook for learning poetry, he compares learning without systematic instructions with pouring wine without a funnel, which is like wasting time. The Nuremberg funnel is thus the exact opposite of machine learning. It is a symbol of an effort to create something deeply human and unique that distinguishes man from machines. In the face of the digital revolution and the resulting social tensions, Harsdöffer’s vision takes on a new basis of need. Instead of paralyzing insecurity, supposedly self-protecting demarcation and small-scale carving in one’s own comfort zone, the exact opposite is to be realized. Therefore, this misconception must be corrected, and the funnel must be reinvented.

THE FORWARD Cogito ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. The rationalization of man as a dualistic machine – consisting of physical hardware and mental software – has not only decoupled the body from the mind, but also man from nature. The desire to control the world technically, however, now leads to an existential cul-de-sac. Moreover, man himself now runs the risk of being made superfluous by intelligent machines. In a world of seemingly boundless growth, the human machine is now competing not only with mechanical but also with digital machines. To survive in the race with artificial intelligence, the human machine is cramped for a shortcut to acquire more and more knowledge in less and less time. An undertaking that will be doomed to failure in many respects. Homo ex machina! It is time to rethink the path we have chosen and to redefine the role that mankind will play in that game of technological abundance.

The laboratory does not succeed by philosophizing theoretically, but by experimenting practically. By not only dealing with learning content, i.e. WHAT should be poured into the funnel, but also with learning formats, i.e. HOW the funnel works. The aim is to fuse the latest research findings from various disciplines with the means of art to create new didactic formats. The MINDSET MANTRA MACHINE is thus developed by gaining knowledge through experience and thus improving not only ourselves but also the world. Joseph Beuys’ “Social Sculpture” offers the link to improve society as a whole. Beuys’ “Extended Concept of Art” declares society to be a “Social Sculpture” on which we can all work. He said that every person can be an artist if openness, creativity, imagination and spirituality are encouraged and practiced.

ANALOG The LEL is defined by the self-designed environment, by the presence of the participants (“artists/scientists in residence”) within the community. All components will be designed to create a special “atmosphere of trust and mindfulness in the field of experimentation” as an ongoing process. This is how the framework for optimal collaboration and learning within the art/craft/science disciplines will be developed.

DIGITAL Scientists and artists from other countries have the opportunity to contribute via the digital platform. The digital platform, including chat rooms, a gitbook and all recording material such as films, podcasts, etc., constantly maintains the discourse.