The sailing schooner "Rembrandt van Rijn" has received different companies over its century-long history. But world famous philosophers, cognitivists and neuroscientists gathered there for the first time.
A tall man with a lush gray beard and a large wooden staff is none other than the American Daniel Dennett, professor of philosophy, winner of the Erasmus Prize, one of the most influential thinkers of our time.
A rock-singer-like charismatic cell phone lover is Australian professor David Chalmers, whose philosophy of mind courses are popular with students at the Australian National University and New York University. There are well-known neurophysiologists Paul and Patricia Churchland, British philosopher Andy Clark, lecturers and graduate students of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University. On a sailboat they all gathered on business - to the conference "Problems of Consciousness and Free Will in Analytical Philosophy."
The unusual event off the coast of Greenland was organized by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Volkov, CEO of SD Ventures, PhD in Philosophy and co-director of the Center for Consciousness Research.
How did a Russian entrepreneur end up in the company of world-famous thinkers?
Small world
Muscovite Dmitry Volkov became interested in philosophy at school, but nevertheless chose the history department of Moscow State University. Already in the years of study he began to do business. His propensity for entrepreneurship manifested itself even earlier - the first money, as Volkov recalls with a laugh, he earned at the age of 13, in the late 1980s: “It was a children's labor exchange. The idea seemed brilliant to us, the business started, but my friend and I didn’t know then that child labor was prohibited in our country.” Working as a translator from English led the student of Moscow State University to projects related to programming and the Internet, he soon founded his first IT company. And in 2003, together with foreign partners, he created the Social Discovery Ventures (SD Ventures) group of companies, which has more than 50 projects, including Shazam, a site for finding fellow travelers TripTogether, dating sites (AsianDate, Zang). In Russia, SD Ventrues develops PayOnline projects and UsabilityLab, an ergonomics and user behavior research studio. The company's offices are located in Moscow, New York, Chongqing (China), Medellin (Columbia) and Minsk. Therefore, Volkov spends most of his time outside of Russia.
On the SD Ventures website, information about the philosophy conference in Greenland is posted right below the video tour of the New York office. There is no contradiction - all the group's projects are aimed, as stated on the website (Volkov himself is reluctant to talk about business), just to make the world a better, happier place, to unite people. The same problems are solved by modern philosophers.
Discipleship
For Volkov, philosophy is no less serious than the development of new projects. At the age of 27, when the business was already established, he decided to get a second higher education and entered the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University. He remembers this time as the happiest. “For the first time I started leaving work at 18:00. I didn’t know before that this was possible, ”says Dmitry. The group was small, all students sincerely wanted to learn.
Thanks to his supervisor, Professor Vadim Vasiliev, the student decided to go to graduate school and defended his Ph.D. thesis on the issues of consciousness, free will and the work of Daniel Dennett. Thus began Volkov's acquaintance with one of the main representatives of modern analytical philosophy.
Before the defense, Volkov decided to get to know Dennett personally. Having learned that the philosopher would take part in lectures on a cruise ship in Mexico, the businessman bought tickets for himself and his wife for this cruise.
The Russian businessman and the 70-year-old philosopher have become friends. Volkov flew to Dennett's dacha in a rented helicopter, and was at the Erasmus Prize ceremony in Stockholm. Once they agreed to meet in some secluded place to discuss issues of "mental causality," as Volkov recalls. Dennett, a former yachtsman, proposes a yacht trip off the coast of Greenland.
As a result, instead of a chamber meeting, a full-fledged philosophical expedition turned out: for a whole week from June 12 to June 19, 2014, more than 30 philosophers from all over the world discussed issues of consciousness and will on the schooner Rembrandt van Rijn.
The ship of the sages
The route of the expedition ran around Disko Island, located west of Greenland. Debating sessions were held every day in the spacious saloon. The format is as follows: on the basis of predetermined texts, each speaker presented the ideas of another participant, who then took the floor, clarified and argued his position, after which a general discussion followed.
The topics discussed on the schooner - free will and consciousness - are exactly what worries the candidate of philosophical sciences Volkov most of all. The questions are abstract, but during the interview, Dmitry puts everything on the shelves in a few minutes. The natural sciences have shaped the modern concept of man. It is a living organism, the result of evolution, a physical system. But in such a picture of the world there is no place for either human consciousness or free will. Subjectivity remains behind - the subjective perception of color and sound, emotions - in a word, all those things that are individual. Philosophers who believe that subjective sensations are an illusion and that everything ultimately comes down to a single beginning call themselves illusionists, or monists. Among them is Daniel Dennett, and partly Volkov.
“There is an idea that philosophy is an occupation divorced from reality,” the entrepreneur argues, “but in fact, philosophers must know the physiology of the brain in order to talk about consciousness. You need to know how it works. Analytic philosophy is strongly aligned with science.”
All members of the expedition were well acquainted with each other: professors often meet at conferences and at universities. On the schooner Rembrandt, two camps immediately formed - the monists, led by Dennett, and the dualists, who defend the reality of subjective ideas and believe that consciousness cannot be explained by processes in the brain or anything physical. The camp leader was David Chalmers.
There were more monists, since Dennett himself invited the philosophers, and he was pleased with the choice.
“I have never seen such a high level of discussion as on this boat,” Dennett wrote in response to a question from Forbes. “We all talked and argued about many things, but there was no arrogance, no quarrels, it was an unforgettable meeting of great minds.”
Volkov also notes that all the organizers were pleasantly surprised by how constructive the discussions turned out to be, despite their diametrically opposed positions. Representatives of both camps communicated emotionally, but extremely respectfully. So, during his speech, Chalmers from excitement for an hour took sips from an empty bottle. But no one ever got personal.
Disputes alternated with landings and acquaintance with the Arctic nature. In one of the towns, travelers were met by an Inuit guide, who, as it turned out, studied philosophy in Copenhagen. As a result, he spent an hour expounding his vision of the world to professors of the best universities, touching on the topic of free will. “Inuit men have free will, Inuit women cannot have free will,” Volkov cites the main points.
In addition, the harsh and picturesque nature of Greenland sometimes itself put an end to disputes. During the landing in the area of the Smallesund Canal, whose banks are covered with soft moss, and thousands of gulls circled near a sheer cliff, Chalmers made a powerful argument: “Just look! How can they say it's an illusion!" Even the most convinced illusionists did not argue with him.
During the trip, Dennett found somewhere an old board and already in America he cut out a figure of a whale from it. Dan was written on one side, Dmitry was written on the other. “It was a great intellectual journey,” Dennett wrote to Volkoff in a letter after returning.
Questions of Philosophy
After the PhD, Volkov took up the book, on which he worked for a total of six years. And in 2011 he published his work - "Boston Zombie: Dennett and his theory of consciousness", a book-discussion with Daniel Dennett and other modern philosophers. The plans include a doctoral dissertation, which Volkov intends to complete in a year, and another book.
How does a 38-year-old entrepreneur make time for philosophical studies? “This is my second profession,” Volkov says. And he says that the main function of philosophy in his life is “self-preserving”.
“At 25, I began to discover that work is like an octopus, expanding to the end,” says the businessman. - You need to put up a Rublev wall to stop thinking about work. I built it with the help of philosophy.”
The second reason why it is important for an entrepreneur to engage in philosophy is the development of critical thinking. Philosophy teaches selective attitude to information. “In business, this is also very important,” Volkov is sure. - It is impossible to accept information, arguments on faith. It is important to critically evaluate statements. And in the end, this leads to a more perfect society, where there is more tolerance and independence.” That is why Volkov is trying to promote philosophy in Russia. In 2006, together with Vadim Vasiliev, they opened the Center for the Study of Consciousness at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University. “This is my gratitude to the society for free education.”
The third reason is the aesthetic pleasure of philosophical reasoning. “I see beauty in intellectual constructions. As you can see it in paintings, in architectural structures, where engineering is visible, the entrepreneur admits. “The combination of technology and art is close to me as an idea both in life and in business.”
Expensive hobby
Colleagues and business partners react to Volkov's passion in different ways. To some it seems curious, someone refers to such a hobby with irony. Volkov laughingly tells about his acquaintance, the owner of a large travel company, to whom he once presented his book about Dennett. He sincerely thanked: "An ideal sleeping pill, I read two phrases - I instantly fall asleep." Then Volkov gave him Kant's Critique of Pure Reason for the New Year. “It will be even stronger,” he laughs.
Most of his friends consider philosophy just an expensive hobby, like flying helicopters (which Volkov also does professionally, got his license a few years ago) and heli-skiing.
“It’s really a colossally expensive hobby,” agrees the businessman. Because I invest the most valuable thing - my time. Work on a doctoral dissertation, on books requires personal presence, I cannot delegate it to anyone.
Philosophical works in Volkov's work schedule take about 30% of the time. All holidays and weekends of Volkov are scheduled until the end of the year - they are given for a doctoral dissertation.
Volkov co-finances the work of the Center for the Study of Consciousness and its projects. Only for a trip to Greenland, he laid out almost $ 250,000, flights for all participants and the expedition itself were paid. Eminent philosophers did not take money for participating in the conference, although usually their fees for public speaking run into the thousands of dollars.
Volkov is ready to continue spending money on scientific work. “I want to help create a philosophical community in Russia,” Volkov says. - Communities of philosophers who could work with each other, communicate, study creativity, read books, criticize. This is what the center was created for. He is sure that the most interesting thing in modern philosophy is the possibility of a dialogue in real time, because "it is no longer possible to discuss with Plato or Kant."
In addition, scientific studies allow a businessman to solve the question of the meaning of life. “Comprehension is necessary,” says Volkov. “I don’t want to live my life and not understand what world I was in.”
30.03.2017 The correspondent of the site talked with the heroes of the "Secret Millionaire", whom the rich man handed over money and gifts ParenNiNo"Charming, modest, educated - these are the real not only financially, but also spiritually rich people should be." The transfer with Dmitry Volkov, which was filmed in Nizhny Novgorod, caused a storm of positive emotions among viewers. True, the choice of a millionaire, to whom to give money, seemed strange. Social media users are arguing about the correctness of the choice. The correspondent of the site talked with Nizhny Novgorod residents who received "gifts" from Dmitry Volkov and found out how they disposed of the money received from the millionaire.
Millionaire visiting "Uncle Lesha".
Uncle Lyosha
The first stop is Bolshaya Perekrestnaya, 44. It is here that “Uncle Lesha” lives. You can call him a city madman, in a good way.
Alexey Shuvalov is 74 years old. His house is the center of contemporary art. The area around the house is decorated with sculptures made by one's own hands. Aleksey Ivanovich uses beer cans, plastic cups and other things that usually end up in a trash can as material.
Alexei Ivanovich turned out to be a very positive person. He met our correspondent with jokes and jokes. After drinking some wine, he told how Dmitry Volkov visited him. "Uncle Lesha" did not even know that his guest was a millionaire.
The "Secret Millionaire" turned out to be an excellent interlocutor, however, according to Alexei Ivanovich, "he refused moonshine."
As a keepsake, a millionaire from Moscow gave "Uncle Lesha" not only a photo shoot with half-naked girls, but also a collection of Vysotsky's records and two heaters.
Denis and Vasilisa from the strip club
Then our correspondent went to the strip club where Volkov worked. Its doors were closed. He starts his work only at 21.00. No one answered the phone number listed on the official website of the strip club.
Viewers are still wondering why the club's employees received "gifts" from the millionaire. Vadim Galitsky, a colleague of Denis and Vasilisa, said on a social network that a lot was not shown in the program. “When the hall was full, Denis helped Dmitry to cope with the work all night, spent the whole night with him, chatted, helped, etc., it was simply not visible in the program. And most importantly, the attitude, the whole team, headed by the administrator Vasilisa, really got into his position and helped him. I say it again, the program simply didn’t convey it the way it was,” Vadim Galitsky emphasized.
Artem Filatov
Artist Artem Filatov almost figured out Dmitry Volkov.
When we met Dmitry, he appeared in the role of a bankrupt entrepreneur who had a framing workshop. We talked with him for two evenings, I showed the workshop and my work, talked with him about topics that were important to me. It happened that I quoted something, and Dmitry picked up this quote and continued it. While we were sitting and drinking tea, out of the corner of my eye I felt that the film crew was giving signs to Dmitry when he talked about trips to prepare materials as part of the study of the philosophy of mind, when he said that he knew Oleg Kulik - he was leaving the character. When the shooting was over, but I still didn’t know who Dmitry really was, I really wanted to continue communication, he seemed to me an amazing person, very congenial, - the Nizhny Novgorod artist told the site correspondent.
Artem has already determined how he will dispose of the money received from the millionaire.
Part of the funds will allow us to rent the studio for at least another year, which will give some economic freedom to the seven artists who have gathered under a common roof. I plan to send the other part to the implementation of the exhibition project in the building of the former museum of the Nizhny Novgorod intelligentsia this autumn. Since the beginning of the year, we have been negotiating the lease of the entire historical building and are close to signing the contract. The future exhibition may become an important step towards the formation of a strategy for the sustainable development of historical Nizhny Novgorod.
Ani Kobalyan
But for the employee of the museum "Arsenal" participation in the show was a complete surprise.
My participation in this reality show is completely accidental. I, as a person who has not watched TV since leaving school, and as a PR man who, communicating with the press, almost always remains in the shadows, did not seek to get into the open spaces of a TV show, and even more so become the heroine of the Secret Millionaire program on TV channel "Friday" ... However, as you can see!
In addition to dealing with public relations, I run a volunteer club at the Arsenal. And this work is mostly based on the enthusiasm of volunteers who are endlessly passionate about contemporary art and all the projects of the Arsenal without exception.
So, Dmitry became a volunteer of the Arsenal, according to legend, as a person who starts life from scratch in a foreign city. He delivered posters to our partners and received a bonus in the form of sandwiches with sea buckthorn tea and express tours of the exhibitions. It was there that I inadvertently mentioned that “of course, I have not been to the Pompidou Center, but I often visit Russian museums of modern art.” That's where the trip to Paris and the VIP tour from the curator Pompidou, Dmitry's gift, came from.
My reaction? Astonishment. In my opinion, in the final frames, the expression on my face only screams about it!
Moreover, the surprise is positive for the most part. It is striking that in this way the situation brought me together with Dmitry Volkov (a man who is well versed in contemporary art, who made performances with the famous contemporary artist Oleg Kulik, in the private collection of Dmitry, the work of Kavarga and Morozov, besides, he is a patron of the Tretyakov Gallery and " garage"). Furthermore. I didn't know anything about him before.
This is an amazing person. And a true philanthropist. I think that he crosses out many stereotypes about millionaires, their snobbery and inhumanity. As you can see, being rich can be smart and generous. And Dmitry, in addition to everything, also manages to be creative and strong-willed. And read people so accurately. Isn't it amazing?
By the way, Ani has already visited Paris.
How has my life changed? I found out that there is a philosopher Daniel Dennett! And Dmitry wrote a book about him and his theory of consciousness. That a philosophical expedition dedicated to free will took place off the coast of Greenland. And what are those anyway?
I also visited Paris on my birthday. I managed to go around 17 museums seven days before spring and get acquainted with the curators of the Pompidou Center, and all the summerwings of the Seine, and the bookstores of the Marais, and the baguettes of Montparnasse. Is not that great?
Ekaterina Emelyanova
The last stop of the correspondent of the site was the address: Monastyrka, 5A. It is here that the production of heaters is located. It was here that Dmitry Volkov "was engaged in cotton wool."
Getting to this place was not easy. It is located behind the railway and is surrounded by a high fence. There are no plaques on the building.
Alas, Ekaterina Emelyanova, whom Volkov handed over half a million rubles, was not on site .. The program was filmed in February. The change house where Dmitry lived was demolished.
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Businessman, investor, philanthropist, co-owner of the SD Ventures holding and trustee of the State Tretyakov Gallery Support Fund Dmitry Volkov took part in the Secret Millionaire program. He spent 5 days in Nizhny Novgorod in the guise of an "intelligent homeless man" who had only one thousand rubles in his pocket. The portal NewsNN tells about it.
“Nizhny Novgorod is a wonderful place. I was there. They make MiG fighters, on which I flew into the stratosphere, just from Nizhny Novgorod, ”Volkov said.
The millionaire told random passers-by that he was participating in the show. Allegedly, he came to an unfamiliar city to start a new life after he was framed by business partners.
He had to find those people who really needed help.
“The purpose of my participation in this project was to find potential contacts for charity,” said Dmitry Volkov.
During his participation in the program, the millionaire managed to work at the factory and as a courier at Arsenal, spent the night in a dirty household trailer.
In total, in 5 days the millionaire gave away more than 12 million rubles.
As a result of the days spent in Nizhny Novgorod, Volkov gave away more than 12 million rubles in total.
So, 277.3 thousand rubles was received by the bartender of one of the Nizhny Novgorod clubs. Together with the administrator of the club, the bartender will go on a cruise trip on a yacht worth 7.2 million rubles, donated by the millionaire. 750 thousand were donated to the artist to rent a studio. Volkov gave 500 thousand rubles to an employee of one of the factories. For the owner of the “house with hanging toys”, he arranged a photo session with the leading models of Nizhny Novgorod. The chief specialist of the public relations department of Arsenal received tickets to Paris worth 410 thousand rubles from the millionaire. Moreover, Volkov gave a certain amount to his grandmother, who was standing at the Moscow railway station.
Now Dmitry Volkov is planning to create a trust fund for the Arsenal State Center for Contemporary Art in Nizhny Novgorod. He announced this during the show of the TV channel "Friday".
“I want to create a trust fund for Arsenal. I would be one of his trustees. And I want to transfer 2.5 million rubles as a contribution to this fund, ”said the millionaire.
29.03.2017 One of the richest people in Russia became the hero of a reality show ParenNiNoOvernight in a change house, buying up food and severe frost. One of Russia's most famous millionaires, Dmitry Volkov, experienced all the delights of a poor life in Nizhny Novgorod. The rich man became the hero of the new show of the Friday TV channel - Secret Millionaire.
Under the terms of the show, the reality hero must voluntarily give up his former wealthy life and try to establish a life in the new harsh realities, without a gold card, personal assistant and status acquaintances. For five consecutive days, the millionaire will have to spend the night in shelters, work in factories and beg on the street. At the disposal of the former businessman will be only 1000 rubles, an old mobile phone and second-hand clothes.
Dmitry Volkov - "Secret Millionaire". A millionaire cannot reveal his real life. For Dmitry Volkov, the creators of the program came up with a legend that he came to Nizhny Novgorod to work after he was thrown by businessmen friends. Before the trip, Dmitry was given two envelopes. They can be opened only in extreme cases. The letters contain information about where you can find work and accommodation.
As soon as Dmitry set foot on the Nizhny Novgorod land, he went to the ruins with printed publications. There he bought newspapers with job offers. Dmitry did not find suitable offers there.
Then the millionaire went to look for work at large enterprises in the capital of the Volga region. So, he ended up at Monastyrka, 5. As the millionaire said, he will remember this address forever.
At this address is the production of thermal insulation. Dmitry was hired. He was so happy about this that he did not even ask about earnings. As a result, in two hours the "secret millionaire" earned 250 rubles.
The first night in Nizhny Novgorod, Dmitry Volkov spent the night in a hostel, and the next - in a "change house". After dinner, which consisted of a can of saury and cheese, the millionaire had a poisoning. Despite this, he continued to participate in the project.
In Nizhny Novgorod, Dmitry Volkov managed to work at the Arsenal Museum of Contemporary Art, with the artist Artem Filatov, helped Uncle Lesha with the housework, and also worked in a nightclub as an assistant bartender.
At the end of the show, Dmitry Volkov handed out gifts and money to the people of Nizhny Novgorod, whom he met in the capital of the Volga region. So, nightclub employees Denis and Vasilisa received $ 4,700 from the millionaire and a cruise on a yacht. The millionaire handed over 750 thousand rubles to the Nizhny Novgorod artist (this money will be used to pay for the rent of the premises).
A businessman eats Druzhba cheese for the first time. Dmitry Volkov handed over half a million rubles to his partner Ekaterina, whom he met at the production of thermal insulation. Uncle Lesha received the most unusual gift from the capital's millionaire. Dmitry Volkov gave the pensioner a photo shoot with strippers.
The most luxurious gift was received by an employee of the Arsenal and the museum itself. Dmitry Volkov gave the girl a trip to Paris, and the museum - 2.5 million rubles.
Dmitry Volkov admitted that it was very difficult to participate in this show, but despite all this, he got a lot of pleasure from the project.
Sometimes it seems to me that I live like a man in a case. And it's not even that I'm like a hermit crab, or that I don't interact with people. It’s just that every single day I communicate with people at work and I’m already very used to this. This is my personal case. That is why I wanted to open it, agreeing to participate in this project, - said the millionaire.
On this topic
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