Multimedia show

Cooperation is the main driver of human development. By linking minds, intellects and cultures, we unlock new opportunities, expand mobility and create sustainability. That’s why the exposition of the Russian Pavilion at Expo 2020 is pivoted around the organ of our mind, the human brain, the most complex and mysterious phenomenon in the Universe.

Everything that we have created and everything that we see around us is made and maintained by the same device, our brain. However different people are, this organ is the same in each of us. Brain-related discoveries will most likely become the greatest scientific breakthroughs in the 21st century. They will have a profound impact on our mentality and outlook, and transform our lives. Note that many of the fundamental ideas in this area were advanced and developed by Russian scholars.

Ivan Sechenov was the first to advance the concept of the physiological foundations of the psyche. Ivan Pavlov discovered conditioned reflexes. Dmitry Anuchin introduced the concept of the anthroposphere in 1902 Vladimir Vernadsky laid the foundations for the doctrine of the noosphere. Konstantin Mereschkowski and Boris Kozo-Polyansky formulated and elaborated the concept of symbiogenesis. Pyotr Kropotkin was the first to put forward the idea that mutual assistance is one of the fundamental factors in the evolution of mankind.

The human brain incorporates billions of neurons. They intercommunicate by transmitting information using electrical and chemical signals. Neurons engage these communications to form networks. Continuous proliferation of interacting neural networks results in the development of the mind. Theoretically, the mind is a hypernetwork of the brain, while consciousness is the traffic within this hypernetwork.

The main thing we learn from studying the brain is that the complexity of the brain structure stems from the complexity of interconnections between its neurons. The very architecture of connections in the brain is very similar to the structure of social networks in human communities. Nature has trained billions of brain cells to enter into associations and symbioses to help each other, which eventually benefits the whole organism. We should learn from Nature and use these lessons to unite minds for the common good of all mankind.

The Russia Pavilion shows how various abilities of our brain shape different kinds of the human mind and how their combinations create the future.

‘Cognitive’ mind allows a human to learn new things with incredible efficiency. This mind accesses our autobiographical and cultural memory, has a perfect command of filtering and structuring information, as well as the skills of optimizing learning processes and exchanging competencies.

‘Creative’ mind unlocks and fulfils the natural creative potential of a human. Both learning and creative activities generate new connections between neurons, thus making the inventions as natural for us as learning to walk or something.

‘Sensitive’ mind makes us receptive not only to our own emotions, but to other people’s as well. The human brain does not tend to make decisions dispassionately. We are empathic creatures, and it would be very difficult for us to coexist without this ability.

‘Cultural’ mind guides us in our search for our place in the world. The culture of our environment determines how we perceive and visualize the world. Cultural diversity further enhances our interaction experience.

‘Social’ mind allows people to interact. People are gregarious creatures. The advent of communication technologies makes it possible for people to form social associations without even having to walk out.

Human brain is an inspiring example of how infinite possibilities arise from the coordinated work of a million relatively simple elements. That’s why we should rely on natural intelligence, the joint creative force of human minds, rather than on artificial intelligence.

Author of the concept and design of ‘The Mechanics of Wonder’ — Konstantin Petrov, Simpateka Entertainment Group