The 14th Dialectical Symposium of the World Philosophical Forum, Athens, 2023, brought together Socrates and Tesla in an imaginary and creative dialogue. It was made possible by the Braca Karic Foundation and Ljiljana Niksic, Serbian Ambassador, responsible for public and cultural diplomacy. The 14th Dialectical Symposium was presided over by Steven Roy, who bestowed upon it the title of Tesla Ambassador. It was officially conferred on its Honorary President, Jeffrey Levett, on February 7, 2024, in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Belgrade, by Ambassador Ljiljana Niksic, now Acting Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Our moment in time is one of dire peril and a unique opportunity. People worldwide suffer from inequality, ill health, armed conflict, climate change disease, and the adverse impacts of technology. A large part of the population is infected with eco-anxiety, fears about the future, and existential concerns about their children and even their children’s children. Youth are losing their trust in politicians and the international community. The World Philosophical Forum in Athens finds it incredible that classical philosophy finds no practice in such a world.

Think of the Hippocratic Oath. I swear by Apollo the Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygeia and Panacea, and by all gods as well as goddesses, making them witnesses to the fulfillment of this oath and written covenant in accordance with my power and judgment and its principle: first, do no harm. Asclepius and his entire family were associated with prosperity and health. Hippocrates sought out the Oracle during a trip to Delphi since the Asclepiads possessed special privileges there. He made a sacrifice and pleaded with Apollo for the safety of the Greek people.

Socrates, the greatest thinker of ancient Greece, was out and about among people and did not have time for writing. When teased by his peers about his smarts, he told them that with greater means like them, he would have been much smarter by taking the more advanced class given by Prodikos. Today, he would have perished by not publishing while underscoring the need for support for education. Humiliated by defeat, the Athenians needed a scapegoat to detract from their lost empire and found one within their city walls: Socrates, someone who dared to question their dreams of supremacy. Despite winning arguments, Socrates still took the hemlock. As the effects of hemlock started to creep upward, he instructed X to send a cock to Hippocrates for services rendered.

Let's not forget that Prometheus gave man fire for warmth, Demeter bread to feed him, and hygiene and public health to protect him. Socrates added the study of the human soul and society to philosophy and gave us the dichotomy of chaos and order and the concept of global citizenship. Hellenism gave us philosophy, reason, and wisdom to conduct human affairs. Let’s not forget that reality and its patterns and regularities became observable as myth was displaced by rational examination of natural phenomena and a better understanding of the material world was formulated.

Nikola Tesla, a giant of invention and of humanity, was celebrated in Athens 2023 in the framework of a culture of remembrance during the 14th Dialectical Symposium of the World Philosophical Forum, Athens. We did so in support of the activation of an International Committee and the International Nikola Tesla Prize by Serbia and in the belief that 80 years on from Tesla’s death, his fluent imagination, important discoveries, and oft times puzzling ideas on renewable energy sources, the thinking camera, and the information in brain waves offer important insights into the troubled problem space of today. His gaze, like ours, was on the future towards which he worked while offering the world the ideal of a scientist, the benefits of scientific progress, and the thinking of a philosopher. The force field straddling Tesla and the World Philosophical Forum, Athens, is philosophy.

The World Philosophical Forum, Athens, designates the prevailing mental state of our world as social dementia, reflecting a widespread decline in mental competence, and advocates that we must all stand up and fight against nonsense peddling, conspiracy theories, and all that is fallacious and strive to give environmental protection an easier passage. We can afford to let the world cheer for Hitler, who did not have the atomic bomb, or any other dictator who does or wants one!

The World Philosophical Forum is dedicated to the restoration of classical philosophy as humanity's route back to reason and proposes the creation of a philosophical platform to monitor the onslaught of the problem space of existential issues of nuclear threat and climate change, as well as the development of artificial intelligence, with the aim of circumventing its abuse. The History of Humanity knows of two great ancient Greek traditions: the Olympic Games, a competition in the physical force of human bodies, which in 393 AD was prohibited by Theodosius, and the Dialectic Symposium, a competition in the mental force of human brains, based on wisdom and reason, which was prohibited by the Byzantine emperor Justinian.

The Dialectic Symposium was revived in 2009 by Igor Kondrashin, a Russian philosopher, and received encouragement and support from the Academy of Athens and the good offices of Irene Bokova and Ban Ki-moon. Kondrashin sees the looming threat of a reptilian-launched thermonuclear war as a result of a wrongly cultivated consciousness in the human neocortex, precipitating social dementia. This summer, Greece has demonstrated that as long as universal efforts to check climate change are disrupted or delayed, the earth will get warmer, and the result will be far worse catastrophes. We are already at the limit of no return, 1.5 degrees.

Meanwhile, the situation around Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine remains precarious, impacted by military activity and knock-on effects from damage to the Kakhovka dam, which can also result in serious radiological consequences, as well as the three conflict areas of Gaza, where innocent people are dying like flies, the Red Sea, where international trade is being disrupted, and the Ukraine, where a nuclear mishap is possible and the need for rapprochement between America and Russia is vital.

Today Nikola Tesla is remembered in every medical establishment where magnetic imaging of the brain and whole body takes place with the unit of magnetic flux density in the International System of Units, where one tesla is equal to one weber per square meter, and routine imaging machine magnets register from 0.2T to 3.0T, while research facilities currently perform human imaging in fields up to 11.7T. Chaerephon consulted the oracle of Delphi, who confirmed that Socrates was the wisest of all men. In his defense, Socrates describes how Chaerephon consulted the oracle of Delphi, who confirmed that Socrates was the wisest of all men.

This was a paradox to be resolved, as Socrates considered himself an ignorant man. Perhaps the oracle sent Chaerephon on a divine mission to see how an ignorant man could be wiser than politicians, poets, prophets, and seers? Starting from the basic thought that an ignorant man of little knowledge can become the wisest man by asking the right questions, which is the secret of epistemology.

My Keynote Address Ancient Tears, Contemporary Fears, and Philosophical Wisdom appealed for a ceasefire wherever war rages, the protection of civilians everywhere, the release of all hostages taken in conflict and prisoners unjustly held in prisons by states everywhere, as well as a more formal reinstatement of the Universal Declaration on the Illegality of Wars on Earth, which the World Philosophical Forum in Athens first proclaimed here in Athens six years ago. We registered our apprehension with a world driven by authoritarianism, with decisions in politics shifting to lower cortical levels of the brain and empathy losing out, while noting the harsh grace of Aeschylus coming from his experience of war. Even in our sleep, in our despair, against our will, pain drips from the heart, drop by drop, reminding us of our sufferings, and whether we like it or not, it punishes us, punishes us, until, through the awful grace of God, wisdom comes. This cruel reality of Aeschylus is philosophical wisdom and a road to peace.

The International Tesla Council was formed in Greece and in China, as well as by a registered declaration. Efforts to establish an international Tesla Day are underway. Among the Tesla Ambassadors named for their contribution to the Tesla legacy are Rade Rankovic, Voice of America. Narenda Modi is India’s prime minister, Yvan Gil Pinto. MFA, Venezuela, Elon Musk, Novak Djokovic, Zubin Mehta, Vladan Vuletic, Marc Alessi, Prima Donna Jadranka Jovanovic, and Sean McCarric, Long Island Firefighter, led the fight to extinguish the fire at the only remaining Tesla laboratory in 2023. The campaign is published in the Tesla Bulletin. It includes the Athens Declaration and an article Tesla Cross-Examined by Socrates. [ISBN 978-86-81849-07-1]

Tesla dreamed big and made dreams come true, for which we celebrate his genius. In doing so, we recall the slogan "No UNESCO without Philosophy" and advocate its replacement by our slogan "No Humanity without Philosophy. It is a dream not to be deferred. As long as we last, philosophy is humanity's route back to reason, and the World Philosophical Forum carries a bright lamp. In a raised voice so long ago, Thomas Jefferson called, "Is anybody there?"

Planning for the 15th Dialectical Symposium of the World Philosophical Forum is already underway with proposed themes, undertaken in philosophical light, that include public versus private university education, examination of vaccine science and health, and the second coming of Nilolas Tesla. The curtain will come down with a philosophical pilgrimage to the sacred place of Delphi. Heracles will handle security, taking on the role of ensuring access to all shrines and dealing with any harassment by peacekeepers and scholars en route to Delphi. A symbolic peace will be agreed upon in Delphi, Greece, and a universal peace treaty signed in the Old Hellenic Parliament, Athens.