Yuri Milner's Eureka Manifesto: A Call to Climb New Mountains in Human Civilisation

When Yuri Gagarin became the first human to visit space in 1961, he opened new horizons for humankind. His pioneering journey sparked inspiration and wonder about the possibilities that lie beyond our home planet.

Decades later, investor and philanthropist Yuri Milner is drawing on Gagarin's voyage to issue a bold new challenge: for humanity to come together to explore and understand our Universe.

Milner maps out this challenge in his short book, Eureka Manifesto. Just as Gagarin broadened our physical horizons into space, in this book, Milner calls upon humanity to expand the frontiers of knowledge itself.

Solving The Challenges Laid Out in Eureka Manifesto

Eureka Manifesto includes a set of principles that guide human civilisation to take on audacious goals that push the boundaries of science and technology.

Milner points out that, despite exponential progress, deep mysteries about our Universe remain — not to mention urgent threats like climate change that we must solve. To meet such challenges, Milner urges us to set ambitious objectives, direct investments into fundamental research, and maximise access to knowledge globally.

Milner is already tackling these goals through his:

• Breakthrough Initiatives, a suite of space science programmes that each extend the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and investigate life beyond our world.
• Breakthrough Prize, a series of $3 million rewards for scientists and researchers who are making pioneering scientific discoveries.
• Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a global science competition that encourages teenagers to create educational videos to be in with a chance of winning life-changing prizes.

If we meet the goals that Milner lays out in his manifesto, we could enjoy numerous possibilities. For example, we could fully understand the human brain, develop safe artificial intelligence (AI), decode the mysteries of the Universe, or perfect carbon-free energy.

Yuri Milner’s Vision to Expand Our Horizons

Milner makes the case that fundamental discoveries about ourselves and the cosmos are within reach if we dare to push further.

For example, the neurological basis of consciousness remains a scientific enigma. While the brain is deeply complex, within 25 years, advanced neuroimaging and AI data processing could reveal inner workings we still scarcely grasp.

What would it mean to definitively locate the seat of awareness inside the firing of neurons? Such knowledge could unlock deep mysteries, from the nature of identity to the origins of creativity.

In his book, Milner also unravels the origins of the Universe nearly 14 billion years ago and discusses the phase transitions that led to the rise of humanity. He believes brilliant minds and breakthrough technologies can conquer challenges once seen as intractable.

The manifesto argues that with a shared vision and coordinated effort, we can rapidly expand the boundaries of the known into the unknown.

Turning Yuri Milner’s Ideas Into Reality

However, audacious goals are only the first step. Eureka Manifesto calls for concerted investment into fundamental science to test hypotheses and turn abstractions into working innovations. The book advocates funding ambitious projects at scales rivalling 1960-80s Space Race investments.

As an entrepreneur, Milner recognises that transformative ideas need material support to bear fruit. Whether via public or private funding, resources should flow to open, non-profit research without an agenda beyond truth-seeking.

In his manifesto, he also calls for us to freely share all knowledge globally. No single nation has a monopoly on moments of genius. Instead, breakthroughs emerge from open collaboration.

Eureka Manifesto: Birthing Mountains for the Next Generation

Ultimately, Eureka Manifesto is a successor to epochal moments like Gagarin staring back at Earth. The book reminds us that our core challenge — to expand knowledge and ensure our species thrives — requires global collaboration towards a shared future.

Students today may hold the keys to the next revelations about the code that animates life or the hidden symmetries of the quantum world.

But the greatest frontier may be within. Consciousness remains an unfathomable miracle, and what we discover could catalyse insight into all that makes us human.

Milner asks us to birth new mountains for the next generations to climb. The view from such heights could change worlds. His book’s principles call us towards the illumination of both the infinite smallness within and the unfathomable vastness beyond. This century and beyond beckon; let now be when our journey begins.

About Yuri Milner

Signing the Giving Pledge in 2012, Milner agreed to donate at least half of his lifetime wealth to causes, mostly scientific, that will pave the way for a brighter future. He went on to launch and scale his own philanthropic ventures through his Breakthrough Foundation. These ventures include the Breakthrough Initiatives, Breakthrough Prize, Breakthrough Junior Challenge, and Tech For Refugees.

Read Yuri Milner’s Eureka Manifesto for free online.