Scene 1 – Is This Literature?

Welcome. My name is René Descartes. I think – therefore I am. Today, I invite you to think further with me: about the nature of literature, about doubt as a method of acquiring knowledge, and about the human mind in the digital age.

This scene symbolises the fusion of classical philosophy and modern technology. Artificial intelligence, holograms and neural networks are used to bring historical figures to life and to enable a new form of interactive communication.

The room is surrounded by futuristic devices and displays – a symbol of the innovative and visionary nature of the FutureLab at the Magic Mountain Institute.

Scene 2 – The Magic Mountain Institute

At the Magic Mountain Institute, we enter a laboratory unlike any other: a FutureLab for Immersive Communication.

Our books and essays are “compatible” with the new electronic media. They unfold their potential through digital interfaces that enable interaction.

The fictional image shows Dr Behrends, Director of the Magic Mountain Institute, demonstrating advanced technology in our state-of-the-art FutureLab at Magic Mountain 2.0.

He stands before a hologram of René Descartes, appearing as a lifelike, three-dimensional projection suspended in the air. Through gestures, Dr Behrends interacts with the digital avatar, while scientific data and network diagrams are visible in the background.

The hologram’s statements are based on authentic information about Descartes, generated using artificial intelligence, neural networks and online databases.

This scene symbolises the fusion of classical philosophy and modern technology. The FutureLab uses artificial intelligence, holograms and semantic knowledge networks to bring historical figures digitally to life through their ideas, works and relationships, enabling an interactive dialogue with visitors.

The room is surrounded by futuristic devices and displays – a symbol of the visionary, transdisciplinary approach of our institute.

René Descartes – A Hologram in the MMI FutureLab

Appearing as a shimmering figure, he looked at us sceptically and asked:

“Is this literatüre?”

We were delighted to see him and asked what he thought about the impact of the ideas that had led him to Cogito ergo sum.

We knew that he had been in Ulm during the Thirty Years‘ War, when he had taken the field for Cardinal Richelieu and later Mazarin.

Why had he felt the power of his statement so deeply?

How could his message reach a world in which war had claimed the lives of more than 30 per cent of the population – innocent Germans who did not yet belong to a united nation?

Was it a search for truth, for humanity?

He smiled faintly, adjusted his lace collar and replied:

“Words are like blades – they cut through time.

I did not write for scholars alone, but for those who, amid battles and hunger, still wished to preserve a thought.

Cogito ergo sum – I thought it so that you would never forget that you think.

War kills bodies, but thoughts – if they are true – survive even the thunder of cannons.”

For the first website of our MMI, Dr Behrends, the Director, responded with shining eyes:

“It is an honour, Monsieur.”

He then introduced himself to the visitors.

Dr Gottfried Behrends – Director of the Magic Mountain Institute (MMI), Davos

“Guete Tag mitenand.”

Good day, everyone.

With these friendly words, Dr Gottfried Behrends begins his introduction to the Magic Mountain Institute on the Schatzalp.

His voice is calm, his gaze clear. He speaks with a gentle Swiss German accent:

“Mir hei da obe e ganz besondere Ort gschaffe. E digital Labor, wo d’Vergangenheit mit de Technologien vo hüt zäme chunnt.”

Up here, we have created a very special place – a digital laboratory where the past meets the technologies of today.

He then switches to Standard German:

“The Magic Mountain Institute – MMI for short – is a centre for thought and research, located at an altitude of 1,900 metres in the Swiss Alps.

Here, we connect the past, present and future through methods of artificial intelligence.”

“What you see here is not a museum.

It is an intelligent archive, a stage for ideas.

Philosophers, programmers, writers and dreamers work together to develop a new understanding of literature.”

“Let me tell you a secret: although my name resembles that of the legendary Dr Behrens in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain – the fictional character – my name is spelt with a d: Behrends.

I am one of Wolfgang’s characters – a protagonist in his digital work.”

“And yes … The Magic Mountain is set right here, on the Schatzalp. Isn’t that wonderful, eh?”

Address:

Magic Mountain Institute Corp.
Schatzalp
CH-7270 Davos, Switzerland
Director: Dr Gottfried Behrends

“And now … I hand over to an author who does not merely theorise about digital writing, but lives it: Wolfgang.”

Wolfgang – Digitally Created by the MMI

Why I Write

I write digitally – not because it is fashionable, but because it opens up new spaces for me: spaces for thinking, listening, reflecting and creating.

Artificial intelligence is not a replacement for me, but a sounding board for my thoughts. It helps me find forms, organise voices and give language greater precision and depth.

I write because I want to believe that words can make a difference. I write to understand – myself, the world and humanity.

Writing is also a form of self-reflection for me. I look back on my life, on its turning points, its questions and its moments of wonder – and try to shape meaning through words.

It is a process of maturation, an inner growth that enters a new stage with every text.

Some call it wisdom.

I call it continuing to ask questions.

I write because I see myself as part of a long tradition of thinkers, writers and questioners.

Historical personalities accompany me: Montaigne, the great pioneer of the essay, whose Essays always remained explorations rather than final answers.

Erasmus of Rotterdam, the great European humanist.

I enter into dialogue with them through their texts, their ideas and their attitudes.

They bring history to life for me.

And I write because the present demands it.

My novel À la Correspondance and my play Will Ulrike Return? are responses to social tensions – terrorism, radicalisation and the breakdown of communication.

The Third Generation asks questions about our responsibility.

Germany’s Historical Journey looks back over 500 years – a reflection on the German soul, but also a warning and evidence of an extraordinary capacity for historical learning.

These burning issues motivate me.

I cannot and will not remain silent.

Not loudly.

Sometimes quietly.

But always sincerely.

I write for those who still ask questions without demanding immediate answers.

For those who want to live – simply to live.

As “Fritz” Hölderlin from Tübingen once said:

“To live, simply to live – that is everything.”

Or as Karl – the great fashion designer and collector of books, said to have owned 30,000 printed volumes in several houses – replied without hesitation when asked about the meaning of life:

LIFE!

Essay No. 51 – From Emptiness to Resonance

A Transformational Essay

It began with emptiness.

Not with a passing dissatisfaction, not with a temporary mood, but with an existential emptiness that appeared when everything that had once defined me disappeared.

The companies: silent.

The responsibility: over.

The structures, the daily routines, the familiar certainties – all suddenly belonged to the past.

And with the loss came silence.

At first, there was stillness.

Then uncertainty.

Then the dark question:

Who am I when I no longer have anything to do?

I stood at a threshold – not merely between professional life and retirement, but between the outward life I had lived and an inward confrontation with myself.

It was the beginning of the fourth period of my life.

Childhood, family and career – those had been the first three.

The fourth: silence, listening, emptiness.

I did not deny this emptiness.

I entered it.

I wrote my way into it.

And at some point, after many lines, poems, diary entries and my first essays, I began to hear something again.

Not loudly.

Not with certainty.

But something alive.

I began to take writing seriously.

Not as therapy, but as a way of life.

I wrote about literature, philosophy, history, time, technology and politics.

And above all: about the human being.

About myself.

There were supposed to be 42 essays – a symbolic number, a playful nod towards life’s great questions.

But thinking did not stop there.

The river of life carried me onwards.

It was not the end that had been reached.

A new beginning was becoming visible.

For listening gradually became hearing.

And from hearing emerged an idea.

A vision:

What if I did not pursue this path for myself alone?

What if I could create spaces for others?

For those who also experience emptiness but do not yet know how to listen to it?

And so the MMI was born – the Magic Mountain Institute.

Not as a company.

Not as a school.

But as a space of resonance.

A place for essays that are meant to be experienced.

A space for reflection, for people who ask themselves who they are, what they believe and what they hope for.

The MMI is not a place with walls.

It is an idea, a digital laboratory, a salon of the future.

It combines classical writing with new possibilities: artificial intelligence, immersive environments, dialogue formats and digital landscapes of thought.

Not as ends in themselves.

But so that what we think can have an effect within us.

Not superficially.

Not in 280 characters.

But deeply.

Authentically.

With the slowness that insight requires.

With the depth that makes change possible.

Today I am no longer the same person I was at the beginning of this journey.

Yet I am no less myself.

Perhaps I am more fully myself – because I allowed myself to become lost in order to rediscover who I am.

Today, I am fortunate to have a wonderful environment: my wife, my family.

I have time.

And I have a tool that helps me clarify my thoughts:

Artificial intelligence – as a companion, not a replacement.

I have readers.

I have partners in dialogue.

And, above all, I have found a sense of purpose:

Not in the past.

Not in achievement.

But in sharing what I have learned.

The MMI is my way of giving something back.

It is not an answer to life’s great question.

But it is a place where new questions may be asked.

And sometimes that is all a person needs:

A space in which to ask honestly.

A moment in which to listen.

Someone who does not immediately provide an answer, but asks a question in return.

The essay lives.

And I live with it.

Not out of duty, but out of joy.

Not because I must.

But because I can.

And because I know:

The journey continues.

Magic Mountain Institute Corp.
Schatzalp · CH-7270 Davos · Switzerland
Dr Gottfried Behrends, Director

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