The human species is unique and limited. For these reasons, we embrace our intellectual, artistic and poetic beauty in all its forms. The universe’s chaotic nature wanted us to participate in its own consciousness. Let us respond to this cosmic challenge by striving to know ourselves and the world around us.

This knowledge is not based on superstition, mysticism or religion. A proper understanding of the secret mechanisms of the universe is based on the evidence of scientific data.

Likewise, it is impossible to deny the paradoxical effect that this kind of knowledge has on our lives. We cannot pretend that science and mathematics are the solutions to all the problems afflicting us: nothing in them tells us how to live a happy life. For this reason, we give equal importance to the human, poetic character. Our passions, loves, and fears are also part of the knowledge we seek. Human sciences such as psychology and philosophy can help us in this task.

We defend our poetry and love at all costs, and therefore we believe in the revealing and regenerative power of art in all its forms. Painting, music, dance and sculpture, among others, are the flashes of the living flames that we carry inside us that neither mathematical equations nor physical laws will ever be able to describe. We assert that an artless society is a starless night sky.

Freedom of thought, emotion and expression are fundamental rights of all humanity. We are intolerant only of those who desire intolerance.

If we do not want to ruin our cosmic exceptionality, we must take urgent measures to remedy our natural toll on the planet. We have only one home, for now, that we must vigorously protect. Let us take care of our world; let us act and direct our criticism to those who pollute the most without fear and hesitation. We must not shy away from technological advancement, only science and reason will allow us to protect our world while continuing to power our civilization.

These are dark days for Europe. War has knocked on our door again. We defend that a war of aggression should be an anachronistic concept and extremely dangerous in the democratic world in which we live. As a species, we stand apart as having the means to exterminate ourselves, by ill intent or accident. Weapons of mass destruction must be chained, their use shunned. May the flame of Prometheus not become the fire that reduces our pale blue dot to mere inert dust.

Our species is destined to conquer the stars. The only vehicle that can take us to them is science. The progress of humanity, therefore, is closely linked to it. We defend that science helps catalyse our society’s progress on all other fronts: political, social and even cultural, lighting up the shadows of our fears when they surround us tightly.

None of the goals above will become a reality if we do not give the education of our sons and daughters fundamental importance. We are naturally curious beings, which is a point that we must emphasise in our schools and universities. There are no silly questions; there are no limits to our desire to know. Let us provide our children with the wood and fabric to build their own boats and sails. Let us guide them in their curious exploration like a compass on a ship, but do not steer their helm. Furthermore, our language, whichever it may be, is our treasure. Let us not allow those who live in their narrow tombs of uncertainty dictate how our children should express themselves. We look at history with curiosity and a desire to learn, not with the will to rewrite it.

Our universal humanism stems from Earth but extends to the stars.