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In the wash-up of the federal budget last week, the ABC interviewed a voter about a tax change that would leave him worse off. The answer he gave was unexpected. Instead of complaining, he said he supported the change because it could help young people get into housing, and that would serve the greater good.
I’ve been thinking about what he said ever since. How often, these days, do you hear anyone talk about the “greater good”? For a long time, large sections of the media and political class have behaved as though public policy is a game of snakes and ladders in which the only question anyone cares about is “what’s in it for me?”
But if you stop and think about it, that’s a delusional way to approach things. The truth is, we are all invested in the greater good – we all have families and friends and colleagues and loved ones. We all care about the community in which we live, and we all want to make things better.
At The Conversation, serving the greater good is our core objective. Our small editorial team works closely with academic experts to produce journalism that’s constructive rather than sensational. Our only aim is to help people be better informed, and we give away our work for free so everyone can access quality information when they need it.
To pay the bills, we raise almost a third of our budget in an annual donation drive that kicks off this week. Every single time we launch the campaign, I’m a mess of nerves, because your support is what keeps us going. Every single time, I’ve been blown away by the flood of messages and support that show how generous and selfless you can be.
This year, please give whatever you can afford to help us produce sober and thoughtful journalism.
And thank you for being part of a community of thoughtful readers who show us every day how deeply you care about the greater good.
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Misha Ketchell
Editor-in-chief & Executive Director
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Michael Dezuanni, Queensland University of Technology; Simon Chambers, Western Sydney University; Tanya Notley, Western Sydney University
With most teens unlikely to tune into nightly TV news or to read newspapers, a new study shows the social media ban is all but cutting them off from the news.
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Georgia van Toorn, UNSW Sydney; Helen Dickinson, UNSW Sydney
The government has introduced legislation that tightens key definitions and make it harder for participants to access the scheme.
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David Lee, UNSW Sydney
These four federal budgets brought in major reforms. This year’s effort is not quite so ambitious.
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Mark Beeson, University of Technology Sydney
The expectations of voters in the UK – like those elsewhere – may simply have become too great and too complex for any leader to satisfy them.
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Oscar Vorobjovas-Pinta, Edith Cowan University
70 years on, Eurovision voters are driven by identity, politics and national alliances – and the juries and public often don’t agree.
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Brendon Hyndman, Charles Sturt University; Vaughan Cruickshank, University of Tasmania
Parents can freak out if their Year 12 is vague about life after school. But this doesn’t mean they need to project this stress back on to their kids.
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Pratik Raul, University of Canberra; Jeroen van Boxtel, University of Canberra
Age-related macular degeneration is a common cause of blindness, but adding some static noise to a patient’s vision can counteract some of the disease’s effects.
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Zane Goebel, The University of Queensland; Sonia Roitman, The University of Queensland; Udiana Dewi, University of Sydney
Indonesia has a long history of managing floods with canals and other infrastructure. But there are fears the massive project will worsen existing ecological damage.
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Politics + Society
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Bethany Butchers, University of Newcastle
The landmark case, known as Tickle v Giggle, has been going for years. Now the Federal Court has found transgender woman Roxanne Tickle had been discriminated against.
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Shireen Daft, Macquarie University
In Myanmar and Gaza, sanitary products are next to non-existent. It’s having a catastrophic impact on women and girls.
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Clive Schofield, University of Wollongong; I Made Andi Arsana, Universitas Gadjah Mada ; Rebecca Strating, La Trobe University
Both countries claim overlapping parts of the Gulf of Thailand with potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves. There is a peaceful path to resolve the dispute.
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Health + Medicine
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Barbara Brookes, University of Otago
Prejudice and professional gate-keeping before and during WWII meant New Zealand denied itself an opportunity to save lives and boost its depleted health system.
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Sabrina Lenzen, The University of Queensland
Long wait lists are the latest symptom of the aged care crisis. But this issue seems to be anything but a political priority.
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Nial Wheate, Macquarie University; Ian Jamie, Macquarie University; Wai-Jo Jocelin Chan, UNSW Sydney; University of Sydney
This vitamin plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health. But that doesn’t mean you need to take a supplement.
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Business + Economy
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Wesley Widmaier, Australian National University
The summit revived a 20-year-old idea of the ‘Group of Two’ superpowers working together with global benefits. But we’re now living in a different world.
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Environment + Energy
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Adam Brown, University of Waikato; Dave Frame, University of Canterbury; Luke Harrington, University of Waikato
Analysis reveals some of NZ’s worst droughts occurred before 1950 – meaning recent experience may not reflect the full scale of future risk in a warming climate.
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Science + Technology
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Yang Xiang, Swinburne University of Technology
CAPTCHA tests may seem like a minor annoyance, but they reflect a much larger paradigm shift online.
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Arts + Culture
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Sarah Austin, The University of Melbourne
Theatre can model new possibilities, transform thinking and centre the rights and needs of children.
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David M. Pritchard, The University of Queensland
What did Thucydides really say on this? And what’s Athens and Sparta got to do with the current state of US-China relations?
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Leah Mercer, Curtin University
This clear-eyed adaptation makes the most of its literary roots while also piecing together a unique theatrical language.
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Books + Ideas
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Matthew Ricketson, Deakin University
London Falling is well worth reading – but could have matched this star reporter’s masterpieces if it had ranged more widely.
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AI may not be conscious but who is
“Koplin and Moss do a great job in debunking the idea of AI consciousness through a clear explanation of the mechanics of AI. But if AI is not actually ‘thinking’ (ie. simply calculating the probable best response based on frequency in the data set) it seems to me that the same unthinking responses occur in 95% of interactions between people in most social situations. But every now and again we experience ‘real’ conversations – a genuine encounter with someone else where you can be your genuine self: not just programmed answers, not just rehashing what is already known. How do we consistently have those sort of encounters? The challenge of AI (one of many) is how do
I/we be more of what makes us human?”
Paul Robertson
Frozen shoulder woes
"Frozen shoulders are just horrible! Nowhere is there any decent documentation on how much your daily activities are going to change. It can be humiliating and for me, it took up to 50 times longer (yes, 50) to do things I used to complete in a few seconds. I hesitated to get cortisone injections because I was scared by so many horror stories I had heard. My pain specialist justified every cent I paid him by the care and time he and the nurse took to keep me calm and complete the two injections I had in my shoulder. Between that, the exercises I did almost every day and the regular physio, I have almost full movement again. The pain has reduced but has never completely
gone even with a high dose of nerve blockers the whole time. I digress, it was a good article but surprising that nerve blockers were not mentioned, they helped me when the pain was so severe. Yet pleased the article didn't mention any of that rubbish about 'pushing through the pain' – thanks for that."
Shirley Allen, ACT |
