Keywords: Science Fiction
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Daniel Simons
- 22 March 2024
Featuring a stellar cast of Hollywood’s finest actors, Apple TV's Extrapolations was a bold attempt to center a TV narrative around the dangers of our future on a warming planet, yet failed to capture audiences. But where Extrapolations failed as an effective cautionary tale for society, it may have succeeded as one for filmmakers.
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ECONOMICS
- David James
- 11 January 2024
AI and transhumanism will continue to transform economic life on the planet. Rather than trying to stop it, which will fail, the counterattack should instead be to repeatedly insist on the obvious: that the ‘I’ in AI is not human intelligence, and that the ‘humanism’ in transhumanism is not human.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Barry Gittins
- 24 November 2023
Catharine Lumby was a friend and beneficiary of Moorhouse’s mentoring and advice, and before his death, was approached by him to write a warts-and-all uncensored biography. In Frank Moorhouse: A Life, Lumby explores the life of this man of letters in all of its colour and contradiction.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Juliette Hughes
- 22 November 2023
1 Comment
Sixty years ago today, on November 22, 1963, the world lost three towering figures of the 20th century. On their diamond jubilee, do I think it was the end of the world as we know it when these three died? Each one shaped the twentieth century in a unique way. Each one left us with much to think about still.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael McVeigh
- 22 November 2023
A recent image of an Israeli soldier with a Pride flag in Gaza's rubble recalls Isabel Fall's controversial story, ‘I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter.’ The story and the photo both highlight how symbols of liberation can be co-opted for conflict, underscoring the need to reclaim these symbols for their original, liberating intent.
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AUSTRALIA
- Bill Calcutt
- 10 November 2023
1 Comment
As demonstrated in debates around the Voice, increasingly divergent perceptions of reality affect our dedication to our societal obligations and the upkeep of our shared core values. If left unchecked, this drift away from a shared understanding of the common good will further undermine trust and mutual respect that bind us, challenging the very foundations of a humane, civilised and inclusive society.
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AUSTRALIA
- David Halliday
- 13 June 2023
1 Comment
As artificial intelligence evolves, warnings of an AI surpassing us in cognitive abilities grow louder. Yet, these threats, which echo sci-fi nightmares, are met with skepticism and complacency, rather than fear. Are our human minds, fine-tuned by evolution to grapple with tangible, immediate threats, ill-equipped to comprehend the abstract risk of a runaway AI?
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AUSTRALIA
- Frank Brennan
- 05 June 2023
19 Comments
The wording of the proposed change to the Australian Constitution to enshrine a First Nations Voice might not be perfect. But whatever the imperfections and the risk of future complications, it is high time that Australia’s First Peoples were recognised in the Constitution in a manner sought and approved by a broad cross-section of Indigenous leaders.
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ENVIRONMENT
- Michael McVeigh
- 11 April 2023
The government’s Powering Australia Plan promises renewable energy and net-zero emissions by 2050. However, analysts warn that there is little change in the economic and bureaucratic structures that support the fossil fuel industry. Unless Australia finds a way to prosper sustainably, the country will continue to benefit from emissions while the rest of the world suffers.
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ECONOMICS
- David James
- 16 February 2023
4 Comments
AI and transhumanism will continue to transform economic life on the planet. Rather than trying to stop it, which will fail, the counterattack should instead be to repeatedly insist on the obvious: that the ‘I’ in AI is not human intelligence, and that the ‘humanism’ in transhumanism is not human.
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ECONOMICS
- David James
- 16 November 2022
1 Comment
Financial markets are made up of human beings and human beings have always been storytellers — long before science, or modern finance, or accounting even existed. Accordingly, the main skill of successful analysts, advisers, financial gurus and commentators is the construction of compelling narratives. They are, if not exactly creators of fairy stories, not too far removed from it.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Barry Gittins
- 14 January 2022
4 Comments
We’ve been in a pressure cooker, these past two years. More than a score of historians had memorably described 2020 as the sixth-most ‘stressful year ever’. Predictions and speculations look ahead; I looked at the past trends of the past two years and make these humble observations. With the stage set for dire times, here are six trends to look for in 2022. Here’s hoping.
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