Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish’s three daughters were killed by an Israeli rocket yet he vowed not to succumb to bitterness and hate, even as he poured out his grief live on an Israeli television program. He tells his incredible story in his book, “I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity”. At this Sydney Writers Festival session, he’s speaking with magazine journalist David Leser.
We’re not just living longer, we’re thriving longer, Bateson says, but so far we seem to be thinking shorter. Aging societies the world over can benefit from increased longevity because human lives have added a new stage, what Bateson calls “Adulthood II: the age of active wisdom”.
Drawing on their reading of Western classics, philosophy professors Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Kelly analyze how different epochs offered unique answers to the question of what is sacred and what can provide meaning for human existence. They explore the examples of Homer, Jesus, and Melville to highlight differing paradigms of culture practice. Dreyfus and Kelly then trace the transition to the secular age in which nihilism prevails.
Despite being one of the most successful and celebrated companies in history, Google maintains an air of mystery, and cultural myths abound. How has Google stayed innovative and cutting edge while making the transition to tech giant? What exactly happens inside the elusive Google campus? Levy took a deep dive into Google management, its products and its company culture. Join us as he shares untold stories and unpacks the mythology behind Google.
Big by the New Fast Automatic Daffodils from their 1990 album Pigeonhole. Also on YouTube, the Big (Baka) remix by Jon Da Silva. Lyrics.
In James Gleick’s book ‘The Information’ he speaks about the information “flood”. We are in a predicament where we have the ability to reach out and get facts easily. Although we may have access this does not necessarily bring with it knowledge. The gatekeepers of information are more important than ever, due to our reliance on these authorities for truth.
The visual system has developed to allow us to navigate in a complex and dangerous world in order to find food and to avoid danger. This survival system works by building a complex three-dimensional model based on two-dimensional data from the retina. This model is tested against “reality” and checked with information from other senses and updated if needed. The brain suppresses the complexity of this processing and we believe that vision is instantaneous, real and effortless. But is seeing just an illusion?
David Matthews, one of Britain’s leading composers, has always been interested in the incorporation of the natural world into his music, even including birdsong in some recent compositions. This lecture offers an opportunity for reflection on the relations between music and the natural world and how a composer can be brought closer to one through the other and vice versa.