Festival of Dangerous Ideas

When it comes to good governance, conventional wisdom has it that less corruption would translate into more economic growth, a healthier body politic and reduced likelihood of conflict. But what if this isn’t always the case? Although there are cases where corruption has promoted conflict, in other instances it has helped restore peace in a country. A more nuanced and less ideological view of "corruption" is needed if countries are to fight graft without undermining peaceful co-existence. Elizabeth Pisani is a London-based journalist and epidemiologist, best known for her work on HIV/AIDS.

A.C. Grayling says “to read is to fly”. The distinguished philosopher who has dedicated his life to examining knowledge believes we need a revolution in education. But many of us grapple with the question: what is education for? And is this the right question to ask?   A.C. Grayling is a distinguished philosopher notable for his ability to make philosophy relevant to contemporary readers and audiences. He is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Associated with the new atheism movement and is sometimes described as the 'Fifth Horseman of New Atheism', he has written and edited more than 30 books on philosophy and other subjects.

In our current state of the world, are scientists the new gods? Do we increasingly rely on science to solve our problems, and are we stretching the scientific method to mystique? If we can’t trust scientists, is it possible to still trust science?   Tim Flannery is a scientist and one of Australia’s leading writers on climate change. Alok Jha is the science correspondent for ITV News in the UK.  Natasha Mitchell is a multi-award winning journalist and presenter of flagship ABC Radio National programs. Lee Vinsel is an Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Stevens Institute of Technology. 

If we don’t think our fellow citizens are capable of making the right choices about what they eat and drink, why do we think they are capable of voting? Since researcher Chris Berg presented this 2015 FODI talk, this question rings eerily true to what many individuals are experiencing today. Who is best placed to make the decisions for us – we the people, or the state?   Chris Berg is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, where he specialises in civil liberties, the political economy of regulation, and media and technology policy. 

When someone commits a crime, we want them punished. If wrongdoers go to prison more often and for longer, everyone seems happy. But we live in a system where people do eventually come out of prison and rejoin the community. And this is where what has happened to them in prison really starts to matter. If prisons are a rank breeding ground for recidivism, where drug use is unchecked and non-violent offenders are initiated into the criminal world, do you want someone who has spent time there living near you? Or would you rather see them going straight back to jail? As incarceration rates grow, if we want anyone who has been to jail to have a chance in life, maybe we need to look at a different approach – the kind of prison model that could make a killer a good neighbour. Erwin James is a convicted murderer and Guardian journalist. James was released in August 2004 having served 20 years of a life sentence. Chaired by journalist Hamish Macdonald.

With more people coming out as gender fluid, transitioning or on a spectrum of gender identity, it's clear the biological constraints of gender today have loosened. But how do we deal with enduring gender-based social inequality and injustice? Will we ever get to a point in society where gender doesn’t matter?  Jesse Bering is an award-winning science writer, psychologist, and academic.  Raewyn Connell is one of Australia's leading social scientists. She is best known internationally as a sociologist of gender and a pioneer of research on masculinities and best known in Australia for work on class inequality and social justice in education.  Cordelia Fine is an Associate Professor at Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne. Her popular science book, Delusions of Gender: The Real Science of Sex Differences was described “required reading for every neurobiology student, if not every human being.”  Elizabeth Anne Riley, PhD is a Sydney-based counsellor, academic & clinical supervisor specialising in gender diversity. 

Today the human race faces existential challenges. Our prosperity has been built on unsustainable economic and environmental practices — but our social and political processes seem incapable of fixing anything. Why are we unable to even acknowledge the truth of our predicament? Chaired by Rebecca Huntley. Satyajit Das is a former financier. He anticipated the 2008 financial crisis and has been prescient in outlining subsequent developments. In September 2014, Bloomberg included him as one of the 50 most influential people in international finance.

When you're on a bicycle at a red light with no car or pedestrian in sight, do you still wait for the green? Do you obey every single law? Surely fearful compliance with every niggling regulation defies the much-vaunted "freedom" that is the premise of democracy. Maybe that’s what drives our fascination with film and fiction criminality: we envy renegades. Is breaking a rule a day better than an apple for your health? Lionel Shriver is an American author and journalist, living in the United Kingdom. Her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. She writes frequently for the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and The Independent.

If you've been enjoying our deep dive festival sessions you might want to check out bite sized conundrums in Little Bad Thing, the new podcast from The Ethics Centre. True stories about the things we wish we hadn’t done. Smart, dark, wry, and surprising, this is a show for anyone who’s made a big decision or regretted a small one. Search for Little Bad thing and subscribe.

What does the future hold? A reign of world peace with stunning medical breakthroughs conquering death, illness and disease? Or a world where human beings have destroyed the web of living things and put our own existence at risk by playing with science we don’t fully understand? Must we think in terms of these extremes to create a positive future or prevent disaster? Join a panel of brilliant optimists and pessimists to understand some of the amazing risks and opportunities that lie before us. Tim Flannery is an Australian scientist, activist, author and editor of over twenty books, former Chief Scientist at the federal Climate Commission, and currently leader of the independent Climate Council. Elizabeth Kolbert is an American environmental journalist and author. She is a staff writer at the New Yorker and the author of several books, including Field Notes from a Catastrophe and The Sixth Extinction: An unnatural history. Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist and one of the world’s foremost writers on language, mind, and human nature. He is currently Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and his most recent book is The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why violence has declined. Jaan Tallinn is a founding engineer of Skype and Kazaa, a co-founder of personalised medicine company MetaMed, and a co-founder of the Centre for Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge.