Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes, mathematician and philosopher,1599-1650)

Saturday 20 November 2010

The Kerr-Dobell-Fraenkel-Meo Panel

Announced in yesterday's post, listen to the video.  It's a very long video. Jenny Hayward-Jones speaks first, followed by Duncan Kerr, Graeme Dobell, Jon Fraenkel and Jovili Meo, with question in the last few minutes. You may be able to skip to the parts you most want to listen to, or you could download the lot and pick and choose  at your lesisure. Parts of the Fraenkel and Meo soundtracks are poor.
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1 comment:

Unthinking goupthink said...

I thought "think tanks" were meant to be places of serious discussion in which the finest minds gather to thrash out the various arguments and try to reach sensible conclusions. The Lowy Institute, on the other hand, seems to be a place where second rate minds who've already reached the wrong conclusion gather to reinforce each other's opinions. I'm leaving Duncan Kerr out of this because he's obviously a thoughtful guy who tried here to break out of the straightjacket of group-think and come up with something sensible.

Why are the same old predictable faces paraded at these Lowy gatherings? Where are the Richard Herrs or the Crosbie Walshes of the world who might at least enliven the proceedings with their different take on events in Fiji? Have any of these panelists even been to Suva in recent years? Although he lives in Melbourne, I'd imagine Jovili Meo may have. But I guarantee you that none of the other panelists have.

Even the simplest definition of Intellectual vigour demands the inclusion of all viewpoints in any discussion. That's the fundamental problem here and why the whole exercise is not just flawed but (with the exception of Duncan Kerr's contribution) so much stale air. At least tell us something we didn't know or hadn't thought of. Otherwise why bother?