‘The Wisdom of Crowds’ is the idea that by pooling information, experience and judgment, groups of people make better decisions than individuals alone. Writers in social psychology, market economics, evolutionary biology and other fields argue that, as social animals, we achieve much more by collaborating with others. It’s not a new idea: in the Politics…
Welcome to St Mary’s Cathedral House for our 13th annual Iftar dinner, honouring especially our Muslim leaders and people, but bringing together people of all faiths for feasting and friendship.
Representing our First Australians, I welcome Dr Lisa Buxton who heads our Aboriginal Catholic Ministry. Together with her I acknowledge the elders past and present of the Gadigal clan of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land on which we meet…
‘Jesus wept.’ (Jn 11:35) It’s the shortest and most moving verse of the New Testament. In two powerful words we glimpse the fullness of Jesus’ humanity: that rather than expressing a divine distance, impassability and indifference, Jesus is God come close, so close He could be overwhelmed with compassion for the suffering sisters, so close He could know for Himself…
Mr Beast is the YouTube moniker of 24-year-old American internet sensation, Jimmy Donaldson. After a youth misspent watching silly video clips, he decided to go viral himself with a series of outlandish stunts: going to the same fast-food outlet a thousand times in a row; building an exact replica of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory; reading every word in the dictionary; eating a golden pizza…
The artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT was launched recently, breaking all records by reaching 100 million users in its first month. (By way of comparison: Google took a year to get that number of users, Instagram needed two, and Facebook only got there after four years![1]). As a result, the OpenAI company…
Launched in 2010 by then Education Minister, Julia Gillard, the My Schools website was a smash hit from the get-go, amassing 1.5 million hits on its first day—and causing more than a few technical glitches. It was intended to offer parents, educators and community as much accessible information as possible about our schools. Student population data would socio-economic advantage…
It’s a well-known rule of social etiquette: never bring up politics or religion at a dinner party. What’s the go with this advice? Well, the thought seems to be: don’t spoil a social engagement by raising a topic that might prove divisive or even cause a heated disagreement. Questions concerning how we should be governed…
The heart is an amazing organ. Although hardly bigger than a closed fist, it beats more than 100,000 times a day without us even having to think about it. It pumps about 7,000 litres of blood around the body each day—the equivalent of a large household rainwater tank…
Übermensch was the name given by the 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) to those who were above and beyond the ordinary run of human beings.[1] Sometimes the term is translated ‘Superman’, like the comic, TV and movie hero, but that’s not what Nietzsche meant. For him, the übermensch was no sci-fi being with otherworldly…
I’m delighted to be with you all this morning for the blessing and opening of Hartford College! The foundation of a new school is always a cause for celebration and hope, and I want particularly to congratulate the founding parents who had the vision and courage to bring this school to reality. I salute Board Chair Tim Mitchell, Penny Wright and the other directors, Principal Mr Frank Monagle and the growing teaching staff…
In 2007 Cardinal Pell issued guidelines reminding clergy that funeral homilies should focus on the Scriptures and the Catholic faith, especially regarding the Resurrection and God’s mercy, and not be a eulogy or canonisation ceremony for the deceased. So, this one last time, Your Eminence, I will try to do as I’m told…
Welcome to St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney for the Solemn Pontifical Funeral Mass for George Cardinal Pell, Companion of the Order of Australia, Prefect Emeritus of the Secretariat of the Economy, and our beloved former Archbishop.
George was born in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1941 to Margaret and George (Senior)…
