Last weekend I attended bits and pieces of the Sorrento Writers Festival, and an interesting theme emerged.
Annabel Crabb introduced herself, among other things, as a shit stirrer. Virginia Trioli said she was a journalist “and general irritant,” and when she asked Bob Brown about his latest book, Defiance, he said “I love being on the defiant side.”
Andrew Denton said his team at Go Gently had a motto when campaigning of “Leave no stone unturned, leave no turd unstoned.”
Some days the world really feels as though it belongs to the billionaires and corporations who puppet our governments and manipulate our media. But perhaps the world actually belongs to the people who refuse to do (and believe) what they’re told. The defiant shit stirrers, irritants, and troublemakers.
The best time to tackle critical thinking was 50 years ago (more, maybe). The second best time is now! Empowering our kids to solve real problems in their community, critically evaluate their own solutions, and think critically about the information they are bombarded with, has never been more important. Building data and AI literacy is now essential in a way I didn’t understand when I founded ADSEI in 2018.
Questioning stories in the media and online, questioning government decisions, and questioning AI industry hype, has never been harder, or more crucial, than it is now.
Pushing back against “AI is taking over the world and you have to get on board or get behind” is exhausting. Advocating for evidence based policy, for meaningful education system reform, for action on climate change, for anything that leads us to a better world, rather than one dedicated to enriching billionaires, has never felt more difficult. But we all have the power to effect change.
Standing up and being defiant is how we do it.
As Bob Brown said on Saturday, “we don’t know what’s coming. but we do know that optimism drives success.” and “don’t get depressed, get active!”
ADSEI was born in 2018, over 8 years ago, and we’re still troublesome, defiant irritants. We’re still advocating for change. We’re still active. Still fighting for change.
At the end of one session I went up to Bob, having introduced myself in question time as running an education charity dedicated to, among other things, building critical thinking. I thanked him profusely, saying “You give me hope, every time.”
Bob turned to me, looked me in the eyes, and said “You give ME hope.”
I’m framing that and putting it on my office wall. We can’t afford to despair. Turning hope into action is how we fix this.
