Tom Jagtenberg

The Counting (Cilento Publishing, 2020, 33 pages)

This story may be set in the future, but its themes are very contemporary, and a welcome relief from the optimistic diatribes of large corporations and politicians. We need more dystopian narratives like Evan’s. The Coun...

One of the most valuable principles to have emerged from the 130-year history of sociology as an academic discipline concerns a causal relationship between ideas and their social contexts of production - or in modern terms, there is a causal relationship between social...

If orchids could speak what would they say?

Would they, exuding pheromones, sound like teenagers in heat, or other animals in must? Would they be fashion conscious, like humans, and speak of the latest insect fashions, and their own haute couture - matching this moth, o...

Telling one’s own story has become recognised as therapeutic – particularly in the context of ageing and palliative care. Indeed, older people can be extremely interesting and inspirational. This was recognised as early as 1961: ‘Far from living in the past or wanderin...

Some survey findings should really make politicians sit back and take note – particularly when they concern farmers’ observations and beliefs. After climate scientists there are few groups whose opinions are more influential about climate change than farmers - because...

Donald Rumsfeld, when he was US Secretary of State for Defence, once famously stated: ‘There are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown u...

When Australia’s Chief Scientist presents his considered view on the future of artificial intelligence in Australia it is worth paying very close attention. In his opinion piece in the weekend SMH, Allen Finkel is very clear about the key issues and, by inference, very...

The recent theft and misuse of personal data by Cambridge Analytica and Facebook has stimulated public outrage about loss of ‘privacy’. The outrage may be real, but concerns about privacy need to be examined more closely because privacy is such a fundamental aspect of...

The sound of growing economies is deafening. So complete is the fascination of the roar of money to Australian politicians that they are mostly oblivious to the signs of an impending global meltdown. Ignoring the growing intensity of bushfires is one thing, however, ad...

The declaration of a new age or era is a popular tactic for those keen to make the invisible visible and promote change; this tactic works in all cultures. Naming things is not simply a symbolic act; well-chosen names are deeply somatic in their effects. Hopefully this...