The second is a significant part of the lives of many of us, but in recent decades has been in decline punctuated with the news that Australia’s birth rate fell to a record low in the year 2020. [...] 8 Institute of Public Affairs www.ipa.org.au The rise of the smartphone offers a new risk of lost practice in the empathic arts - listening to others, not just the content but the tone and delivery. [...] 21 Institute of Public Affairs www.ipa.org.au Character, Virtue, and Self-reliance Educationalist and former teacher Kevin Donnelly believes the decline in the study of the classics in favour of more practical learning means children are less exposed to the grand narratives of our civilisation, be it the importance of Christianity or the sacred quality of individual. [...] Overcoming the loss of self-reliance requires ending the dependency feedback loop of a society which encourages safetyism, gratification from the smart phone, and the avoidance of all risk, which has the effect of creating psychological fragility and an inability to deal with the vagaries and challenges of life, which then creates more demand for even greater ‘protections. [...] But he also warns that prosperity speeds the flow of this novelty and it is occurring in parallel to the decline of what he calls commitment devices, the scaffolding that families, communities and social stigma used to provide in moderating the ravages of such disruption.
- Pages
- 28
- Published in
- Australia
