When experts have 'just enough' expertise

Editor's note

This week we launch our new occasional series, Zoom Out. Here, we’ll feature authors exploring key ideas in science and technology, and considering the broader context of research in society and humanity.

In the first piece, Darrin Durrant discusses the role of experts in a democracy – should they be servants or partners? He argues it’s only when experts are seen as partners that a Goldilocks principle of “just enough” expertise is achieved.

Sarah Keenihan

Section Editor: Science + Technology

Science + Technology

Australia’s Prime Minister and Minister for Jobs and Innovation meet with scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Michael Chambers/AAP

Servant or partner? The role of expertise and knowledge in democracy

Darrin Durant, University of Melbourne

Plato suggested we leave complex things to experts and Aristotle suggested we leave them to the people. That tension has carried through to modern debates about where expertise belongs.

Wild leopards in the Indian city of Mumbai may be helping to save people’s lives. Steve Winter/National Geographic

Leopards in a city park in India may help lower human injuries and deaths from stray dog bites

Christopher O'Bryan, The University of Queensland; Alexander Richard Braczkowski, The University of Queensland

Wild leopards that live in an Indian city park like to dine on stray dogs, which new research says may help reduce the number of potentially deadly dog bites on people.

Health + Medicine

There are many reasons people have affairs. Alex Iby/Unsplash

It’s not just sex: why people have affairs, and how to deal with them

Gery Karantzas, Deakin University

An affair is generally a sign things aren't right with someone's relationship. It occurs when one person sees an alternative relationship as a better way to meet their needs than their existing one.

There are a few different types of stye – and if you’re in lots of pain you’ll know yours is the infected kind. from www.shutterstock.com

Health Check: what caused my stye and can I get rid of it?

James Armitage, Deakin University; Jacqueline Kirkman, Deakin University

The only way to prevent a stye is to keep your eyelids clean and free of grime that can block your glands.

Energy + Environment

Land clearing, as seen here in a property near St George, Queensland, does not trigger Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act. AAP

Why aren't Australia's environment laws preventing widespread land clearing?

Samantha Hepburn, Deakin University

Australia's federal environment laws are inadequate to halt Australia's alarming rates of land clearing and species loss. A more robust set of laws are urgently needed.

A building full of revolving doors? Ben McCarthy/Wikimedia Commons

Revealed: the extent of job-swapping between public servants and fossil fuel lobbyists

Adam Lucas, University of Wollongong

More than 180 individuals have moved between senior public service roles and the fossil fuel industry in Australia over the past decade - providing a golden escalator for former senior politicians.

Cities

When an ageing person is forced to move out of their family home, that can trigger a host of problems that policy is doing little to prevent. Diego Cervo/Shutterstock

For Australians to have the choice of growing old at home, here is what needs to change

Juliette Brodsky, RMIT University; Francis Grey, RMIT University; Sarah Sinclair, RMIT University

Millions of older Australians live in houses that don't safely meet their needs, but they're not ready for a nursing home. Lack of suitable housing and the moving costs leave them with nowhere to go.

The old pathways to home ownership have been displaced by more uncertain routes that waver between owning and renting. Glenn Hunt/AAP

Home ownership foundations are being shaken, and the impacts will be felt far and wide

Rachel Ong, Curtin University; Gavin Wood, RMIT University; Susan Smith, University of Cambridge

Increasingly insecure pathways to home ownership are not just a problem for property markets. The fallout is likely to hit retirement incomes, the welfare base, gender equity and the broader economy.

Education

Schooling should be about individual student needs and their pipelines to success, within a whole school approach to challenge sexism. Shutterstock

Sexism needs to be challenged in schools, not just workplaces

Deborah Towns, University of Melbourne

Australia is held back not only socially, but also economically by gender inequality, and it needs to be addressed in the classroom.

Brotherhood is produced by men with a sense of licence and tradition, and is sustained through particular rites of passage and rituals of abuse. Shutterstock

Hazing and sexual violence in Australian universities: we need to address men's cultures

Ben Wadham, Flinders University

Addressing male cultures of tribalism and violence needs to be central to the response to reports of hazing and violence in Austrslia's university colleges.

Podcast

Why did this woman, so devoted to her political cause and to her vision of a united France, chose to be burnt at the stake at the age of 19 instead of acquiescing to her judges’ directives? shutterstock.com

Essays On Air: Joan of Arc, our one true superhero

Ali Alizadeh, Monash University

Joan of Arc has been depicted as a national heroine, nationalist symbol, a rebellious heretic and a goodly saint. Forget Wonder Woman and Batman – Jeanne d’Arc may be our one and only true superhero.

Politics + Society

Gender equality does not mean pretending that ‘male’ and ‘female’ do not exist. Shutterstock

To achieve gender equality, we must first tackle our unconscious biases

Beatrice Alba, La Trobe University

Equal rights are not enough. Inequality exists in our minds, in our biases and prejudices, and that remains to be fixed.

The NRL’s controversial salary cap has clearly played a role in keeping the league so equal. AAP/Craig Golding

The NRL’s unrivalled equality means back-to-back premierships are very rare

Stephen Woodcock, University of Technology Sydney

There is no major sporting competition in the world that has enjoyed such a run without crowning back-to-back champions as the NRL.

Business + Economy

Donald Trump has announced import tariffs on steel and aluminium. Shutterstock

Why Trump's tariffs will have little impact on Australia and a trade war is unlikely

Tony Makin, Griffith University

Trump's tariffs will have only a small impact on the Australian economy, as Australia isn't a large exporter of steel or aluminium.

The government is still attempting to lower the corporate tax rate to compete globally. Ben Rushton/AAP

How the government can pay for its proposed company tax cuts

David Ingles, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Miranda Stewart, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

A cut in the Australian company tax rate to 25 or even 20% is important because it will attract foreign investment, boosting wages and the economy in Australia

Arts + Culture

Deadly Woman Blues by Clinton Walker was pulled from circulation after various factual errors were revealed. NewSouth Publishing

What writers and publishers must learn from the Deadly Woman Blues fiasco

Aaron Corn, University of Adelaide; Marcia Langton, University of Melbourne

Clinton Walker's Deadly Woman Blues was a missed opportunity and a lesson in how not to tell other people's stories.

Detail from Caravaggio’s Mary Magdelene, painted circa 1594-1596. Wikimedia Commons

Friday essay: who was Mary Magdalene? Debunking the myth of the penitent prostitute

Dorothy Ann Lee, University of Divinity

For centuries, Mary Magdalene was wrongly depicted as a repentant whore, diminishing her vital role as witness to the resurrection. A new film portraying her life does much to restore her character.