Opinion
Different people have different strengths and weaknesses. The old and the young tend to differ too, and universities are perfectly positioned to leverage the strengths of both groups, and minimize potential blind spots.
One of the most important talents that develops via a life of learning, is that of ‘valuation’, knowing what is valuable, and what is just a distraction.
Experts on programs like ‘Antiques Road Show’ are good at this. It all depends on deep knowledge and wisdom, and being able to read tiny snippets of evidence.
Valuation is very important in science too. One of the most remarkable things about discovery science is that it centres on the unknown. You have to choose a path into the unknown, with very little evidence. I am always amazed at how some scientists just seem to know where the gold nuggets are hidden, and take the right paths repeatedly.
On the other hand, as soon as scientists, or any of us, chooses a path, then the path leads us, and our experiences on that path shape us, and we tend to become rather attached to the path. As Crick said, “by the time most scientists have reached age thirty they are trapped by their own expertise”. This can be highly problematic when the path starts leading us the wrong way.
Many things in science and in management are done because of tradition, rather than because of value. When the Emperor had no clothes, it was hard for him to admit it and it would have been rude, disloyal and perhaps dangerous, for his ministers to admit it.
Thus, the old guard often finds it very hard to change, even when change is needed.
In the story it is a child who exposes the folly. The young are less beholden to traditions, have less prestige or power to lose, and they are not yet bound by decades long bonds of loyalty.
The young can bring new perspectives and bust old rituals and bureaucracies. They are often hungry for the newest paths because these represent new opportunities, and they throw little way and lose little by adopting new paths.
The young have had key roles in many of the greatest revolutions in history.
They were important in the Reformation, the French Revolution, the Cultural Revolution, and also in the Civil Rights Movements, and the Prague and Arab Spring events. Recently the young have been prominent in advocating for a Voice to Parliament and for an end to suffering in Palestine.
While the young can see some things more clearly than the old, one also sees evidence of extreme beliefs and accompanying cruelty, when new ideologies are born, and when society embarks upon new paths.
Here the wisdom of the jaded elders, who like my favourite character from Animal Farm, Benjamin the donkey, who have seen it all before, can intercede, not to strip the revolutions of all their power but to temper them and reduce the unintended damage that sometimes comes from enthusiasm.
Australia is in some ways a very old country and in others a very young country.
We have the opportunity to take new paths, and we should be mindful of old knowledge too. Our university sector is splendid in that it educates more than a million Australian students and around half as many visitors. It operates with standards and quality that is equal to anywhere in the world.
Universities have an important role in being a place where young and old meet.
And I believe we have many wise leaders at our universities, who do their utmost to manage the challenges involved in the clash between young and new ideas.
I also think that our system allows something that is not talked about enough – two way learning. At universities students learn from staff, but staff also learn from students. It has always been thus. I am a great supporter of the student voice, including student surveys for that matter, and am always horrified when people oppose or attempt to undermine the validity of the student voice.
All people are equal, but no two people are the same, and managing a society rich in diversity will always be challenging. Universities represent a special place where different individuals and different groups of people come together. The exchanges of ideas can be challenging but I think in Australia we handle these things well and the flow of ideas enriches us.
One just hopes that one day this will be recognized more, and Australia will move passed the headlines and will treasure institutions that have such critical roles, not just in advancing science, and sovereign capability in health and defence, but also in shepherding society along a path that equates to progress for all.
Professor Merlin Crossley is DVC Academic Quality at UNSW