Truth-seeking is of fundamental importance for the human mind because it enables individuals to understand the world, develop critical thinking, foster intellectual humility, cultivate curiosity, and promote personal growth and self-awareness.
The pursuit of truth is also essential for the functioning of democratic societies, as it allows citizens to make informed decisions about their leaders, policies, and institutions.
Universities have traditionally been regarded as “temples of truth” because they have been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.
High-quality universities that offer a genuine education have never been more vital. This is because they play a critical role in enabling society to govern the development and deployment of artificial intelligence.
Good universities are therefore of fundamental importance for the survival of democratic societies. Australian universities are currently experiencing what some consider the biggest crisis in their history because their purpose has changed from providing higher education as a common good to generating income through international student fees.
As a consequence, many universities are now managed by administrators who lack expertise in core academic functions, yet command high salaries in line with their new priorities. This development is detrimental to a university’s role in society, as these overpaid managers often are out of their depth but full of themselves, thereby lacking the qualities that make a great academic leader who enjoys broad-based collegiate support from faculty and staff.
In addition, universities that have been repurposed to generate income attract individuals who create a culture in which predominantly psychopathic personalities thrive. I recall one description by an observer that has stuck with me:
“Our Australian universities are infested with parasites who engage in a feeding frenzy, lining their pockets, exploiting staff and students for personal gain, and effectively draining the lifeblood from our institutions, leaving behind an empty shell.”
This statement does not include an aspect which I have highlighted in my submission to the Australian Attorney General:
The adherence to academic standards must include a university’s legal team or it will be at a high risk of functioning as an enabler and facilitator of serious management misconduct. This concern is very real as colleagues and I have collected numerous examples which document that failing university managers have learned to use the tax payers’ and students’ money to cover their tracks by eliminating critics with the help of university lawyers and covering their misconduct-related legal costs by effectively misappropriating university funds. It goes without saying that some long-term managers also consider a university their personal fiefdom which is only possible if academic values and principles have been lost.
The general public appears to be largely uninformed about these serious issues, as journalism has undergone a significant transformation not only in Australia and is increasingly being supplanted by social media, where informed and critical discussion is more the exception than the norm.
To be continued