A Word from the Director

Professor Allan Snyder

Director, Centre for the Mind

Creativity is a magical human quality, so alluring and so mysterious and so quintessentially human that we, at the Centre for the Mind, were compelled to use creativity as our theme for 1998 and 1999. Of course, like other fundamental concepts, creativity has tantalised the imagination of great thinkers throughout the millennia but like a kaleidoscope you can turn this subject around, turn it again, and again, and yet you always see something refreshingly new; something uniquely shaped by the observer. We at the Centre have been turning that kaleidoscope, first by commissioning renowned author and neurobiologist Oliver Sacks and philosopher and writer of acclaim Daniel Dennett to address this topic publicly through our Distinguished Fellow Lecture Series and then through our own research exploring the consequences of the extraordinary skills innate to autistic savants. Later this year we will delve into this even further by way of our 'Savants, Prodigies and Genius' event.

Dream of Australia

'Australia Unlimited' Round Table

The Director of the Centre participated in several national and international conferences during 1998. One of these was ëAustralia Unlimitedí: a Round Table meeting co-hosted by The Global Foundation and The Australian. The events provided an opportunity for a wide cross-section of the community to discuss Australiaís long term future, and to hear presentations from a variety of sources, including the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowan and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

Professor Snyder presented A Dream of an Australia that Exudes Creativity during a session on Imagining the Australian Future with Dr Margaret Seares, Reverend Peter Hollingworth, Professor Mary Kalantzis, Noel Pearson and Misha Schubert.

Professor Snyder's presentation concentrated on the need for Australia to be perceived by others as innovators. "Only those societies that are perceived to be creative are the ones that will corner the market. This is our potential vulnerability and the challenge is to confront it head-on: we must break the mindset of those countries who wrongly perceive Australia to be a place of only minerals, beaches and sportsÖBut to do so we need bold, even daring, Australian initiatives to catapult us into the arena of global innovation."

Mind, Body, Performance

The Inaugural Edwin Flack Lecture

Professor Snyder was invited by the Australian Olympic Committee to present the inaugural Edwin Flack lecture, ìan exploration of mind, body and society, especially as it relates to sportî. This lecture will become a permanent component of Olympic Week and it is soon to be published by the International Olympic Review. (Copies of the lecture are available from the Centre.)

Professor Snyderís lecture in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney was titled Mind, Body, Performance, and he took this opportunity to build on the ideas espoused at the Australia Unlimited Round Table and propose the Centreís own daring initiative to break the mindset that other countries may have about us.

Professor Snyder proposed that Australia mastermind a permanent intellectual component into the Olympic movement: a grand synthesis of ìwhat it takes to be a championî in sport and across other disciplines. This challenge has been warmly received around the country. The Prime Minister has issued a personal statement of support for the venture and the Centre for the Mind is working with the University of Sydney, the Australian National University, the Australian Olympic Committee, the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Institute of Sport and Government to ensure this idea becomes reality.

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