We are all searching for answers – that is the very point of asking questions. Specifically, our quest for answers comes down to a quest for meaning. Finding meaning in the absurd, the ecstasy, the tragic, the triumphs of life is often a challenging and perilous journey. Indeed, Cheryl Strayed walked more than 1.100 miles to make meaning of her life and experiences. Is the search ever complete? Have any of you reached a place of fulfilment, and if so, how, when and where did you find it?

How many times have you heard, ‘I wish it was a long weekend EVERY weekend…’ after a public holiday?? Australia has one of the highest rates of unpaid overtime in the western world. In a globally competitive, free-market (rat) race to make a living, are we forgetting to make a life for ourselves? Could a four day week be the ticket to improve our relationships, our mental health and our ability to find meaning and purpose in our lives? How would our economy react if we all collectively agreed to work less?

Like many others, my husband and I are increasingly convinced that living like this is the best thing we can do for the planet. However, I recently read an article that spoke of the many who believe the opposite. They argue that developing increasingly sophisticated technologies, such as higher levels of artificial intelligence, is the best solution to most, if not all, of our problems – and they have the money and power to make these technologies reality. The article also posited the question, ‘Would I want a future foisted upon me by [Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc] Andreessen and his fellow founders?’ This prospect frightens me – as it would many others. Can we resist this vision of the future?

I’m fascinated by moral integrity, greed and art. I also have mixed feelings about didacticism, especially in art. My question stems from a recent ethics forum centred on Art and Ethics where an esteemed ethicist provoked the audience with the statement that the only ethical art was one that instructed or commented on Climate Change (and/or social inequality).

How much is the mental health epidemic due to lack of meaning in contemporary society?
Why are there so many bored people resorting to (legal/illegal) drugs nowadays?
How can we expect people to think and make good decisions in times of crisis (eg.bushfire) when they have little experience of thinking and making decisions in every day life?
Individuals grow and develop when having the opportunity to work out problems with others.

How is it that humans can experience such strong, conflicting, emotions at once? Does everyone experience this? Is it possible to pay attention to just one?

We have laws, law enforcement bodies, military defence resources, and humanitarian organisations sponsored by Government. Why don’t we just let them do their job without political meddling? If the public don’t agree, political parties can suggest change as part of an election platform and we can vote for it.

It always surprises me how few Australians have seen their country or met people from other parts of it. If we were compelled to make better connections with people from different backgrounds and situations, would we have a better understanding of Australian-ness?

This is the elephant in the room whenever the question of vaccine safety is discussed on public media.
I that people who are coerced into vaccination by public campaigns have the right to know accurate information about the safety and effectiveness of vaccination.

Children belong with their parents and we must always have screening of refugees. This has a potential for another ‘stolen generation’

It’s a global issue and no country has found a workable answer.

I’m a journalism student, and I’m sick of being asked to respond to the notion of a ‘brand’. I even had Fairfax present a curriculum as part of my course which spent a week on “brand building”. I find this insufferable, and I’d like to see how other current practitioners and other students feel about this notion. Obviously, change is inevitable, but to what extent are journalists performers, too?