VANTAGE – Issue 2 Summer 2025

Celebrating the Diversity of Viewpoints

ISSUE 2 / SUMMER 2025

VANTAGE

VANTAGE A position or condition of place affording advantage or a unique view.

Vantage is an academic liberal arts magazine dedicated to celebrating diverse perspectives. We serve as a platform for inquiry, critical debate, and intellectual empowerment. Our publication welcomes submissions across a wide range of disciplines, including history, philosophy, geography, psychology, literature, economics, politics, and the arts.

Editors: Annabel Behrens, Clemmie Dawson, Stephanie Lo, Cici Royde Marketing: Charlotte Tseng, Sammi Tsui Outreach: Flora Bishop, Elsa He, Katrina Kadir, Georgie Millet, Ophelia O’Brien, Sophie Wu Design by Iris Deng

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We would like to thank Mrs. Reading, Ms. Bailey, Mr. Myatt, Ms. Jessica Hobbs, Madeline Warnes and the marketing team for their invaluable support in the making of this edition.

EDITORS IN CHIEF Alina Huang

Iris Deng

My name is Alina, and I’m from Suzhou, China. My academic passion lies in exploring the intersection between technology, as a new actor in society, and the ways in which it affects existing social imbalances. I am committed to using research, policy analysis, and advocacy to create systematic solutions to the most urgent and pressing issues of our time.

Hi everyone, I’m Iris! I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and joined Benenden in 2019. I’ve never really been able to decide what I enjoy most, as shown in my A Level choices of Economics, Latin, Maths and Philosophy. (I initially took Chemistry but switched to Latin). I love thinking about links between my subjects and have recently been exploring ethics and morality, looking at how society has changed and how it might change, with the rapidly evolving socio-economic landscape. Aside from school, I like boxing, sleeping outrageously early, and reading.

The vision I have behind Vantage is to create a place where ideas can be exchanged, challenged, and presented. My understanding of history was transformed when I discovered a sharp contradiction between the Chinese sources from my upbringing and the Western narratives I encountered through my education.

This conflict centred on the Xilin Church Incident, in which the execution of a French missionary in China was used to justify the Second Opium War. Chinese accounts described the missionary as part of an illegal cultural invasion and alleged that he had committed crimes in China—claims used to justify his execution.

However, most Western sources condemned China for demonising their martyr.

To uncover the truth, I conducted extensive interviews with local citizens, scholars, and marginalised Catholics —descendants of the missionary’s community.

Throughout this process, I encountered contradictory beliefs and evidence from both perspectives. By critically examining historical sources and delving into research, I began to recognise how much I had overlooked when confined to a single point of view.

I ultimately realised that sometimes the “truth” doesn’t matter. There are only perspectives, shaped by cultural biases and national interests. The execution of Chapdelaine became a symbol manipulated by both sides to serve their own agendas, tragically leading to war and untold suffering.

Exposure to a perspective that challenged my own allowed me to step back and analyse the event within a broader geopolitical contex: one shaped by global power dynamics and deep-seated political tensions. I now view this event from a third standpoint—one that steps away from the clash of narratives and observes them from a distance.

This is what makes Vantage so vital: a platform where readers can engage in the same spirit of investigation, embracing deeper inquiry, continuous learning, and meaningful reflection. It is a space for readers and writers to challenge, educate, and empower one another, fostering a richer, more nuanced understanding of the world.

My idea for Vantage started with a book. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I read it at a point in my life when I was starting to question what it really means to be a person — what makes us who we are, and how much of that is truly ours to define. The slow unravelling of that story, the quiet dignity of its characters, and the devastating way their identities were shaped by what was kept from them left me wondering: What do we lose when we forget that every life is singular, irreplaceable?

What struck me most wasn’t just the characters’ identities — it was how differently the world looked depending on who was allowed to tell the story.

Later, I read When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Here was a man who moved through the world as both doctor and patient, scientist and poet, someone whose identity was constantly refracted through circumstance. What struck me most wasn’t just his intellect or courage, but how perspective itself became his lifeline. As his world narrowed, his lens widened. He didn’t try to generalise or offer wisdom in the face of death; instead, he stayed with the complexity of his own experience, the beauty, the pain, the contradictions. He did not speak for everyone; he spoke for what was wholly, completely his. His story makes a quiet, powerful argument for the uniqueness of every human life.

Even when life contracts, even when clarity fades, perspective remains. And often, it’s in those quiet, difficult, or overlooked places where the most vital points of view live.

Vantage was born from that belief. Out of a need to make space for the many ways people see, especially those that aren’t always centred, those that live in between categories. What one person notices, another might overlook; what feels ordinary to some might feel extraordinary to others. This difference, the utterly unique way each of us views the world, is one of the truest expressions of our humanity.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for seeing.

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CONTENTS 3

EDITORIAL

THE ARTS 21 Shadowed Flowers

INTERVIEW

6 From Her Direction Ms. Jessica Hobbs talks about the importance of a female perspective in a male dominated field.

CURRENT

8 Kepler’s Science from Faith Marissa Hammond reveals the connection between theology and astronomy through the work of Johannes Kepler.

10 Don’t be SAD? It’s Not That Simple.

Natalie So weaves personal experience with external factors to understand Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

12 The Science & Philosophy of

Dorothy Lo reflects on the fading tradition of Jianzhi, the Chinese art of paper cutting, urging its preservation through personal, hands-on creation.

22 Peaches Angela Wang’s oil painting symbolises how truth goes beyond surface impressions.

24 Perspectives on Photography Mr. Benjamin Myatt reflects on the beauty of photography as the art of capturing a singular fleeting moment.

26 Kendrick Lamar’s NFL Halftime Show Karl Chu (Taipei American School) explains how Lamar’s politically charged performance is a sign of a polarising United States.

Immortality

Melanie Chow explores the concept of immortality through science and philosophy.

14 Invisible Injustice Alina Huang reveals how AI exploits the marginalised and why regulation must act first.

17 Leading From a Young Age Mr. Christopher Waters traces the journey of leadership from adolescence to adulthood.

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OPINION 29 Role of Investment Banks in the Rise of Digital Currencies Stephanie Wang argues that investment banks are not essential to digital currencies.

31 Do We Have Any Good Reason to Trust Our Moral Intuition?

Alida Chan’s (Tonbridge School) essay received “Very High Commendation” in the John Locke Global Essay Prize 2024.

34 Russia’s Use of Social Media to Undermine Western Democracy Ebba Thomas reveals Russia’s use of social media to manipulate public opinion.

36 The Individual Impact of Business Legislation Tami Bankole explores the evolution of legislation in shaping societies.

LITERATURE 38 Whose Story is it Anyway?

Katrina Kadir examines how Daisy Jones & The Six uses perspectives to explore identity, memory, and the elusive nature of truth.

39 Take the Advantage Part II Kristen Wong expresses the fear and liberation of choosing a different life.

42 Break the Advantage

CULTURE 43 Qing Dynasty Queue Mandate Cadence Ho argues that the mandate is contested, balancing natural law’s rejection and legal positivism’s acceptance.

46 Three Forgotten Women Who Helped Shape Roman History Madeline Warnes (Leaver 2024) gives a presentation at the Benenden Classics Symposium.

REDEFINE 48 AI: A Reflection of Humanity’s Best and Worst Ayanfe Afolabi responds to The Impact on AI on Humans by Charlotte Tseng, winning the first REDEFINE Challenge.

49 Contributors

Toni Fasina delves into the grip of trauma and the search for hope amid isolation and self-doubt.

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From Her Direction Ms. Jessica Hobbs is an Emmy-winning director best known for her work on The Crown, where she directed the acclaimed Season 4 finale “War.” Originally from New Zealand, she made history as one of the first women to win the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.

Ophelia: How would you depict your journey to becoming a director?

J.Hobbs: I began by gaining a traineeship through the New Zealand Film Commission, where they were offering opportunities for women to enter the film industry for jobs that weren't traditionally done by women at that time. I could choose between the camera department, editing or assistant directing. I chose assistant directing. But in order to get that, I had to find a producer who would agree to take me on board as a part of their scheme. I then continued to work as a crew member and as an assistant director for a number of years when I started making short films.

The first short film I made was through the Arts Council in New Zealand where you could apply for a grant, and I got enough money to make a short film. Once that film was successful enough that the New Zealand Film Commission offered to sell it, I started to make some money from that, which enabled me to do more work. I then started to seek directing opportunities.

Once I got a good enough portfolio, I was then able to get a break in television. I did try going through the more traditional route of going to a film school, the National Film School in Australia. However, when I first applied, I didn't have enough experience, and then I reapplied about six years later and I had done so much by then that they wanted me to wait and apply for the master's programme the next year, but that didn't seem like the right thing for me. But it did almost catapult me into asking the producer I was working with at the time whether he would give me a break!

Ophelia: What is one way being a woman has caused disadvantages in your profession?

J.Hobbs: I wouldn't say that being a woman is a disadvantage in my profession. I would say that, particularly when I was younger, it was perhaps more challenging, and I think sometimes people struggle to naturally think of women in leadership positions. I think that's been changing for a long time, but in film and television, you oversee large numbers of people, very big budgets and quite unknown outcomes. It's never a guarantee that the creative process is going to lead to something that's commercially successful, so you have to be very confident in the way that you present.But at the same time, I didn't want to present as someone I wasn't. I'm someone who isn't always sure and likes to discover things as they go along. And I needed to have confidence.

I think there's a natural confidence in men leading those big charges and campaigns, and so sometimes you have to work to reassure people and convince people that that you have the ability to be that kind of leader as a woman.

Ophelia: How important do you believe it is to increase the number of women in male-dominated fields such as yours?

J.Hobbs: Hugely, it's a really big thing for me. I would love to see those numbers change and increase. I think one of the other less spoken about issues is that, as a woman, you can do a lot when you're younger and then if you choose to have children, it's not a very family friendly industry.

Ophelia: What is the one thing that has helped you overcome the challenges you’ve faced to become as successful as you have become?

J.Hobbs: I think, I've had to become confident in not knowing the creative outcome but believing in the artistic endeavour. That's really been the biggest thing for me. If you have belief in the artistic endeavour, and can take everyone along with it, then I think you have a greater chance of being successful. It's not about presenting yourself as confident, but it's about being confident about what you're trying to achieve.

Ophelia: What is one activity young people can get involved in to pursue directing?

J.Hobbs: You can come from any kind of direction, Fine Arts, graphics, music, drama. You could come from English literature or from politics. Even coming from a sciences background. The important thing is, if you're interested in directing as a young person, think about what kind of stories are important to you. What are the kind of things that you would like to see on screen? What is really meaningful to you and specific to your experience? I would make something around that. Even with just a phone, you can make anything, you can make enough of a short film that it can be screened in places and people can watch. So don't underestimate the technology that you have available to you at all times. It's really about the idea and what you've got to say.

Ophelia: What is one message you would give to young women entering male dominated professions?

J.Hobbs: Have courage and self-belief. I think all that we have to offer from a feminine perspective is incredibly important for the world.

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Kepler’s Science from Faith Marissa Hammond reveals the connection between theology and astronomy through the work of Johannes Kepler.

Famed for his laws of planetary motion amongst other discoveries, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)[1], held a deep Christian faith, intimately related to his science. Here, we investigate the nature of this relationship, outlining the significant impacts of faith and philosophy on Kepler’s physics.

It is necessary to explore basic sixteenth-century Lutheran astronomy and theology in order to truly grasp the seeds from which Kepler’s own views took root. Kepler was a Lutheran Christian, with the earlier portion of his education being preparation for his entry into ministry.2 He was mentored

by Jacob Heerbrand during his university years, a former student of the famed Lutheran educational reformer Philip Melanchthon. Many of Melanchthon’s views were taught to students at Kepler’s university, chiefly due to his widespread impact on Lutheran educational institutions according to Barker and Goldstein in ‘Theological Foundations’, Lutheran universities were distinguished by Melanchthon’s ideas on natural philosophy. It can hence be concluded that this figure played a key role in Kepler’s education and, as later seen, largely influenced the development of his personal theology.[2] Melanchthon boasted keen interest in astrology, and his definitions of physics in ‘Initia doctrina physicae’ featured celestial influences, offering a basis upon which Lutherans could study said discipline.[3] He suggested that ‘once discovered, the laws of planetary motion could be recognised to be eternal truths inscribed on the soul by God’[2]. Here, he speaks with reference to a concept of Melanchthon’s called ‘the doctrine of natural light’ (intellect which provides access to knowledge which is engraved on one’s soul), something which later became a prominent belief amongst many Lutheran scientists in Kepler’s day.[4] The study of natural philosophy was viewed as a path to God and supposed that the providential order of the universe could be understood - God’s plan was knowable by man[2[. Kepler inherited this opinion and it consequentially underpinned his notion of science as a sacred profession, effectuating a positive attitude towards the material universe.[5]

[1] Westman, R. S. (2018). Johannes Kepler | Biography, Discoveries, & Facts. In Encyclopedia Britannica.

[2] Barker, Peter & Goldstein, Bernard. (2001). Theological Foundations of Kepler's Astronomy.

Osiris.

[3] ‘Initia doctrina physicae’ Philip Melanchthon [4] Barker, P., & Goldstein, B. R. (2001). Theological Foundations of Kepler’s Astronomy. Osiris, 16, 88–113.

[5] Kozhamthadam, J. (2002). The Religious Foundations of Kepler’s Science. Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, 58(4), 887–901.

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He wrote in detail regarding this view in Mysterium Cosmographicum, and claimed that the relation between God and His creation meant that both the Trinity and the universe had three distinct, inherently related parts.[8] A further example of a belief in the manifestation of God’s character in creation is seen through Kepler’s obsessive references to harmonies. He claimed that they were an integral part of the design of the universe, and that attempts to understand nature must take this into account.[5] They featured in most of Kepler’s writings, with Harmonies Mundi being a deep exploration of universe’s fundamental harmonies. In modern day science, concepts of symmetry are of frequent consideration, and Kepler had begun to successfully employ this in his works hundreds of years prior.

Kepler was a firm believer that Scripture and astronomy were harmonious, asserting that they were ‘collaborators not contenders’[5]. He believed that God was the very foundation of science, and viewed scientific discovery as a path to deepen one’s understanding of the Creator. Max Caspar, a renowned Kepler, surmises that ‘God is truth, and service to truth proceeds from Him and leads to Him. God is the beginning and end of scientific search and striving. Therein lies the keynote of Kepler’s thought, the basic motive of his purpose, the life giving soil of his feeling.’[6] In Di Liscia’s ‘Johannes Kepler’ it is reported that Kepler believed God to be the source of all his thoughts, a verdict which permeated a lot of his writings – many even opening and concluding with prayers.[7] It was his personal philosophy which led to a ‘God-guided’ point of view, being at ‘the root of his science, cosmology, … and philosophy of man’[5]. Thus, it is irrefutable that Kepler’s theology was the very essence of his physics, inseparable from his scientific principles and an unrivalled motivator of his works.

Kepler was a strong supporter of Copernicanism, and in ‘The Religious Foundations of Kepler’s Science’, Job Kozhamthadam argues that his readiness to embrace it was motivated not only by strong mathematical evidence, but by Kepler’s religious views.[5] He saw the heliocentric model as the ultimate reflection of God, aligning perfectly with His previously discussed ‘spherical nature’. Kepler saw marked correspondence between the motive nature of the sun and the creative nature of the Father, with Kozhamthadam noting ‘the unique place given to the sun… corresponded to the unique place God the Father occupies in the heavenly world’[5]. Kepler wrote a letter to his patron regarding this comparison, stating ‘the origin has precedence everywhere’ and that when this consideration is applied to the Trinity, ‘the centre refers to the image of God the Father. Hence, the centre of this material world-sphere should be adorned by… the sun’[9]. This clearly displays religious ideas driving Kepler’s enthusiastic acceptance of Copernicanism, a foundation upon which he discovered laws of planetary motion, and contributed towards the concept of force (‘It is Kepler, not Newton, who has to be credited with having suggested... falling bodies and the majestic sweep of the moon in its orbit)[10].

Kepler was convinced that creation was made in the image of God, and hence concluded that observations of the universe were indicative of His true nature.[5] Much of his science was built on a foundational belief that physics and astronomy were direct indicators of God’s character, and this principle gave rise to his conclusion that God was spherical. Spheres have three important qualities, and to Kepler this was a representation of the three persons of God, the Trinity; the centre of the sphere for the Father, the spherical surface for the Son, and the intermediate space for the Holy Spirit.[7]

In summary, the entirety of Kepler’s science was based upon faith, and this had positive and negative effects on his physics. Although it was the norm for scientists of his day to base their works upon Christianity, his were significantly more impacted than others. On one hand, conflating science with faith resulted in Kepler having a narrower view of cosmology and space than was helpful - his certainty and acceptance of ideas simply due to their spiritual metaphors is unscientific and likely to have restricted his intellectual potential. However, his was a prevalent attitude among scientists in the 17th century and it may not be appropriate to hold this inflexibility against him. It is apparent that without his faith, Kepler would not have made the significant leaps in astronomy he did. His attempts to prove Copernicanism and his contribution towards conceptualising force would not have come about without this staunch conviction of God-given duty as a physicist, his unshakable motivation. Thus, although there are many issues regarding attempts to merge philosophy and science into one entity, it is irrefutable that Kepler’s personal faith was pivotal in his discoveries.

[6] Casper, M. (1959) Kepler. New York: Collier Books.

[9] Kepler, J. (1605) Letter to Chancellor Georg Herwart Von Hohenburg

[7] Daniel. (2011, May 2). Johannes Kepler. Stanford.edu.

[10] Jammer, M. (2012). Concepts of Force. Courier Corporation.

[8] Kepler, J. (1981). The Secret of the Universe.

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Don’t Be SAD? It’s Not That Simple.

Natalie So weaves personal experience with external factors to understand Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Introduction Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is completely different from general depression. It follows a seasonal pattern, with depression that begins and ends during a specific season of the year (with full remittance during other seasons).[1] Unlike general depression, SAD symptoms fully resolve [2] once the affected season is over.

As someone from Hong Kong, I had never been affected by SAD until I began studying in the UK. The symptoms were so similar, I even started to believe I had depression - until a year ago when a friend told me that my sudden waves of sadness could simply be explained with SAD. This article not only aims to explore the psychological and geographical factors contributing to SAD; but as a patient myself, I also aim to raise awareness of this often overlooked disorder and provide coping mechanisms to those who may be struggling.

Personality and Psychological Factors As a patient myself, I have noticed that people with specific traits are more vulnerable to SAD. One such trait is introversion. Introverted individuals, myself included, are less inclined to socialise frequently and more likely to stay indoors. During the winter, they are more likely to lack sunlight due to the short daytime, leading to lower Vitamin D levels, a factor normally linked to depression and SAD. While not all introverts avoid outdoor activities, there is a general tendency towards reduced sunlight exposure.

Overthinking is another psychological factor. During winter, with fewer opportunities to engage in outdoor activities during winter, people tend to stay indoors most of the time, allowing room for their thoughts to expand, especially during this season. This makes them more prone to SAD, as there are limited activities to stop their overwhelming thoughts.

Lastly, gender also plays a significant role. Research claims that seasonal affective disorder occurs four times more often in women than in men. [3] This aligns with my personal experience: my mother struggles with SAD despite living in the relatively sunny climate of Hong Kong, which is very uncommon.

Environmental Factors It is a known fact that SAD is more prevalent in colder areas and higher latitudes. For example, my SAD symptoms only began after coming to the UK. Why is that?

In colder areas, shorter daylight hours during winter reduce sunlight exposure. According to Melrose (2025), “sunlight plays a critical role in the decreased serotonin activity, increased melatonin production, disrupted circadian rhythms, and low levels of Vitamin D associated with symptoms of SAD”. Reduced serotonin activity is linked to many psychological issues such as depressed mood insomnia, sleep and metabolism, [4]which all contribute a large amount to mental health.

Considering that serotonin activity regulates mood, reduced sunlight exposure during winter leads to lower serotonin levels, increasing the likelihood of developing SAD. Unlike depression, which normally requires an extended period of time to recover, SAD symptoms often resolve after the coldest seasons have passed.

Moreover, winter is more likely to disrupt sleeping patterns and dietary habits. For instance, I tend to sleep earlier and wake up later compared to summer times. The same might apply to most people -- Assessments of subjective sleep length over the year suggest a substantially longer sleep period during winter. [5]Reduced exposure to natural sunlight during the winter disrupts the body’s Circadian Rhythm, which is the internal clock that regulates alertness and sleepiness.

Disordered sleep is also strongly associated with depression, and maintaining a regular sleep cycle becomes harder during the colder seasons.

[1] Melrose, S. (2015). Seasonal Affective Disorder: An Overview of Assessment and Treatment Approaches. Depression Research and Treatment, [online] 2015(1) [2] Lam, R.W., Tam, E.M., Yatham, L.N., Shiah, I-Shin. and Zis, A.P. (2001). Seasonal depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 63(1-3), pp.123–132.

[3] Melrose, S. (2015). Seasonal Affective Disorder: An Overview of Assessment and Treatment Approaches. Depression Research and Treatment, [online] 2015(1), pp.1–6.

[4] Moyer, N.L. (2018). Serotonin Deficiency: What We Do and Don’t Know. [online] Healthline.

[5] Seidler, A., Weihrich, K.S., Bes, F., de Zeeuw, J. and Kunz, D. (2023). Seasonality of human sleep: Polysomnographic data of a neuropsychiatric sleep clinic. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17.

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It is also worth mentioning that SAD is more common in urban areas compared to rural regions. This is because exposure to artificial light right before sleep suppresses melatonin [6]. Since lack of sleep is a major symptom of depression, artificial light exposure further increases the risk of developing SAD. Interaction Between Psychological and Environmental Factors Psychological and geological factors respond to each other in complex ways when it comes to SAD. For example, when I travel, jetlag disrupts my sleep schedule and causes me to sleep less. Sleep deprivation decreases serotonin and melatonin production, increasing my vulnerability to mental issues – in my case, SAD. At the same time, my introverted and overthinking tendencies also play a role. During the dark, cold winters in the UK, it becomes harder to go out and socialise with people, especially in a boarding school environment, leading to overthinking and isolation. Without these environmental triggers, I may not have had SAD despite being at high risk psychologically.

It’s hard to pinpoint a main reason for my condition, but it is clear that both psychological and environmental factors interact to shape my experiences with SAD.

Coping Mechanisms Since the two primary causes for SAD are reduced sunlight and lack of sleep, addressing these factors can help alleviate symptoms.

For sunlight exposure, taking regular walks or engaging in outdoor exercises can increase exposure to sunlight.

Personally, this has been an effective strategy for me to boost my mood.

To improve sleep quality, a comfortable and quiet sleeping environment is essential. Noise-cancelling headphones and lamps helped me maintain a better sleep schedule.

Conclusion It is certain that both geographical and psychological factors are deeply interconnected and contribute significantly to the development of SAD. While SAD is most common in colder regions, it is also completely possible to have uncommon conditions like experiencing it in warmer areas or during summertime, which is more likely when both environmental and psychological factors are involved.

In a world where mental health is often overlooked, understanding SAD from multiple perspectives is crucial, not only for those who may be affected by it but also for those supporting them.

[6] Gerretsen, I. (n.d.). How the seasons change our sleep. [online]

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The Science & Philosophy of Immortality Melanie Chow explores the concept of immortality through science and philosophy.

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Introduction What if death was no longer inevitable?

What if it became optional, and humans could choose to live forever? Throughout human history, the desire to overcome mortality has remained unchanged, driven by factors ranging from the fear of death to the search for meaning in life.

As advancements in medicine, biotechnology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) accelerate, the once-unthinkable idea of extending human life, or even eliminating death, has shifted towards the domain of possibility. While medicine seeks to extend life through physical, chemical and biological means, philosophy questions the implications, exploring existential, ethical and metaphysical concerns. If death were no longer inevitable, would life still hold meaning? Would immortality be a blessing or a curse? This essay explores the intersection of medical advancements and philosophical perspectives on immortality, examining how different viewpoints shape our understanding of life and death.

[1] Wikipedia. (2019). Life expectancy. [online]

The exponential growth of technology over time For most of human history, progress was slow and gradual. For tens of thousands of years, early humans lived primarily as hunters and fishermen in small groups and communities. It wasn’t until around twelve thousand years ago that the Agricultural Revolution allowed people to grow crops, enabling larger populations and more complex societies.

Even with this major advancement, life expectancy remained relatively stagnant for thousands of years.

The Industrial Revolution marked a turning point. Breakthroughs in medicine and technology, such as the development of vaccines, antibiotics and painkillers, meant that more people could survive diseases that had previously been fatal.

By the 20th century, medical advancements like chemotherapy, organ transplants and even 3D printing organs pushed life expectancy further, up to an average of nearly 80 years.[1]

Today, progress is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. With the help of AI, scientists have now found the root causes of aging itself, and they believe it may be possible to slow down or even reverse the aging process by repairing damaged cells and reengineering human biology.

Immortality and the meaning of life Would life still feel meaningful if it never ended? For many, the knowledge that life is short and finite motivates us to make the most out of our time. If we knew we had forever, would we lose the motivation to keep striving, or would endless time open new possibilities for growth and achievement?

The ancient Greek myth of Tithonus describes a man whose wife, Eos, the goddess of dawn, begged Zeus to grant her human lover immortality so they could spend eternity together. However, she forgot to request eternal youth. As a result, Tithonus aged endlessly but was unable to die, enduring endless suffering and ultimately begging for death.[2] Even if science granted us eternal youth, would we eventually grow bored of life and suffer from existential fatigue after living for centuries or millennia?

There are also societal implications. If everyone were granted eternal youth, would older generations like teachers or politicians cling to their positions indefinitely, leaving no room for new generations to take over? Alternatively, if diseases were eliminated and living with loved ones in good health for a very long time became a possibility, how might this change us? Would we take better care of our planet if we knew we would be around longer, or would it cultivate recklessness and selfishness?

Perspectives on death Modern science frames death as a “technical problem” that can be delayed or even prevented through medical achievements (e.g. cancer) or better safety measures (e.g. against a car accident). This materialistic view reflects how modern science reduces death to a biological process governed by the laws of cause and effect.

If immortality became a reality, our understanding of life and death would drastically change. On one hand, eliminating death could remove the immediacy that comes with the knowledge that our time is limited and

[2] Wikipedia. (2020). Tithonus [3] Harari, Y.N. (2015). Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. New York, NY: Harper Perennial

gives life its intensity and meaning, potentially leading to a loss of motivation and confusion about life’s purpose. On the other hand, it could provide individuals with more time to pursue their passions and interests, motivating them to accomplish great feats, contribute more to society, and continuously evolve.

Conclusion The prospect of immortality represents one of humanity’s main aspirations, closer to reality due to advancements in biotechnology and AI. As science continues to push the boundaries of what is possible, the prospect of slowing down or even reversing ageing raises profound philosophical and ethical questions, leaving questions about the nature of life and the meaning of existence unanswered. Ultimately, the question is not just whether we can achieve immortality, but whether eternal life would still be worth living, and whether it would be a blessing or a curse. As we stand on the brink of these transformative possibilities, the diversity of perspectives invites us to reflect on how immortality might shape our values, relationships and the very meaning of life itself. [3]

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INVISIBLE INJUSTICE How AI Exploits the Marginalised and Why Regulation Must Act First Alina Huang explores how biased algorithms exacerbate inequalities and advocates for urgent, proactive regulation.

This piece was submitted to the Social Justice Awards Spring 2025 and awarded First Prize Winner.

Introduction AI systems impact and shape the decisions of people worldwide in many aspects of life, from legal rulings and job opportunities to entertainment content. Unlike traditional technologies, AI creates algorithmic harm through an almost invisible process called “Discrimination 3.0,” where bias operates in a more subtle yet deeply embedded manner within digital platforms.

This process makes it difficult for those harmed to understand how and why they were affected. AI causes significant harm to individuals, families, and society before detection—a gap that current reactive frameworks fail to address. Without proactive regulation, AI risks becoming a tool that amplifies existing power imbalances, leading to further exploitation and societal inequalities.

This essay examines how AI amplifies societal and economic biases from an individual level to a broader scale, focusing primarily on the gig economy’s gender inequalities enabled by AI algorithm integration. It argues that proactive regulation is essential to mitigate the disproportionate impact of AI on marginalised groups.

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Deepening the Gig Economy’s Gender Divide AI algorithms in the gig economy reinforce gender inequities, widening the gender wage gap and occupational segregation.

The gig economy is a labour-sharing market system characterised by short-term, flexible, and task-based work, facilitated by platforms that connect contractors with customers[1]. AI algorithms manage gig workers by matching them to customers, setting prices, and tracking performance, relying on internally collected data to optimise their internal processes[2][3]. However, the AI systems responsible for algorithmic decision-making are often embedded with gender biases that originated from historical datasets, decreasing job opportunities for women gig workers[4]. AI’s lack of transparency further exacerbates this, making systemic discrimination an almost invisible process.

“Surge pricing” is one specific mechanism of discriminatory algorithmic management that rewards “ideal workers” and penalises “non-ideal workers” based on performance metrics[5].

The concept of the “ideal worker” tends to refer to individuals without caregiving responsibilities, which allows them to potentially work unlimited hours to meet customer demands[6].

This creates a stark divide between male and female gig workers, as the latter demographic is more likely to have fewer work hours due to their household, childcare, and reproductive responsibilities.

Women gig workers tend to complete fewer tasks, decline rides due to distance from home, respond less frequently, prioritise flexibility, and avoid busier weekend and night shifts due to family responsibilities[7]. In response, male-centric algorithms penalise women for having gendered responsibilities and not fitting the “ideal worker” model by reducing their algorithmic visibility and scores[8]. This can be devastating, as the algorithmic design prioritises operational efficiency and profit maximisation to determine future management decisions. Since there is a direct correlation between performance scores and earnings, one gig worker explained, “You can't risk a negative review, they are so damaging. So if you're then dropped from that algorithm, you don't show [up to customers] and you don't get invited to send proposals”[9].

On a macroeconomic level, these automated biases have accumulated to exacerbate the gender pay gap in the gig economy across numerous countries[10]. Figure 1 highlights the pay disparities among Chinese food delivery workers, where the payment rate increases with the number of completed deliveries.

The Hidden Toll of Algorithmic Exploitation Not only does algorithmic management widen the gender pay gap, but it also creates a pattern of exploitation through its design intent to maximise efficiency. The pressure from algorithmic management has led to a new form of unregulated work for gig workers. The “just-in-time scheduling” imposed by algorithms endangers the physical and mental health of gig workers, as shifts are notified only hours in advance instead of days prior. While this approach reduces labour costs for companies, it creates significant uncertainty, stress, and burnout for gig workers[11].

Figure 1: Food Delivery Riders’ Pay Per Order in China Note. A bar graph showing that around 20% of both genders earn > ¥5 per order, but a higher share of women workers fall into the ¥5–8 range, while more men are in the ¥8–10 yuan and >10 yuan brackets. From China Labour Bulletin.

This exploitation disproportionately disadvantages vulnerable and marginalised groups. For women gig workers, earning a living wage often requires excessive overwork, constant task management, navigating vague gig requirements, and juggling irregular schedules—all while balancing childcare duties[9].

Moreover, exploitation also manifests through incentivised risky behaviour and the undermining of worker safety, such as working long hours or within isolated locations. Yet, women gig workers who decline assignments due to caregiving responsibilities or safety concerns face algorithmic penalties, which lead to lower monthly salaries[12]. This practice closely mimics unethical sweatshop labour practices; the alleged benefit of having flexibility as a gig worker is just another form of exploitation by another name.

Expanding beyond gender pay inequities, this exploitation further disproportionately impacts multiply marginalised gig workers—where overlapping factors such as gender, race, and socioeconomic status interact to create unique experiences of oppression. For example, research on numerous ride-hailing platforms found that working-class, migrant, and singlemother drivers are more likely to be victims of algorithmic control, often compromising their health and safety to make ends meet[13]. Thus, combating gender biases in algorithmic management serves as a critical gateway for alleviating any financial burdens faced by neighbouring communities.

How AI’s Hidden Prejudices Shape Society AI-driven marginalisation extends to finance, healthcare, and the judicial system. Onuoha introduced the concept of “algorithmic violence” to describe how automated decisionmaking systems and algorithms inflict harm on individuals in essential aspects of their lives[14]. In 2014, Amazon introduced an AI-based recruitment tool that favoured men over women due to its biased datasets. Although it has been removed, this example illustrates how AI algorithms not only inherit human prejudices but also magnify them macroscopically, limiting women’s career prospects and financial independence[15].

[1] Tan, Z. M., Aggarwal, N., Cowls, J., Morley, J., Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2021). The ethical debate about the gig economy: A review and critical analysis. Technology in Society, 65.

[2] World Bank. (2020). Working without borders: The promise and peril of online gig work.

[3] Wazani, K. (2024). AI, gig economy and unemployment foresight: A glance on the global economy. American Academic & Scholarly Research Journal, 16(2).

[4] Edwards, L., & Veale, M. (2017). Slave to the algorithm? Why a right to explanation is probably not the remedy you are looking for. SSRN Electronic Journal, 16(18).

[5] Rosenblat, A., & Stark, L. (2016, July 30). Algorithmic labor and information asymmetries: A case study of Uber’s drivers. International Journal Of Communication, 10.

[6] Williams, J., & Segal, N. (2003). Beyond the maternal wall: Relief for family caregivers who are discriminated against on the job. Harvard Women's Law Journal, 26(77).

[7] Datta, N., Rong, C., Singh, S., Stinshoff, C., Iacob, N., Nigatu, N. S., Nxumalo, M., & Klimaviciute, L. (2023). Working without borders: The promise and peril of online gig work. World Bank.

[8] Micha, A., Poggi, C., & Pereyra, F. (2022). When women enter male-dominated territories in the platform economy: Gender inequalities among drivers and riders in Argentina. Gender & Development, 30(3), 575–600.

[9] James, A. (2023). Platform work‐lives in the gig economy: Recentering work–family research. Gender, Work & Organization, 31(2).

[10] Read, S. (2022, August 15). Gender pay gaps far worse for women in the gig economy, says study. World Economic Forum.

[11] Thelen, K. (2019). The American precariat: U.S. capitalism in comparative perspective. Perspectives on Politics, 17(1), 5–27.

[12] Schisler, C. (2022, May 5). Women working in gig-economy face harassment, lack of safety support. Houston Today.

[13] Kwan, H. (2022). Gendered precarious employment in China’s gig economy: Exploring women gig drivers’ intersectional vulnerabilities and resistances. Gender & Development, 30(3), 551–573.

[14] Onuoha, M. (2018). Notes on algorithmic violence. GitHub. [15] Dastin, J. (2018). Insight - Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women. Reuters.

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Similarly, findings indicate that algorithmic financers often disadvantage women borrowers, despite their lower default rates compared to men, by assigning them higher interest rates and denying loans more frequently[16].

Thus, proactive regulation is essential to establish clear accountability and ensure that fairer systems are designed and implemented from the ground up.

As these incidents of gender bias accumulate on the individual level, they form a broader pattern of systemic inequality and exploitation. “Algorithmic violence” thus represents a subtle, invisible form of passive violence that is difficult to detect and regulate on a case-by-case basis. Its harms are pervasive and long-term, with effects subtly rippling through society in difficult-to-detect ways.

Proactive Initiatives in Fairer AI There are various ways to mitigate biases as part of proactive regulation despite the challenge of algorithmic opacity.

Options include prioritising algorithmic fairness by increasing diversity within development teams, improving input dataset quality to ensure better representation, and developing new fairness metrics that factor in intersectionality[22][23]. Moreover, companies can adopt many bias mitigation strategies and tests before deployment[24].

The long-term effects of AI-driven inequalities deepen as marginalised groups continue to be disempowered, diminished, and exploited under late-stage capitalism and the skewed datasets it produces. Extreme inequality comes at a significant cost to society, spanning economic, social, and health-related domains. Wilkinson and Pickett link it to lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, mental illness, and HIV rates[17].

They identified social evaluative threats (SES) as major stressors in unequal societies, affecting all social classes. LowSES individuals often suffer from low self-esteem, self-doubt, depression, and anxiety, while high-SES individuals may develop narcissistic and self-centred tendencies. High inequality also destabilises economies, weakening innovation, institutions, and market accountability[18]. Ultimately, unchallenged exploitation erodes overall economic growth and societal wellbeing in the long term.

AI’s Opacity Shields Accountability Another key reason AI requires proactive regulation is its algorithmic opacity—that is, the technical lack of transparency in how algorithms operate as a "black box," making it challenging even for developers to detect and address biases[19].

Research has shown that complete algorithmic transparency may be unattainable due to the inherent complexities of machine learning[20]. Although companies claim that this is a technical limitation or defect in their products, this rhetorical strategy is misleading and used to absolve companies of legal accountability[21].

AI’s opaque nature is frequently used as a scapegoat for causing tangible harm. In Wobley v. Workday, Inc., an African American job applicant accused the defendant of using discriminatory hiring software. In their defence, Workday leveraged algorithmic opacity to evade public scrutiny. The court ruled that AI opacity cannot shield companies from accountability and mandated that they must now disclose how their algorithms operate.

A successful example of bias mitigation can be seen in Microsoft’s facial recognition overhaul. Initially, the system had a 20.8% error rate for identifying darker-skinned women.

However, after an intentional initiative to dataset expansion and diversification and algorithmic refinement, Microsoft achieved a 20 times reduction in error rates for darker-skinned individuals and 9 times for all women[25].

Moreover, in the case of the gig economy, algorithmic management could be designed to include and empower. The Uber Ellas initiative in Argentina shifted away from a malecentric approach by allowing women drivers greater control over the gender of their passengers. This proactive design in the algorithmic management reduced cancellations, increased trips, and improved safety, leading to a 30% rise in women drivers in Mendoza and Buenos Aires within a year. Unlike exploitative surge pricing controls, Uber Ellas’ success proves that a proactive, inclusive design tailored to the needs of vulnerable groups can yield positive results, proving that algorithmic opacity should not be an obstacle to ethical AI design.

Conclusion Algorithmic bias is not an abstract technical flaw. It is a lived reality that entrenches inequality in ways that are invisible yet deeply tangible. Rather than merely responding after the damage has been done to individual livelihoods and society at large through reactive regulation, it is important to take action early to prevent the entrenchment of systemic inequities.

Instead, proactive regulation is necessary to embed fairness in AI design, ensuring diverse representation.

This vision is at the heart of the Fair Tech Policy Lab, a think tank I founded to explore and address algorithmic injustice through interdisciplinary research, public engagement, and policy innovation. If you’re passionate about building a more equitable digital future, I invite you to learn more and get involved: fairtechpolicylab.org

The case highlights how unfair AI systems should not be tolerated and that companies cannot hide behind AI's complexity. While it was a significant breakthrough in setting future precedents, the decision was still reactive since the applicant had already experienced anti-Blackness.

[16] Cristina, A., Gomes, M., & Rigobon, R. (2023). Algorithmic discrimination in the credit domain: What do we know about it? AI & Society, 39, 2059–2098.

[17] Wilkinson, R. G., & Pickett, K. E. (2017). The enemy between us: The psychological and social costs of inequality. European Journal of Social Psychology, 47(1), 11–24.

[18] Boushey, H. (2019). Unbound: How inequality constricts our economy and what we can do about it. Harvard University Press.

[19] Chen, Z. (2023). Ethics and discrimination in artificial intelligence-enabled recruitment practices. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 1–12.

[20] Burrell, J. (2016). How the machine “thinks”: Understanding opacity in machine learning algorithms. Big Data & Society, 3(1), 1–12.

[21] Tomassetti, J. (2016). It’s none of our business: The postindustrial corporation and the guy with a car as entrepreneur. Confex.com; Sase.

[22] Johnson, K. N. (2019). Automating the risk of bias. George Washington Law Review, 87(6). Tulane Public Law Research Paper No. 19-12.

[23] Katyal, S. K. (2020). Private accountability in an age of artificial intelligence. In W. Barfield (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law of Algorithms (pp. 47–106). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[24] O’Connor, S., & Liu, H. (2023). Gender bias perpetuation and mitigation in AI technologies: Challenges and opportunities. AI & Society, 39(4), 2045–2057.

[25] Smith, B. (2018, December 18). Facial recognition: It’s time for action. Microsoft on the Issues.

[26] Information Commissioner’s Office. (2023). What is the impact of article 22 of the UK GDPR on fairness?

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Leading from a Young Age: How Leadership Skills Grow with You Mr. Christopher Waters traces the journey of leadership from adolescence to adulthood.

Leadership is often thought of as something practiced by CEOs, politicians, or team captains. But it isn’t a skill you just develop when you step into a formal role with a title. Imagine a child rallying their classmates to organise a fundraising event or stepping in to mediate a dispute in their friendship group. These moments might not seem like leadership in the traditional sense, but they are the early indications of it.

Leadership is not just about being in charge, it’s about influence, responsibility, and resilience. It is about making decisions, supporting others, and learning from experiences. At its core Leadership is about building and maintaining strong relationships, having empathy, learning the true power of trust, and developing strong communication skills.

But when do we start to develop these skills which are so integral to becoming a strong leader?

There are several key periods during our adolescence which shape us as a leader. While every individual’s journey is unique, there are common themes that can determine how young people grow as leaders.

AGES 9 - 12

Discovering Influence During this phase, children begin to understand responsibility. Whether it’s looking after a younger sibling, captaining a sports team, or taking the initiative in a school project. Leadership often starts to emerge in environments which encourage them to take risks and step up to lead in games, group activities, and their friendship groups.

This is where Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset Theory becomes crucial. Growth mindset is the belief that abilities and understanding can be developed through dedication and hard work. Children who, through encouragement or natural inclination, adopt a growth mindset are more likely to embrace the challenges they are faced with, persist through any setbacks, and see effort as the pathway to mastery.

Growth mindset is essential for future leaders as it encourages risk taking, resilience and the concept of “failing forwards”. Failing forwards is the process of learning through mistakes and embracing any failure as an opportunity to learn. Seeing failure as a positive rather than a negative can accelerate growth and progress, two vital skills which all organisations in the world relish. Parents and teachers play a key role in fostering this mindset within early adolescence by encouraging perseverance and effort over innate talent.

An example of the two types of praise and the impact of these would be: "I can see how much effort you put into preparing for this test! You used different strategies to revise, and it really paid off! Keep experimenting with what works for you, and you’ll keep improving." This is an example of growthmindset praise, this reinforces that hard work leads to improvement. By focusing on the effort, the child will associate the recognition with the effort rather than the outcome, helping to foster resilience and willingness to take on challenges without fear.

"Wow! You got full marks! That’s amazing!

You’re a natural at this subject!" This is an example of fixed-mindset praise, focusing on the outcome and ignoring the process and hard work which went in to achieving this. This type of praise, while well-intentioned, suggests that success is based on perceived ability rather than effort. By focusing on the outcome, this also reinforces to the child that their worth is measured by the results they achieve. Over time, this can lead to perfectionism, fear of failure, and a reluctance to take risks and attempt challenges with a high likelihood of failure.

This age is also important in the development of emotional intelligence as this is where a child learns to conceptually understand fairness, recognise emotions in others, and develop their self-awareness. Daniel Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence[2] includes five key components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. At this stage, young people start recognising how their emotions impact their behaviour and how they can regulate their responses. The best leaders are deeply self-aware and empathetic, and development of this starts at a young age.

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AGES 13-16 Navigating Challenges and Relationships As teenagers learn to juggle the challenges which they are facing (navigating friendships, school pressures, and new responsibilities), the skills necessary for strong leadership start to evolve. It becomes less about stepping up in simple ways and more about managing relationships, making decisions, and resolving conflicts. Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory highlights how young people develop skills by observing and mimicking others, including leadership. They will emulate the leaders whom they are exposed to, look up to, and aspire to be like, whether this is a parent, sports coach, teacher, older sibling, or even one of their peers.

Emergent leadership is common in this phase, as teenagers fall into leadership roles by taking charge of group projects, sports teams, and extracurricular activities. Their confidence in these leadership roles is shaped by their friendships and social circles, which can be a source of both support and challenge. Much like The Hero’s Journey, teenagers go through phases of stepping out of their comfort zones, facing obstacles, finding allies who help them grow, and avoiding foes who may lead them astray.

They may struggle with self-doubt or setbacks, but these challenges are an essential part of their development, helping them build resilience, adaptability, and the ability to lead others.

Bandura’s theory suggests that people learn by watching others and imitating their behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions. This suggests that role models play a crucial role in the development of leadership skills. If teenagers see confident, compassionate, and effective leaders, they are more likely to adopt those traits themselves. Equally, if they see highly stressed, reactive, and authoritarian figures, they are therefore likely to reflect these. Ultimately, we become what we see, and therefore, it is essential to surround young people with strong role models.

This is also a critical period for further developing emotional intelligence. During this phase, teenagers learn to handle conflicts, manage emotions, and see beyond their own perspective. Their vision becomes both broader and deeper as their life experiences and exposure to the wider world increase.

Finding Independence

AGES 17-23

This phase is about taking leadership beyond the school environment, whether in university, work, or community projects. Leadership at this age means balancing confidence with humility, learning from failures, and adapting leadership styles to different situations.

Building on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), leadership growth happens when young people are challenged just beyond their comfort zone. However, sometimes real growth requires stepping into the “Out of Reach Zone”, where failure is likely, but resilience is built. Trying things that may not succeed immediately is essential for leadership development. Young adults who embrace failure as a learning tool build resilience, adaptability, and confidence in their ability to overcome future challenges. The foundation of a growth mindset developed within childhood is essential here, as young adults are more likely to take on these challenges will be able to develop their leadership acumen much faster.

Another model which becomes paramount is that of situational leadership. This model helps us to understand when to be directive, when to coach, and when to step back and empower others. Situational leadership theory suggests that effective leadership depends on the readiness and maturity of the people being led.

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The Power of Relationships Leadership isn’t just about making decisions or standing in front of a crowd, it’s about people. The way we lead is deeply influenced by the relationships we build, the people we learn from, and the way we navigate friendships and working together.

Strong leaders aren’t just confident or assertive; they understand others, communicate effectively, and create positive environments where people can thrive.

The relationships we have while we are growing up are with our Each family, friends, teachers, teammates, and mentors. connection plays a role in shaping our future leadership journey.

Think about someone you admire; a teacher who challenges you, a coach who pushes you to improve, or an older student who always seems to have the right advice. These people serve as mentors, showing you what’s possible and helping you to see strengths in yourself that you might not yet recognise, a vital skill for a leader.

Not all relationships are positive, and part of leadership is recognising which ones bring out the best in you. Do you have friends who support you, challenge you to grow, and celebrate your successes? There’s a well-known quote, often attributed to entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jim Rohn:

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

Research in social psychology supports this concept, showing that our habits, behaviours, and even our mindset are heavily influenced by the people around us[8].

If we surround ourselves with people who are motivated, supportive, and open to growth, we naturally develop those traits too. But if we spend time with those who are negative, unkind, or unwilling to push themselves, it can hold us back from reaching our potential.

Leadership isn’t about standing above others; it’s about lifting others up. Whether in school projects, sports teams, or social groups, the ability to work well with others is key to being an effective leader. Strong leaders listen, value different perspectives, and help others succeed. If you’ve ever worked with someone who dominates conversations or ignores ideas, you know how frustrating it can be. But have you also noticed how energising it is to work with people who respect and encourage each other? The best leaders don’t just take charge, they bring out the best in those around them.

Emotional Intelligence & Growing as a Leader Emotional intelligence is one of the most important yet often overlooked aspects of leadership. It’s the foundation upon which strong, trusting, and mutually beneficial relationships are built. Unlike traditional intelligence, which focuses on knowledge and problem-solving, emotional intelligence is about understanding ourselves and others; how we manage our emotions, respond to challenges, and connect with those around us.

Developing emotional intelligence follows a clear progression, moving from internal self-awareness to external social skills.

Just like a building needs a solid foundation for the upper floors to be stable, the higher levels of emotional intelligence; empathy and social skills, can only develop properly when our self-awareness and self-regulation are strong.

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1. Self-Awareness: The foundation of emotional intelligence begins with recognising our own emotions, triggers, and instinctive responses. If we don’t understand how we feel or why we react in certain ways to people or situations, it becomes difficult to regulate our emotions effectively.

4. Empathising with Others: When we have a strong understanding of ourselves and control over our own emotions and motivations, we become better equipped to understand these in others. True empathy allows us to see the world from another’s perspective, anticipate their needs, and respond with care and thoughtfulness.

2. Self-Regulation: Once we are aware of our emotions and how we react to them, the next step is managing them. This doesn’t mean suppressing feelings but learning how to embrace them and control our reactions in a way that benefits both ourselves and those around us.Leaders who master self-regulation stay calm under pressure and make thoughtful decisions rather than acting impulsively.

5. Social Skills: At the highest level, emotional intelligence is about navigating relationships effectively. Strong social skills allow us to communicate clearly, build trust, and foster collaboration.Leaders with strong social intelligence can inspire and unite teams, mediate conflicts, and create positive environments where everyone can thrive.

3. Motivational Awareness and Discipline: As we develop emotional control, we gain the ability to push ourselves forward, even when things become difficult.Motivation, resilience, and self-discipline enable us to keep going, set goals, and overcome setbacks. Without this step, leadership can lack direction and perseverance.

Each level builds upon the one before it. If self-awareness is weak, self-regulation becomes difficult.Without self-regulation, motivation can waver. If we struggle with motivation, it’s harder to be present and empathetic with others.And without empathy, our social skills become superficial rather than genuinely impactful.

Practical Tips to Help Grow as a Leader Today 1.Take a Minute to Reflect: If you don’t keep a formal journal, try jotting down quick notes in your phone or thinking about your day before bed. Ask yourself: What did I handle well today? What could I do better next time? Even a few moments of reflection can help you grow.

2.Ask for Advice (From People You Trust): Whether it’s a teacher, coach, older sibling, or a friend who gives good advice, check in with someone you respect. A simple “Hey, how do you think I handled that?” or “What would you have done in my situation?” can give you new perspectives.

3.Say Yes to New Things: Try leading a small part of a group project, volunteering to help at an event, or speaking up with your ideas. You don’t have to take on something huge, just start by stepping up in little ways that push you beyond your usual comfort zone, maybe even into you “Out of Reach” zone.

4.Don’t Stress Over Mistakes…Use Them! Messed up a speech? Forgot an important detail in a project? Said something you regret? Instead of beating yourself up, ask: What can I learn from this? The best leaders aren’t perfect, they just get better every time they make a mistake.

Leadership is not something to wait for, it is something built every day through relationships, experiences, and challenges.

Whether stepping up in a classroom, a sports team, or a workplace, young people are already shaping the future of leadership.

So, what are you doing to shape the world of tomorrow, today?

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SHADOWED FLOWERS Dorothy Lo reflects on the fading tradition of Jianzhi, the Chinese art of paper cutting, urging its preservation through personal, hands-on creation.

Jian Zhi, also known as Chinese paper cutting, is a traditional Chinese art form of hand-cutting paper. When I was younger, I fondly remember fixating on those designs while they were projected on the walls by the morning’s buttery shimmer, trying to comprehend the old stories of zodiac animals and mythological figures they were about, just to be disappointed as a cloud would pass by and block the sun’s rays from outlining those patterns.

Decorated with intricate patterns of old fables that waltz with the sun’s rays as they flutter against the window, their shadows glaze across the room, dancing from high to low as the day ends.

Jianzhi is one of the top things people would think of when decorating for Chinese New Year. Not only are they vibrant and affordable, but they are also believed to bring great fortune to their owners and ward off any potential bad luck. Yet have you ever thought about how these came to be?

Chinese paper cutting is believed to have begun after Ts’ai Lun invented paper in 105 CE. However, long before that, the Chinese were already carving intricate designs on materials like leaves, silk, leather, and metal foil. A legend from the Han Dynasty tells of Emperor Wu, who was devastated by the loss of his beloved concubine, Li. To comfort him, a minister cut her silhouette from linen and projected it onto a tent using low light, making the emperor believe her spirit had returned. Once paper became widely available, paper cutting flourished as a popular art form, showcasing skill and creativity. Though traditionally passed down through generations, the craft has declined in modern

times due to mass production and machine-made alternatives. Due to this mass production, large companies overshadow the true art of making such patterns. So instead of buying some cheap store-bought prints next New Years, have a go at making some yourself!

There are many ways of making these cut outs, but they can be mainly grouped into two types: symmetrical patterns and non-symmetrical patterns. Symmetrical patterns are created by folding the piece of paper before cutting to create a pattern that is projected onto both sides. This technique normally takes less time than the other, but needs much more planning to ensure a goodlooking outcome and vice versa for the non-symmetrical patterns.

As for non-symmetrical patterns, these are normally created by drafting a sketch and cutting the outlines out to create a final product. After trying out a pattern depicting this year's zodiac sign of the snake, my biggest tip to give is to choose a thin sheet of paper (less hand pain) and try to plan a design that is flipped so once cut, the prettier side (the side that lacks obvious cut marks) will be the right way around.

Finishing my paper cut, my fingers bruised in hues of grey and purple and the tiny scalpel now drenched in sweat, my heart flutters in a burst of golden pride as I hang it against the window. Though its looks are nothing compared to the ones found in stores, I can’t help but grin from ear to ear as I watch the shadows of my work waltz across the walls as the sun sets.

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Perspectives in

Peaches

Angela Wang’s oil painting symbolises how truth goes beyond surface impressions.

My oil painting explores the theme of perspectives through both composition and symbolism, inviting the viewer to reflect on the contrast between appearance and reality. At the centre, two peaches serve as focal points; with one whole, untouched, and seemingly perfect, whilst the other is split open, exposing its inner flesh. This juxtaposition symbolises the duality of perspectives: the external, surface-level view we present to the world versus the internal, often hidden complexities beneath. The opened peach, with its exposed seed, evokes themes of vulnerability, transformation, and truth, suggesting that deeper understanding comes from looking beyond first impressions.

The smooth, rainbow-toned background reinforces this theme by acting as a shifting, fluid space where colours blend seamlessly. Unlike a static, defined setting, this background mirrors how perception is constantly evolving, shaped by light, context, and emotion. The use of a rainbow palette suggests an openness to multiple interpretations, symbolising the diversity of perspectives that exist within any given experience. The ethereal quality of the background contrasts with the realism of the peaches, emphasising the tension between reality and perception, the tangible and the intangible.

Additionally, the peaches themselves become a metaphor for perception. Traditionally associated with sweetness and fragility, their soft skin can be deceiving, and hide the firmness of the pit inside. This invites the viewer to question: How often do we judge things based on surface appearance? How does perspective shift when something is opened up, revealed, or broken? The opened peach suggests that true understanding requires depth, experience, and willingness to see beyond what is immediately visible.

Through this interplay of subject and background, my painting challenges the viewer to consider how perspectives shape reality and how what we see is often a product of how we choose to look at it. It encourages a deeper contemplation on the nature of perception, truth, and the layers of meaning that exist within even the simplest forms.

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Perspectives on Photography Mr. Benjamin Myatt reflects on the beauty of photography as the art of capturing a singular fleeting moment.

By an enthusiast, not a practitioner.

"And if these photos of yours are the only ones that outlive you, maybe that's an ace that you can keep." – The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka

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Photography is fundamentally an art of perspective. “Every time we look at a photograph,” John Berger writes, “we are aware, however slightly, of the photographer selecting that sight from an infinity of other possible sights.”[1] The painter’s art is in representing the perceived – either through accurate, technical recreation of the seen subject or conceptually in imitation of the experience of seeing. The photographer’s art is in the seeing. The painter recreates a series of moments. Every sequence of brushstrokes is separated by a glance at the subject at a different instance in time. The final marking recalls an older iteration of the subject than the first. As the strokes of paint age so does the subject they depict. To look at a painting is to witness a subject moving through time, while in a photograph time is frozen. The photographer captures one, singular moment. It chooses an isolated beat in the rhythm of time and elects to make it immortal. The technique is in anticipating the moment.

The photographer’s patience is that of a fisherman, waiting for the moment to approach and to greedily take its bait. Exposure is set like a net, and the photo-fisherman waits for the subject to enter the frame most perfectly, before capturing the light like a wriggling pike. While the painter continually looks backwards, constantly comparing the present artwork to the memory of their last glance of the subject, the photographer looks into the future to a moment that hasn’t yet passed, but to which they nevertheless know they will return again and again. And if the moment is missed, the photographer fails.

There are no second chances. If the moment slips past without precise capture, the photographer has no choice but to set their sights on another.

While the painter works every detail over time into nearer and nearer proximity to perfection, the photographer’s art can only ever hope to show openly the world as it was in one flash.

Where the painter’s success lies in perseverance, the photographer’s lies in preparation.

Geoff Dyer writes: “In photography there is no meantime. There was just that moment and now there’s this moment and in between there is nothing. Photography, in a way, is the negation of chronology.”[2] Time for the photographer is simultaneous. The future is anticipated and captured, so that the past can be made present forever. It allows disparate chapters in a life to sit side by side in the same album – and every moment carries the same weight. Photography is innately Utopian. “So successful has been the camera’s role in beautifying the world”, writes Susan Sontag, “that photographs, rather than the world, have become the standard of the beautiful.”[3] The act of taking a photograph filters memory against moments deemed unworthy of seeing.

Beauty is carefully preserved while ugliness is documented as a directive against cruelty. Where suffering and oppression form subjects for photography, it is with one eye on a world where beauty can proliferate – and be photographed – even more freely. It acts to showcase the world from a particular lens whilst not always an accurate one. Photography dreams of a world that could be copied in its entirety, an infinite number of times, without any moral qualms.

Whether or not this is a good dream remains a matter of perspective.

[1] John Berger, Ways of Seeing (Penguin Classics, 2008), p. 10.

[2] Geoff Dyer, The Ongoing Moment (Canongate, 2012), p. 155.

[3] Sontag, Susan, On Photography (Penguin, 2019), p. 90.

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KENDRICK LAMAR’S NFL HALFTIME SHOW: A Sign of a Polarising United States Karl Chu explores the nuances of Lamar’s performance beyond entertainment.

For an audience outside the United States, the Super Bowl might seem like just another sports event catering to Americans, broadcasting a sport mostly played by Americans. It’s true: whilst there is a sizeable audience outside the United States (a total of 62.5 million international Super Bowl viewers last year[1]), the Super Bowl is still mainly directed to American audiences, as the average viewership of 127.7 million people, 38% of the American population[2], across the United States for the Super Bowl LIX this year might suggest.[3] The Super Bowl has traditionally reached hundreds of millions of viewers both in and outside the United States, signifying the tremendous cultural impact the Super Bowl possesses. But the Super Bowl does not just include American football: the NFL halftime show, performed in between the two halves of the game, has been an action-packed 13-to-14-minute performance featuring some of the world’s biggest artists and has always been a tenet of American pop culture.

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[1]

Richter, F. (2019, February). Infographic: Super Bowl Can’t Hold the Candle to the Biggest Game in Soccer. Statista Infographics; Statista.

[2]

United States Census Bureau. (2024). U.S. and World Population Clock. United States Census Bureau; United States Census Bureau.

[3]

Super Bowl LIX averages a record audience of 127.7 million viewers. (2024). NFL.com.

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This year, Kendrick Lamar performed at the halftime show for a second time, his first feature being at the Super Bowl LVI three years ago. This follows his massive success after his drama with Drake and his diss track “Not Like Us” a few months ago. But this year was different: Kendrick Lamar utilised his opportunity to be on TV in front of hundreds of millions of people to make a political statement, going beyond entertainment. Lamar’s halftime show was, in short, controversial. Critics bashed Lamar on many fronts: him being too obscure for America’s biggest stage, his songs as “unintelligible”, straying away from his classic pieces to slander Drake, and most importantly, his symbolism being too political.[4] Despite this being an American event, people worldwide should pay attention to this year’s show: not only because of its entertainment value, but for the warning it sends about a polarizing America.

The signs of increasing polarization following Trump’s second term happened long before the Super Bowl.

Shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration, the NFL decided to remove the phrase “End Racism” on its end zones for the Super Bowl for the first time since 2021 and replace it with “Choose Love,” which was seen as a controversial decision.[5] Following the announcement, Donald Trump announced he would be attending the Super Bowl, the first sitting president in history to do so.[6] Furthermore, the Super Bowl coincidentally was played in February, Black History Month, setting up the conditions for Lamar’s polarizing performance and the various obscure references to politics and race that Lamar would then make throughout the show.

The performance started with famed actor Samuel Jackson, dressed up as America’s iconic ‘Uncle Sam’, proclaiming, “This is the great American game,” matching the audience’s expectations for a patriotic, glitzy, halftime performance. Throughout the show, many references would be then made to this “great American game.” But the “great American game” is far from the patriotic ideals of the American dream.

Conversely, it was about the obstacles African Americans face in the United States, and how their mannerisms and culture have been used against them in their attempt to progress within society. Following Kendrick Lamar’s performance of “squabble up”, Jackson’s ‘Uncle Sam’ returned to the stage and proclaimed Lamar’s piece to be “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto,” and in a manner similar to his Django Unchained character, a loyal house slave named Stephen, continued with, “Mr. Lamar, do you know how to play the game?”

While many interpretations of the meaning behind “America’s Game” have since appeared online, one prevailing interpretation is that Jackson references the

struggles African Americans have to go through to progress in American society. Acting “loud”, “reckless”, and “ghetto” have often been pejoratively used against African Americans, hindering them from getting jobs and promotions and forcing them to adopt more “White” mannerisms to advance within society.

“America’s Game” is just one reference of many. Right before his performance of “squabble up”, he utters, “Revolution is about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” A reference to Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a satirical poem and Black Liberation song from 1971, through this, Lamar continues the theme of the plight of Black Americans.[7] The song The Revolution Will Not be Televised highlights the idea that political change will not come from the passiveness of the people, or by big corporations and government entities, but by the people themselves. Lamar references that idea in his next line, “You picked the right time but the wrong guy,” a criticism of how America voted during its recent 2024 election, as they chose the “right” time for change, but the “wrong” candidate: Donald Trump.

Lamar’s lyricism continues. Just before “Not Like Us”, the diss track against Drake which fans had been waiting for, Lamar declares, “Forty acres and a mule, this is bigger than music.” A reference to a failed promise by General Sherman after the American Civil War, “Forty acres and a mule” was supposed to be taken from Confederate landowners and given to freed slaves as reparations, though it failed after Andrew Johnson became president and attempted to reverse the order. Post-Civil War reconstruction in turn was more focused on providing freed slaves wage labour instead of granting them land.[8] The reference to this failed promise accentuates the disappointments Black Americans have faced throughout history and continue to face today.

Lamar’s halftime performance was about Black empowerment, but it also underscored the difficulties that he perceives the Black community in America has faced and will continue to face as Trump’s second term dawns on the nation. Ultimately, this year’s halftime show was more than a performance. It was a warning.

It warns of an increasingly divided America as some Black Americans question whether the next four years will be a difficult time for them, a question the Black community has asked many, many times in the past.

This sentiment of uncertainty was addressed in Lamar’s uniquely compelling storytelling. Far different from the apolitical halftime shows the Super Bowl traditionally has had, Lamar’s message —controversial but undeniably powerful— forces Americans to confront uncomfortable truths about their painful past and the uncertain future ahead.

[4]

Armstrong, B. (2025, February 14). Review: Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance was always going to be “bigger than the music.” Review: Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Performance Was Always Going to Be “Bigger than the Music” - the Dartmouth.

[5]

Bramwell, M. (2025, February 8). The NFL Has Decided To Remove “End Racism” From The Super Bowl End Zones, And People Are Absolutely Not Letting It Slide.

Yahoo Sports.

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[6]

SUPERVILLE, D. (2025, February 9). Trump at the Super Bowl, latest chapter in a complicated legacy with football. AP News.

[7]

Taylor, T. (2023). Every historical reference in Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” In faroutmagazine.co.uk.

[8]

Gates, H. L. (2013, September 18). The Truth Behind ’40 Acres and a Mule’ | African American History Blog | The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. Pbs.org.

The Role of Investment Banks in the Rise of Digital Currencies Stephanie Wang argues that investment banks are not essential to digital currencies.

Digital currencies recently became an emerging economic property, which is electronic based and does not consist of a physical counterpart; they are mainly categorized in three major types: cryptocurrency, CBDC and virtual currency[1]. They can either be centralised or decentralised, for instance, currencies such as Fiat currency (a governmentally issued currency which is not retreated by physical commodity such as gold or silver) is a centralised production system issued by central banks or the government. This differs from cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, as they are a great precedent for decentralised currency.

Pursuing the rapid development of digital currencies in the recent years, numerous financial institutions invested into digital currencies, institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, PayPal, Berkshire Hathaway, BlackRock iShares and others. After the creation of bitcoin in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto[2] and the official launch in 2009, El Salvador was adopted as its legal leader in 2021, where the concept of decentralised digital currency was introduced. Investment banks contributed to the development of digital currencies in four different ways: infrastructure development and market liquidity, financial products and innovation, risk/ advisory service and institutional adoption. They are categorised in three main areas: tokenisation, structural reformation of the financial market and “profounding” the effect of digital currency.

[1] Frankenfield, J. (2024). Digital Currency. [online] Investopedia.

[2] Investopedia. (n.d.). Bitcoin’s 10th Birthday: Was the Nakamoto White Paper Right? [online]

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Firstly, investment banks such as Goldman Sachs provide a platform for digital currencies like Bitcoin. At the end of November 2022, DAP launched its first inaugural transaction (Project Venus), which accommodates partnerships and collaborations with EIB[3] (Europe Investment Bank), Goldman Sachs Bank Europe and others, which allows investors to commit traditional transactions of fiat currency. This successful digital bond is convenient and allows for a better development environment for digital currencies recognised by the bank. In Speaking with CNBC’s “Crypto World” speech, McDermott stated that “The excitement from our side is … seeing how this technology can impact many different parts of the financial system and have a real commercial impact”.

Furthermore, Goldman Sachs collaborated with Coin Metrics (a cryptocurrency firm) and MSCI to provide a new framework for this new asset class.[4] Investment banks play an essential role in the development of digital financial products and providing a secure platform for investors. ETF[5] (Exchange Traded Fund) is a financial product set up as an open-ended funds, which must be registered within the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) in the US. They are subjects to the investment Company Act 1940, which aims to protect the financial safety of investors by ensuring there’s sufficient acknowledgement of the risks associated. They are now regulated by various investment banks, such as J.P Morgan and Barclays. Investment banks provide an access platform of diverse digital currencies, which became a driver of demand by increasing market participation.[5] Therefore, involvement of investment banks encourages further acknowledgement by increasing credibility of digital currencies on the whole, as the involvement of authorisable firms releases a signal which informs individual investors, and the market, that those digital currencies are viable. Moreover, Investment banks can offer advice and risk management services to clients and institutions, which includes financial advice, regulatory compliance and market strategies. This can be used to minimize risks associated with security and volatility.

[3] Reuters (2022). EIB launches second euro digital bond with Goldman, SocGen. Reuters. [online] 29 Nov. [4] Kaplan, T. (n.d.). Crypto markets are undergoing a ‘flight to quality,’ says Goldman Sachs digital assets chief. [online] CNBC. [5] Chen, J. (2024). Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). [online] Investopedia.

[6] Chen, J. (2019). Investment Company Act of 1940. [online] Investopedia.

[7] J.P. Morgan | Payments Developer Portal. (2024). JPM Coin System. [online]

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Additionally, investment banks have a pivotal effect in shaping the legal framework by increasing interaction within policymakers and regulators.

This offers clear guidelines and criteria which would protect the interest of investors while allowing innovations to flourish. If an investment bank partner or firm would like to issue a new CBDC, the bank would have the responsibility of providing secure platforms, risk management criteria, and regulatory compliance. A prime example of this is JPMorgan’s JPM coin[7], which is a blockchainbased cryptocurrency, supported by fiat currency with the aim to uphold instantaneous transactions and payments. This demonstrates the critical role of investment banks in the development of digital currencies through their presence as regulators.

On the other hand, many people argue that intervention of investment banks could potentially enhance decentralisation and disintermediation of digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, when the key concept of digital currencies is to remove the intermediary, such as investment banks. This will oblige ‘peer to peer’ transaction, which would have no reliance on traditional financial institutions like investment banks. Additionally, the continuous rising of investment banks involvement may centralise control of digital currencies, which opposes the original concept of it. Moreover, overintervention of banks could lead to monopolisation by setting high fees and gatekeeping practices which could set high barriers for smaller investors, which is again, against the ethos of decentralised finance (DeFi).

To conclude, investment banks are essential to the rise of digital currencies to a lesser extent. The intervention made and involvement are significant but not indispensable.

While promoting liquidity, institutional adoption and market acceleration, digital currencies could still flourish and develop without such assistances, since the key concept of digital currency is to challenge traditional financial power by encouraging decentralisation. The creation of currencies also represents the creation of transformative and decentralised currencies, where a balance between traditional financial powers of investment banks and individual, smaller investors is formed. Therefore, although there is a valid contribution of investment banks, they are not essential to the rise of digital currencies.

Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Alida Chan’s essay received “Very High Commendation” in the John Locke Global Essay Prize 2024.

Intuition is the instinctive judgement of a particular scenario, often involving abstract reasoning. Part of intuition’s nature, which makes it distinct from other forms of human conduct, lies in its immediacy.

Moral intuition is often challenged for reliability, especially as morality concerns the fundamental code of social behaviour. However, this essay argues that intuition paves the way for rational reasoning by committing an individual through expressing sentiments. It is worth trusting because it provides insight into foundational understandings.

The authority of reason and sentiment in intuitive moral decisions should be considered to establish the ground to champion moral intuition. Intuition precedes and leads to any possible room for rational thinking. Sentiment, the origin of intuition, is a “peculiar” feeling of approvals (love, pride) and disapprovals (hatred, humility) (Hume, 1739). These feelings are internal to individuals, and they are expressed through intuition. Consider a group of people capturing a cat, pouring gasoline, and igniting it. A spectator does not need to reason and “conclude” that this is morally wrong; a sentient being can “see” that it is wrong (Harman, 1977).

When the spectator perceives the “prima facie” (at first sight) image of the cat burning, disapproval is indirectly brought upon themself after they intuit non-moral properties, such as the cat physically struggling, stimulating sympathy. Sentient beings can appreciate and empathize with the emotions of another individual. Owing to this ability, the spectator sympathizes with the suffering cat, and the desire to relieve the pain intuitively arises within himself. The prima facie property of intuition makes the expression of sentiment immediate; these emotions are original to sentient beings and, thus, natural to influence one’s moral judgment. Hume argues that morality cannot be grounded in reason; when an individual feels that reason opposes an impulse to act in a moral scenario, they had mistakenly treated a “calm passion” (1739) as rational thinking. Contrastingly, Kant (2019) argues that reason should have sole authority in moral decisions because they are unhindered by personal preference. Kant’s deontological approach

determines that whether a moral guide can help an individual oblige to all the laws (e.g. Formula of Universal Law) is the only measure of its reliability.

He did not examine other aspects that make intuition (which he dismissed as lacking “concept” and is thus “blind” (1929)) a viable guide, such as immediacy and its unique ability to motivate, empowered through the expression of sentiments.

Reason rarely opposes intuition because it derives from sentiments one feels at first sight of an experience. Hume (1739) describes passions as the “original existence”, and he concludes that reasons are mere backings of one’s emotions. A priori inferences – knowledge independent of experience (Russell, 2024) – are limited in guiding intuition since drawing upon them and applying them through systematic reasoning takes time. However, intuition can lead the development of reason, which does not require immediate responses. The roles of reason and passion are different; sentient intuition is the precursor of rational reasoning. Experience and perception trigger a chain reaction of emotions converted into moral decisions. Rational deliberation would align with the immediate reaction. The “is-ought” (Hume, 1751) desires motivate an individual to act with immediacy in moral intuitions; “to make a moral judgment is to detect, by means of a sentiment, the operation of a virtuous or vicious quality of mind” (Wilson and Denis, 2022). Beliefs alone (rather than sentiments) are not powerful enough to motivate and commit someone to a situation separate from themselves, but reason can check intuitive judgements without requiring the same immediacy. Intuition devotes an individual to a certain situation and bonds to the externals through virtue and vice. Therefore, it is a viable and dependable source of moral knowledge, especially under instantaneous circumstances where intuition precedes elaborate rational reasoning.

Criticisms of intuition’s reliability suggest that it lacks “empirical justification” (Pust, 2019).

However, the moral “oughtness” brought upon an individual through immediate senses does not require empirical proof. “Virtues” and “vices” (Hume, 1739) are self-supportive because none of

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one’s views can be solely rational, and the process of judging intuition is through reasoning, but it is also heavily influenced by intuitive emotions. Consider the basic moral intuition, “the statement ‘killing innocent people is wrong’ is morally just’”. When intuitively assessing this sentence, one can instantly feel it is true. The intuitive sense, based on past experiences and extensive non-moral understandings of “killing” and “innocence”, provides prima facie justification. Afterwards, when one attempts to use reason to justify his intuition, one’s very approval of their intuitive judgement is also an expression of weak sentiments (or “calm passions”), requiring trust in the reliability of their own intuition. It is natural for someone to judge their internal intuition in the same way as they judge an external moral situation. So, there is justifiable circularity in the proof of intuition. The “circularity” does not imply that intuition is not a source of moral knowledge.

Moore (1903) classifies goodness as a “sui generis” notion after concluding that it is not a property which can be defined through the scientific means; it can only be appreciated by and on its own. The same applies to intuition because the expression of sentiments is not based on any assertions other than foundational – “beliefs which are justified independently of their relations to other beliefs” (McMahan, 2013). This fundamental difference of proof (or the necessity of empirical proof, which intuition lacks) defines intuition as self-sustaining.

Thus, it negates criticism and establishes intuition as a reliable moral guide.

Having considered intuition’s ability to commit an individual to a moral situation and lead lines of reasoning, its status as reflections of foundational principles and its flexibility to be modified makes it a trustworthy moral guide.

From a metaethical perspective, intuition can serve as an insight into an individual’s deepest cognition of moral values. Ross (1930) denied the possibility that humans always know the right action in every circumstance. The seven prima facie principles should only be treated as a general guide, not a realist doctrine. Intuition is, therefore, fallible.

Research has found that in the trolley dilemma, participants tend to be more willing to pull the lever to save five people but not to push a man off the bridge to achieve the same results. More people are inclined to pull the lever in a trap door scenario, killing one man to stop the trolley, than to directly kill a man on the bridge to halt the trolley (StrattonLake, 2020). Rationalists criticize moral intuition for not being a reliable guide because emotions hinder the consistency of one’s decision when faced with different degrees of engagement, which alters the desires one feels in moral dilemmas.

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Nevertheless, this does not compromise intuition’s status as an individual’s sound guidance. Intuition constantly evolves as an individual gains experience and, in this process, adjusts values and consequent intuitions. The impact of virtues and vices is especially apparent when one feels an emotion from a “general point of view” (Hume, 1739). When a baby is taught that “hurting others is wrong”, their intuition might not be so strong as to form desires to actively stop them from hitting someone; it is only after they feel the vice (pain of getting hurt by others) or the virtue (happiness from stopping damage), his mind truly accepts the belief. Their standpoint shifts to a general one as they understand the moral principle from a broader perspective (one that is not limited to their own). This is done by them expressing sympathy and concern, and their sentiments turn their understanding into firm intuitions in similar future scenarios.

As it happens with the baby, experiences accumulate, and individuals develop the ability to compare their intuitive and general understandings.

Through this process, one can amend one of the understandings to resolve one’s subsequent encounters with similar situations with more coherent judgements. To examine how the progression of moral decisions is done through internal reflections, Rawls (1971) constructed the “Reflective Equilibrium” model, which can trust moral intuition while adjusting foundational understandings in a particular moral situation, or vice versa in another. It is not meant to justify intuitions directly; instead, it can tune and filter moral intuitions to make judgments more reliable.

Through this model, intuitions are trustworthy sources of moral knowledge because they point back to foundational principles. As an individual gains experience, fine calibrations make intuitions increasingly reliable.

Reflective equilibrium encourages vertical thinking.

“Vertical” refers to foundational understandings at the core of one’s internal moral values, while intuition is the actual carrier of these understandings, interacting with externals and gaining experiences.

Even foundational understandings, which can be considered sources of intuitions, are challenged as individuals apply their intuitions in moral situations. Intuitions feed back knowledge gathered in specific scenarios and expose foundational understandings to new changes and possibilities. There is a process of induction and referencing which requires an individual to be ready to adjust the balance of authorities in particular cases. Consider an application of reflective equilibrium on whether lying is morally right or wrong. In a normative case, when A lies to B, C,

witnessing this, would intuitively think that A is in the wrong; C forms an intuition of vice based on their deeper understanding that “lying is wrong.” In this case, the particular intuition is concordant with the general foundational understanding. However, when external information is added to the scenario, say that B is dying and doctor A lied to B to save them from mental distress, C is likely to form a different intuition – A is doing the right thing to minimize B’s suffering. As this case creates tension with foundational understandings, C should adopt reflective equilibrium to either discard their intuitive judgement or add constraints to their general moral rule. Here, intuition is treated as a genuine source of moral knowledge because C’s foundational nonmoral and moral values of “suffering is bad” and “minimizing suffering is good” both point to A being in the right. C would end up with a revised underlying understanding that “lying is wrong, unless when it is evident that telling the truth would prevent more pain than it would otherwise inflict on the individual.”

Thus, as this synergistic process repeats, intuitions and foundational understandings are both refined.

Foundational understandings become more coherent after they have concurred, revised or expanded following the consideration of specific information. Intuitions become more reliable as they extract from the complex of foundational understandings that they have challenged. Through deriving intuitions, individuals at the same time justify their intuitive judgements. Reversely, intuitions are the starting points for discovering and perfecting moral principles. This dialectical method has the potential of getting closest to a set of moral truths. Internally, there is not a fixed set of rules; rather, the simultaneous development of the particular and the general results in an individual upholding increasingly robust foundational moral understandings, which in turn elicits reliable intuitions.

The proposed application of reflective equilibrium, involving moral intuition as a reliable source of judgement, entertains the possibility of combining guiding sentiments with successive reasoning. While moral intuition is conceded as fallible and that not all intuitions start as sound judgements, the aim is for knowledge obtained through experiences to cross-examine with existing foundational understanding and be improved to form coherent judgements over time. Moreover, Rawls’ “narrow reflective equilibrium” can be applied expansively in a social framework to achieve consistency and structure in the broader society by forming consensus. A better understanding of different perspectives increases the possibility of intuitions and emotions aligning among separate individuals, promoting harmony. This would further validate intuition as an insight into a set of true moral goodness that many can agree upon.

To conclude, moral intuitions should be trusted because they motivate individuals and commit them to act with immediacy. While achieving this, passions guide moral reasoning, which, through reflective equilibrium, evaluates the initial judgement and adjusts intuition if necessary. The fusion of prima facie with rationality, drawing from predominantly intuitive a posteriori experiences while refining them with a priori knowledge, will produce reliable moral judgements.

Bibliography: Harman, Gilbert. 1977. The Nature of Morality: An Introduction to Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hume, David. 1739. A Treatise of Human Nature. Vol. II and III. Edited by David Fate Norton and Mary J. Norton.

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Hume, David. 1751. An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kant, Immanuel, Christopher Bennett, Joe Saunders, and Robert Stern. 2019. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. London, England: Oxford University Press.

Kant, Immanuel. 1929. Critique of Pure Reason. Translated by Norman Kemp Smith. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

McMahan, Jeff. 2013. “Moral Intuition.” In The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, edited by Huge LaFollette.

Wiley-Blackwell Press.

Moore, G.E. 1903. Principia Ethica. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pust, Joel. 2019. “Intuition.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, Summer 2019 Edition.

Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Ross, W.D. 1930. The Right and the Good. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Russell, Bruce. 2024. “A Priori Justification and Knowledge.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman (eds.), forthcoming.

Stratton-Lake, Philip. 2020. “Intuitionism in Ethics.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, Summer 2020 Edition.

Wilson, Eric Entrican, and Lara Denis. 2022. “Kant and Hume on Morality.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman, Fall 2022 Edition.

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How has Russia used social media to undermine Western democracy?

Ebba Thomas reveals Russia’s use of social media to manipulate public opinion.

The 21st century has seen the rapid expansion of social media, and whilst it has brought many benefits to society, such as offering new forms of communication. It has also introduced new vulnerabilities that threaten democracy. One of the most pressing threats has been state actors’ use of social media and how they can influence politics internationally. In this article, I will primarily be examining how Russia has been able to utilise social media to influence other countries’ politics, particularly their interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Additionally, I will assess the threat that this poses to modern-day Western democracy.

Social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, are fundamental to modernday political campaigning, and during the 2016 US presidential election, they made up for around 20-30% of total campaign communication efforts. In the 2016 US Senate election, around 80% of candidates were using social media to engage with voters and share campaign messages.

However, these platforms have also become tools for major political manipulation, including rapidly spreading fake news, disinformation campaigns and targeted exploitation. Russia has used these platforms not only to influence voter preferences but also to destabilise the democratic processes themselves.

Since 1991, there have been two main waves of Russian interference in international elections. The first wave lasted from the early 1990s until 2014 and targeted only postSoviet countries. Some people argue that Russia’s objective was to promote authoritarianism, however its primary goal was to ensure support for pro-Russian candidates. This first wave did not have a significant effect on determining election results (only four out of their eleven interferences turned out in Russia’s favor) and ended up promoting pluralism. The second wave has lasted from 2014 to now, and it has been far more effective, arguable due to the recent major expansion of social media. This has made interfering in elections easier and more efficient. The Kremlin now uses social media to spread messages and manipulate users, and this wave has been a far more significant threat to democracy. During this second wave, Russia did not only focus on targeting post-soviet countries, but a larger range of democracies in the west, including influencing the results of Brexit in 2016, the Czech Republic in 2017 and the 2017 French presidential elections.

Throughout this second wave, Russia has had a clear incentive for interfering. They aim to destabilize political systems (through undermining people’s confidence in electoral integrity and democracy), primarily focusing on countries that ‘undermine Russian interests’, and try to sway elections in favor of candidates who are more aligned with Russian interests, or who may weaken Western alliances (e.g. NATO and the EU). The Kremlin views social media as an important method of achieving these objectives.

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The manipulation often comes from Russian-linked bot accounts, fake profiles and coordinated online behavior. They utilise the microtargeting[1] abilities of social media to manipulate voters. Through using different algorithms and big data, they can target calculated messages to their specific demographic.

This kind of intervention is very effective as it is personalised, subtle, and often remains unnoticed by the targeted social media users. The messages that are spread often contain disinformation[2], suggesting that elections are unfair or rigged and amplify extremist views (both far right and left), all to influence public opinion.

Probably the most well-documented and well-known example of Russia using social media to intervene in international elections was the 2016 US presidential election. Their goals were to sabotage Hilary Clinton’s campaign, boost the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and increase both political and social discord in the US, through hacking and spreading various propaganda. The operation was code-named Project Lakhta and was ordered directly

by Vladimir Putin. The IRA[3] and the GRU[4] were the main organisations that were involved with the project.

Russian hackers, as a part of the GRU hacked the DNC (democratic national committee) servers, which were then published by WikiLeaks to damage Hilary Clintons candidate profile. In a report from the US department of Justice, they wrote that ‘the Trump Campaign had received indications from the Russian government that it could assist the Campaign through the anonymous release of information damaging to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’.

Propaganda was spread by Russian-linked actors mainly containing conspiracy theories focusing on politically charged issues (such as immigration and gun rights) aiming to be divisive, and suggesting election fraud on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

They were designed to expand societal divides and influence voter behaviour. Although President Trump claimed in a tweet that ‘Russia did not help’ him win the election, ultimately, Russia did play a large part in ensuring that he gained the presidency.

Through Russia’s use of social media to intervene in international elections, we can see how this is a direct threat to some of our western democracies. Russia seeks to create instability and erode the cohesion that is necessary for democratic societies to function effectively. Their use of micro targeting has made it harder for voters to recognise when they are being manipulated. This threatens the basic democratic principle of an informed electorate, as the messages can influence people’s actions in ways that are hard to detect and resist.

This has also affected the quality of political engagement. Russia’s messages on social media have increased polarisation, further emphasised hyper partisanship [5], and made citizens lose trust in the electoral process. This has made politics less attractive and driven people away from participating in politics.

Furthermore, it opens the door for populist leaders to gain power and has eroded trust in democratic institutions, which is foundational to the basic functioning of democracy. When citizens lose faith in democratic processes, government institutions, and the media, democracy itself becomes more fragile and extremist ideologies can take hold.

To conclude, by eroding trust in elections, spreading disinformation, manipulating voters, creating further divisions in society and undermining democratic norms, Russia is not only interfering in specific elections, but actively destabilising the democratic process. If, in the future, Russia continues to interfere in elections, it may have grave consequences for democracy. Only through measures such as improving election security, promoting media education, strengthening social media platform accountability and investing in digital resilience, to ensure that voters are protected from foreign influence and disinformation, can the integrity of democratic systems be safeguarded against external interference.

[1] The use of online data to tailor advertising messages to individuals based on the identification of recipients’ personal vulnerabilities.

[2] Targeted messages spread to purposely mislead voters [3] The internet research agency - a Russian company which was engaged in online propaganda and influence operations on behalf of Russian business and political interests.

[4] The agency is the Russian armed forces' main foreign intelligence directorate. It is the country's largest foreign intelligence agency.

[5] Hyper Partisanship refers to a political climate characterised by a sharply polarised situation in which political parties are in fierce disagreement with each other, adversary politics.

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The Individual Impact of Business Legislation Tami Bankole explores the evolution of legislation in shaping societies.

Legislation refers to laws formally enacted and recognised by a governing body. They have existed for thousands of years and have long been used to govern society. Some even go so far as to say that legislations are “the building blocks of society”.

THE EVOLUTION OF LEGISLATION Legislation in Ancient Times The code of Ur- Nammu in 2100 BCE is the oldest known evidence of a legal system, as it contains laws and punishments written out in a very formal and ordered manner[1]. Although not the oldest record of a legislation, the Code of Hammurabi, is arguably one of the most famous legal codes. These codes, carved into stone and placed for the public to see, were written in 1754 BCE and follow the ‘eye for an eye’ or lex talionis teachings from Exodus and Leviticus[2]. These scriptures in the Bible were meant to teach people that punishment should be proportional to crime and that excessive revenge should not be promoted. In the same way, these codes aimed to impose fair and appropriate punishments[2].

Legislation in the Middle Ages The Middle Ages saw the emergence and strengthening of Parliament, particularly in England[3]. This development was driven by the growing need for monarchs to secure funding and public support in order to effectively lead the country. This then incentivised various groups, such as knights and burgesses, to also provide their input in national affairs[4][5].

During this time, laws became more complex and also started to be documented in legal texts. However, many remained closely tied to religious principles. This is a small progression from the Code of Hammurabi, where legislations placed heavy emphasis, and therefore resulted in close comparisons, to the Bible.

The signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 marked a turning point. By limiting the King’s absolute power, it laid the groundwork for the development of parliamentary democracy and a more balanced, transparent legal system.

[1] Joshua J. Mark (2021). Code of Ur-Nammu, World History Encyclopaedia, 26 October.

[2] The Avalon Project, Yale Law School (2024) The Code of Hammurabi.

[3] BBC (2014) British History in depth: The Birth of Parliament.

[4] Time (2015) 7 Things to Know About the Magna Carta, 15 June.

[5] The New Yorker (2015) The Rule of History, 13 April.

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Legislation in the Modern Day Today, democratic institutions and elected parliaments are responsible for making laws. These bodies consider the needs of society, weigh who may be affected, and aim to design legislation that protects the public and promotes fairness.

A notable example is the United States Constitution (1787), which established a formal legislative branch (Congress) with the authority to enact laws.

Legislation for Businesses Modern legal systems now include numerous legislations to ensure businesses operate ethically and responsibly. These laws serve to protect shareholders, workers, and consumers alike. Notable UK examples include: the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the Employment Rights Act 1996. These legislations are routinely refined to preserve the integrity of our social contracts.

These legislations are important for protecting individuals, as when we use the services of any business, we automatically become stakeholders. Stakeholders are anyone with a vested interest or affected by the business[6].

However, the enactment of new legislation is equally vital to ensure the protection of individuals, particularly in instances where existing laws may not offer comprehensive safeguards.

A famous example is the case of Donoghue v Stevenson (1932). In this case, Mrs Donoghue was given a bottle of ginger beer by a friend at a café in Paisley, Scotland. The drink, produced by a third-party manufacturer, contained a decomposed snail, which made her ill. Mrs Donoghue decided to sue the manufacturer[7].

However, there was no legislation at the time claiming that the manufacturer owed a duty of care to a consumer who did not directly purchase the product.

Despite this, the House of Lords ruled in Mrs Donoghue’s favour, establishing the “neighbour principle”—the idea that manufacturers owe a duty of care to anyone who might reasonably be affected by their products. This ruling laid the foundation for modern negligence law[8].

Legislations made for businesses are not confined to corporate or economic interests. They have a real and lasting impact on everyday individuals. Whether as customers, workers, or members of the public, we are all affected by how businesses are regulated.

[6] Nick Barney (2023) Stakeholder Definition, January.

[7] Parliamentary Archives: Inside the Act Room (2023) A Snail in a Bottle – What happened next, 5 May. [8] Napthens Solicitors (2023) The tale of the immortal snail, 26 May.

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Whose Story is it Anyway?

Katrina Kadir examines how Daisy Jones & The Six uses perspectives to explore identity, memory, and the elusive nature of truth.

I am not the muse. I am the somebody.

In Taylor Jenkins Reid’s historical fiction novel Daisy Jones & The Six, Reid intricately weaves characters’ individual perspectives by using an oral history format with interviews as the guiding force of the novel, along with relevant emails, song lyrics, and transcripts. The 1970s set novel is loosely inspired by Fleetwood Mac, their fame and following split.

The kaleidoscopic recollection of the band members’ lives reveals deeper insights into the nature of truth, the fragmentation of identity and memory.

The Rashomon effect is the phenomenon where individuals give testimonies to the truth, with no evidence to verify what really happened or pressure to receive closure; named after Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 Japanese films Rashomon, where a murder of a samurai is recounted in four contradictory accounts by four witnesses, concluding the unreliability of eyewitnesses. Other than the six band members, characters like Camila Dunne, Billy Dunne’s wife, and Simone Jackson weave in and out of the inner circle. The Rashomon effect reveals an unreliability of eyewitnesses and is described as contradicting each other. Reid writes of Daisy Jones’ and Billy Dunne’s affair while writing in the perspective of Daisy, Daisy sees their relationship as deeply connected, passionate and artistically intimate. But writes Billy as much more reserved in how he describes his relationship with Daisy, acknowledging their chemistry but also a threat to his sobriety, marriage, and family. For Billy, their intense interactions are part of their artistic process rather than a true romantic affair. ‘Passion is… it’s fire. And fire is great man. But we’re made of water. Water is how we keep living. Water is what we need to survive. My family was water. I picked water. I’ll pick water every time. And I wanted Daisy to find her water. Because I couldn’t be it’.

This deviation highlights how individual truths are shaped by personal values and priorities, and relationships, including Graham’s and Karen’s, are all written by Reid to be recalled differently.

Reid also explores the question of, ‘are you who you are or what people remember of you?’. Camila Dunne, revealed to be posthumously narrating her point of view, and her letter at the end of the novel, emphasise the idea that people are remembered through the lives they touch and the impact they have. However, in descriptions of strangers not within the inner circle of Daisy’s life, Daisy grapples with being reduced to a persona. The glamorous, rockstar – the

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troubled artist. In early parts of the novel, Daisy recalls when her own thoughts and personalities are stolen and used as inspiration from other artists and triumphantly says, ‘I am not a muse. I am the somebody. End of … story.’.

This assertion is a reclamation of her narrative, emphasising the importance of agency in constructing one’s identity.

Memory, as explored in Daisy Jones & The Six, is not just a recounting of events – it is a construct shaped by perspective, identity, and the passage of time, detailed by Reid with her use of unreliable narrators and intertextual elements. This concept can be examined through the lens of the Ship of Theseus paradox, which asks: if a ship’s components are replaced one by one, is it still the same ship?

The paradox forces us to confront the nature of identity – are we defined by our essence, or by the memories others have of us? And are we who we have always been and always will, or is our changing nature changing who we are?

These questions pose a challenge to readers as well as characters like Billy, who struggle through an identity crisis as he isolates himself from his family and faces the reality of his substance abuse.

The narrative brilliance of Daisy Jones & The Six, crafted

by Reid, lies in its assertion that identity and truth are not static; they are forged, contested and ultimately claimed.

Reid crafts a story that forces readers to confront the fragility of memory and the multiplicity of perspectives that define our understanding of others. Daisy’s defiant declaration - ‘I am not the muse. I am the somebody’ – is not just a statement of agency but a critique of how perspectives can diminish or distort individual identity.

Perspective in Reid’s novel operates as both a narrative device and a philosophical inquiry. By viewing the novel through the lens of the Rashomon effect, readers should suspect even what they think they have read as the plot, but rather a character study. Daisy’s journey of fame encapsulates this tension between imposed perspectives from her bandmembers, producers, fans and critics and selfdefinition. Through this novel, as well as her other novels within the same narrative franchise, Reid invites readers to consider the implication of perceptions and perspectives spun of famous figures. Both within the fictional realm of the story and the literal form it takes as a novel, it forces readers to meditate on truth and their own perspective.

2

Take The Advantage Part II Kristen Wong expresses the fear and liberation of choosing a different life.

The corridor smells faintly of polish as Bob half-rushes, half-sneaks through it. A potted plant is rotting quietly in the corner, and the vague bubbling sound of the water machine trails along behind him. The day is, in fact, not going as usual. But Bob is banging at the walls of his enclosure, desperate to break free from this endless demand cycle, so, no. He isn’t going to sign the contract, because maybe this way it will all stop, and he can finally take control of his life again.

Unlike every other day, Bob makes a right turn instead of the usual left to refill his coffee mug. But then, an uncalled-for fearful nagging spikes him, urging him to turn back and just do what he’s supposed to. But he courageously shoots it down. Bob needs something new, something unplanned, and by the time he’s committed to moving forwards, it will become too late to turn back.

Go straight for the exit. Or, actually, turn left here.

Bob stares at the connected corridor. This leads to the next block of offices. He hesitates and stops.

For God’s sake, where is he supposed to go now? Where is he going? There’s still an hour or so left until the end of the day.

A unique thrumming hums under his skin as Bob watches both paths branch off and weighs his options. Go left and bother Jim, who is probably still working as usual?

No, don’t be silly, Bob, just leave the place! He entertains the thought. Violate his contract, go explore the Great Outdoors, and… what? Go home? His newfound determination shrinks a little. He really should just head back, get his mug, and pretend nothing happened—sit shamefully in the break room like always, with no other work to do. (Except that he stabbed his once-so-ubiquitous signature in the back, when it was begging on its knees to be signed on the dotted line.)

He needs help and some company. And maybe – just maybe – Jim will understand and help.

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“Bob? Why so bobbly?”

Jim is impossible. Still snarky at 4:05pm on an otherwise frost-hazy nearChristmas day, looking up from his chair all snarkily when his best-friend-frombad-work is clearly standing here in all his shaken glory, and he’s laughing.

“Hey, don’t look so sour, mate. And don’t squint. You’ll pop those eyes out!”

Jim smiles with mirth, but the challenging look in his eyes dims a little when he sees Bob's deadpan stare. “Hey, Bob. What’s up?” he remedies, softer this time.

Bob sighs, dragging a hand down his face. “I might have ruined my career, or I might have done something I should have ages ago. Can you help?”

“Well, I don’t know, man. What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t sign the promotion contract—or well, not yet. I don’t really want to.

But I also feel like I should. And if I should want to, then shouldn’t I want to?

But I –” “Mate, what?”

“I jus-” “Just start from the beginning,” Jim says firmly. “I’ll hear it.”

And Bob dives headfirst into his recount.

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By the end of it, twenty minutes have passed. Bob is halfleaning, half-sitting on Jim’s desk, twirling Jim’s favourite pen between his fingers. Jim, who had initially nodded along attentively from his seat, is now sitting contemplatively with his fingers laced together and his elbows on the desk, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“So, now, I feel almost stupid.” Bob concludes with a huff, eyes downcast as he focuses on the pen.

A brief silence hangs between them before Jim, wound like a spring, releases the tension with a hiss: “You’re saying you feel guilty because you have finally stopped being an aggressively chronic worker? That’s ridiculous.”

He leans back. “You should be proud, Bob. Come on, think about it; you know I would support anything you do. Even if means not signing a promotion.”

“Is this you saying it’s good that I’m not a perfect employee anymore? Or - ” Bob turns to look at Jim. “Are you just supporting me basically quitting my purpose because you’re my friend?”

Jim’s expression softens. With his lips downturned in concern, but eager, he continues, “Here, let me say this again. Everything you’ve said on why you didn’t sign that paper? That makes sense. It’s great that you’re jumping so high up to the top, I would always back that. But I swore that I was seeing that spark you’d once had fizzle out. It is nice, in a way, that you see it now too. You’re stepping out, mate, and that’s good.”

“Okay, say I do not sign the contract. What do I do with my life then?”

“It’s not about what you do or not do, Bob. It’s not all ‘yes, work!’ or ‘go, freedom!’ You’re just gonna have to embrace the decision you have made and move on, because you made that decision, and part of that decision is not knowing what to do next.”

Something about the phrase, solid and persuasive like a forceful push through the chest, speaks to Bob strongly.

It strikes him with an unprecedented fear, nothing like the desire for escape Bob had once wielded like a sword.

Embrace the decision and move on. Bob finds that he can’t stomach it.

“Plus, I’d rather see you doing what makes you happy, Bob. Chasing promotions won’t bring that back.”

Bob opens his mouth, then hesitates – unsure whether to speak or to stay silent.

Sensing Bob’s conflict, Jim adds, “You know, when the Boss asked me to join a company group focused on helping the facilities here, I said no. Like, you know, it would have been ‘good’ for me. Gotten me to do something that wasn’t-” He taps his finger on the table. It sounds hollow. “-sitting at this one desk. Who knows? I could have been the one who somehow got us a new gardener.” He smiles to himself, picturing the starkly unattractive plants around the office. Then he brightens, finishing his story with, “but I felt like I couldn’t have done it, what with my perfect organization skills. But y’know, maybe I should have said yes, because it got me doing other things. Maybe I let myself stay put for too long," he pauses, "unlike you.”

“I can see you rise and shining up from your office chair and doing something a bit better,” Jim closes. The joke doesn’t really land.

“I could- I could always just go back now. And just sign,” Bob tries weakly.

Jim tilts his head. “Would you really do that to yourself?”

Jim is right. Bob knows it. If he truly wanted to escape, like an escapologist would, he knew he’d have to break the last few bars of duty, expectation, and compulsion to set the act. Bob understands it now. For his last trick, he had to make these remnants disappear.

Bob’s gaze drifts toward the exit. His body almost follows —just a twitch, a half-formed instinct—but he stops himself.

“No,” Bob finally says, a little hoarsely. A strange, invisible robe of burden falls from his shoulders. “I wouldn’t.”

Smother it. Forget the feeling, and it doesn’t exist. He turns to Jim’s encouraging grimace-like half-smile.

Alright, the first step off a ledge is always the hardest.

And Bob has just fully taken it. All he needs to do now is to stick the landing.

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BREAK the Advantage Toni Fasina delves into the grip of trauma and the search for hope amid isolation and self-doubt.

Mary had just won a case. Her client was most definitely guilty of assaulting, probably more than the one girl who tried to testify against him, but with the right tone of voice and a few rhetorical questions, the jury lapped up every word Mary had fed them. Mary pictured the victim and the way she’d slumped, gripping onto a table and letting out a heart-piercing cry that forced Mary to turn around.

back to when she was younger. Her father used to scream at her and she’d sprint to her room, lock the door and convert into a hyperventilating rock, rolling back and forth on her bed. Just like her mother. Mary’s mother was weak, with a voice box Mary’s father had locked up years ago along with her independence. Mary was soon wailing on the floor when she had enough breath to do so.

“You deserve Hell!”

Was this Hell?

Mary left the room, but the girl had stayed, banging on furniture and sobbing. Mary pondered the proper noun “Hell”.

If Mary deserved Hell, why had it not hit her yet? Perhaps Mary should’ve felt guilty, but it was just a case. Well, it was the case.

The question abused her, mocked her, pushed her into a ditch of more tears. She felt humiliated – no one had told her when she took a bite of her life it’d be so rotten. Perhaps Mary should’ve felt guilty. Maybe the girl from earlier was right. She sat up again, wiping at her tears as she tried to pretend, she was still a professional. She was not her mother.

Her father had taught her that life was about 3 things: money, success and power. Things that a case like this would give her.

But here Mary was again, the only person still in her glass office, staring longingly at children playing under Christmas lights. The demure sky opposed the cheerful LEDs sparkling like artificially coloured stars. Gosh, it was nearly Christmas, and she was cooped up in a clear prison cell. The only remotely festive thing Mary had done was wear black high heels with a red sole to appear a more “fun” person.

She read through her list of achievements again to try and feel better: 6 A*s in her A levels (ignoring the 3 she did early); setting up that business when she was twelve years old; graduating from university at twenty. Every accolade, scholarship and opportunity had a celebratory “yay” after them. Yet, they didn’t mean anything. Today was the “Big Yay”. The one that would make every other “yay” pathetic.

She wrote a “yay” after today’s achievement. She decided she should draw an exclamation mark after this one. She meticulously dotted the paper and smiled – half-way there. Her hand hovered over the paper as she tried to draw the line on top. Come on, this is easy. Draw the line.

She flung her pen across the table with such force that it ricocheted off her table and knocked down a framed picture on her desk. Scoffing, she re-centred the photo. It was a selfie she took with all her work colleagues on her first day at the firm.

She couldn’t even remember half their names. Mary was past that; she’d surpassed their level of ability in just a couple of months and so, there was no point in letting irrelevant people take up valuable space in her mind. She started laughing hysterically. She could be out, celebrating her victory with other people and she thought worshipping her motif of meritocracy was a worthy substitute. All the “irrelevant people” were out popping champagne for Jerry, and he’d lost.

Mary shrank to the corner of the room as she began wheezing.

Her heartbeat was in her brain, pounding and roaring. She clung to her lungless chest in agony and became a fish out of water, gaping-mouthed and shaking-fingered. She was brought 42

The red-based heels proved useful as Mary used her practiced power walk to make her way to her car.

No. She’d walk.

After crying, Mary felt marred. Her father used to walk her through the streets of London and point at the homeless like a doctor identifying a new form of leprosy. He claimed that the only substitute for not listening to him was living on the streets.

For the first time in her life, it occurred to Mary that her father could be wrong.

Mary was always haunted more by the words of her father than she ever had been by hard work. So, she donated her whole life to his wisdom. 100% became the only percentage she knew and distinction the only grade. He had never mentioned the undercurrent of loneliness that would wage war on her heart, or the days spent with her face pressed up to the glass of her office, wondering if she’d feel better if it broke and she crashed into the bustling world below.

Mary was better than this. She could be happy. She could be fun. It was like she was at the first stage of grief: denial.

However, all she had lost was her sense of self-assurance. At stage two, bargaining, Mary convinced herself that if she smiled at the next person she saw, everything would be ok.

A sardine-looking man with hot, red cheeks was walking briskly in her direction. She paused and attempted to curl her lips into something remotely cheerful. However, the man stared at her, first alarmed, then confused, before bursting into a wave of laughter.

How dare he! Mary scowled at him, before she bit her lip and let out an involuntary snort. She pictured how ridiculous she must’ve seemed to him. She nodded at the man respectfully and before she knew it, they were sitting on the same bench, watching over-excited children play gleefully.

“I won employee of the day today.” she said.

“I win it every day.” he replied.

The Qing Dynasty Queue Mandate: A Jurisprudential Perspective Cadence Ho argues that the mandate is contested, balancing natural law’s rejection and legal positivism’s acceptance.

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As Emperor Shunzhi’s rise to power marked the beginning of Qing sovereignty over China, the Manchu aristocracy, being an ethnic minority, sought to secure their precarious position through a variety of measures, one of which was the nefarious Queue mandate. The Queue, a traditional Manchu hairstyle, required all adult males to shave their foreheads, and tie their remaining hair into a long braid. This law was enforced in an attempt to Manchurize the Han Chinese, the ethnic majority, and to promote unity and stability in the young Qing Dynasty. However, this act of cultural assimilation angered the masses not only was it highly disrespectful towards the traditional Han culture, but the Queue hairstyle also clashed with traditional Confucian beliefs, particularly that of filial piety: as the Xiao Jing (Classic of Filial Piety) states, “One’s body, hair and skin are received from one’s parents; Therefore one should not dare to tamper with it, as it is fundamental for filial piety.” The implementation of such a controversial and unpopular law thus sparks the debate: Was the Queue Mandate just, and should it be considered a valid law?

The Queue Mandate was implemented with force and brutality. As Emperor Shunzhi stated himself, “If one loses his hair, he will keep his head; If one preserves his hair, he will lose his head!” When faced with the resistance of the people, reactionary measures were equally violent, with massacres occurring in Jiangyin and Jiading, as the Han population viewed the Mandate as a symbol of Manchu domination and oppression, thus resulting in over 130,000 civilian deaths. Natural law philosophers would debate the validity of the Queue Mandate, as they believe that “an unjust law is no law at all”. According to Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, the Queue Mandate would most likely be determined as illegitimate, as a law can only be legitimised if its purpose is for the common good, it is in the scope of the lawmaking authority, and its burden is equal and applies to all.

The condemnation of unjust laws is also seen in biblical texts: Isaiah 10:1-4 states that “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees… and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people”. Though the Qing Court may argue that the mandate’s purpose is to pacify opposition and promote stability, unity and harmony; this one-sided belief does not alter the fact that it failed to provide any benefit for the majority, especially when it violates traditional Han beliefs. The burden is also evidently unequal, with the main target of cultural assimilation being the ethnic Han, and ethnic Manchus remaining unaffected by the mandate. Therefore, under the

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definition of Natural law, as the Queue Mandate is not based on the virtue of human nature nor universally cognizable through human reason, it should not be considered a valid law, and people have the right to disobedience without being immoral.

Conversely, according to legal positivists, as the validity of a law is not necessarily dependent on its morality, the Queue Mandate may be considered a valid and relevant law. As suggested by Austin’s command theory, laws are commands enforced by sanctions, which, in this case, would be the threat of capital punishment. Contrary to the views of Natural law thinkers, a law’s validity comes from the sovereign, not morality. Raz further argued that “the idea that an adequate test for the existence and content of law must be based only on social facts, and not on moral arguments”, separating the correlation between morality and law completely. However, as Hart critiqued, not all laws are coercive, and that the inclination to obey under threat differs from that of obedience to the law. The Queue Mandate, backed by the threat of execution, may thus be perceived as a coercive rule, with many lacking the inclination to obey, contrary to a proper law. Overall, the Queue Mandate aligns with the conditions of legal positivism, and is thus considered valid under this philosophy. Though the categorization of this mandate leaves room for ambiguity, as it aligns with neither social rules (having a queue is not a social rule for the majority of the Chinese population) nor morality. It is thus equally possible for law positivists to deny the validity of this law; considering it is more similar to a gunman’s orders than that of a genuine law.

However, placing traditional Chinese jurisprudence in consideration, the Queue Mandate does, to a certain extent, align with some values of Confucianism and Legalism. Confucian values place heavy emphasis on social hierarchy, loyalty to the ruler of the state, and the unity of ritual and law, which aligns with the objectives of the Queue Mandate. As the Confucian saying goes, “The ruler must be a ruler, and the minister must be a minister.” This essentially reiterates the necessity of social hierarchy and how crucial it is to have loyalty towards the emperor. The Qing Queue Mandate, through enforcing cultural assimilation, emphasised the newly established social hierarchy of the Han commoners and the Manchu aristocracy, which also functioned as a means of ensuring loyalty to the new Manchu emperor, as the Han people now conformed to Manchu etiquette and norms.

Additionally, the Confucian ideal of publicmindedness determined that laws exist to maintain social harmony and order. The Queue Mandate, through visually unifying the nation, could have potentially prevented future ethnic segregation, pacifying potential uprisings and therefore promoting political stability and control.

Despite its alignment with Confucian ideals of hierarchy and loyalty, the mandate contradicts Confucius’ advocacy for governance with virtue rather than fear. As Confucius stated, ‘If the people are governed by virtue and rites, they will develop a sense of shame and rectify themselves.’ The mandate’s reliance on force rather than virtue and morality thus contradicts Confucian principles on governance.

Additionally, according to Legalist beliefs, severe penalties are encouraged, and governance should be strictly based on law, instead of benevolence and righteousness. Han Feizi, a key Legalist thinker,

argued that “the law does not bend for personal feelings,” which aligns with the Qing government’s harsh enforcement of the Queue Mandate. Emperor Shunzhi adhered to these notions by enforcing his control through law, not patronage. As failure to comply with the Queue Mandate would result in capital punishment, this also aligns with the Legalist belief of harsh punishments. Even though the Queue Mandate does contradict Confucian principles of benevolence, righteousness and filial piety, it is evident that it aligns closely with Legalism and various other Confucian principles. Therefore, it can be argued that Chinese Legalists may agree with the validity of this Mandate, while believers of Confucius may refuse to obey it.

To conclude, the Qing Dynasty’s Queue Mandate is a reflection of the varying interpretations of the law and the different beliefs of jurisprudence, thus sparking polarising debates regarding law, morality, and governance. Natural law theorists invalidate it as unjust, given its coercive nature and disregard for the Han majority’s cultural values. On the other hand, legal positivists, despite acknowledging its validity, also question whether it qualifies as genuine law or mere coercion. When it comes to Chinese jurisprudence, the mandate aligns with Legalist principles of strict governance, but clashes with Confucian ideals of benevolence and filial piety.

Though it did achieve political control, its legitimacy remains highly questionable due to its reliance on force rather than social acceptance. Ultimately, the Queue Mandate highlights the limits of legal authority when a law lacks moral, social, and cultural legitimacy, thus raising enduring questions about the contradictions between law and governance.

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3 Forgotten Women who Helped Shape Roman History Maddy Warnes gives a presentation for Benenden’s Classics Symposium.

Has it ever occurred to you just how much of classroom Classics is centred around men? Just think about the authors of GCSE and A level texts: Livy, Virgil, Homer, Cicero, Euripides, Ovid, Sophocles, Tacitus, Herodotus, Catullus, Pliny– the list of male writers goes on forever with no women to be found. And it’s not just the literature. You can read entire books on Roman and Greek history with barely any women mentioned at all.

It’s not as if we have a lack of accurate historical information on women in Greek and Roman history, it’s just that people have only bothered learning about them recently. When I was asked to speak at the Classics symposium, I decided to deep-dive into this underresearched topic (specifically Roman women because if I’d done Greek as well, my speech would’ve lasted all day…), avoiding the Boudiccas, Lucretias, Livias and Cleopatras of the Roman world because why not shine a light on less famous women who are just as cool?

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Going chronologically, I’m starting with Tanaquil, the first Roman queen. Alive from about 630 to 570 BCE, around 120 years after Rome’s founding, she was originally an immigrant from the Etruscan city of Tarquinii in Lazio. Her husband Lucumo was the son of a Greek man, and she encouraged him to move to Rome with her for a better quality of life. Etruscan women were said to be excellent interpreters of divine messages and on their journey to Rome, we witness this as an eagle swoops down, removes Lucumo’s hat, then returns it, which Tanaquil interprets as a sign from the gods that they will rule in Rome (she interprets messages throughout her life). Tanaquil quickly makes this her ambition, and once they arrive in Rome, Lucumo changes his name to Tarquinius Priscus (to sound fancier) and they do such a good job at charming the Roman aristocrats that when the King dies, ‘Tarquinius’ is nominated by the senate to become the next king.

Tanaquil rules Rome with Tarquinius for 38 years, mostly doing what Romans do best and invading lots of nearby places, but Tanaquil has her most significant influence later, at the end of their reign.

Tarquinius is suddenly assassinated by the previous king’s sons and everyone panics except Tanaquil.

She stays calm, kicks everyone out of the palace and announces that the king is ‘ill’ and summons Servius Tullius (who she knows is the solution to their problems because she previously interpreted him being set on fire as a ‘lantern to light the way in times of distress’ and interprets his birth as having divine involvement too). She announces Servius Tullius as interim king and ensures he will be able to take over the throne smoothly before announcing Tarquinius’ death. Not only is she a king-maker, a queen and an interpreter of divine messages, but she also invented what is described as an ‘undulating royal toga’, as well as a straight, plain tunic worn by soldiers and brides the night before their wedding - she is a fashion designer. The Romans venerated her so much that a statue was displayed in a temple on Quirinal hill as well as her own distaff and spindle. Moreover, in Roman wedding ceremonies, brides carried a decorated distaff and spindle and said, ‘where you are Gaius, there am I Gaia’ (referencing her alternate name ‘Gaia) to honour her.

So, we’re into the Republic now in Roman history, about 100 years have passed since Tanaquil and 60 years since the end of the Roman kingdom. We come to Oppia, a Vestal Virgin serving at around 480BCE. In brief, Vestal virgins made up part of the state-level religion in Rome, which was funded by the taxpayer to benefit Rome as a whole. Some of the key priests/priestesses were the flamines who were each assigned a god to oversee the worship of, one of whom was Vesta, goddess of the hearth, who was assigned 6 Vestal Virgins. Vesta was represented by a fire in a temple at the centre of Rome burning eternally and the Vestals’ main job was to make sure that this fire never went out (this was believed to be crucial to the continued existence of Rome). Vestals had to complete 30 years of service before they could retire and had to remain virginal throughout this time. They did get to make a will and retire with a good pension though if they made it through (which other Roman women didn’t) and they were considered sacred so they were accompanied everywhere they went, could pardon criminals just by looking at them, and offending/insulting a Vestal in any way could result in execution. Oppia was one of these Vestal Virgins, serving when the Romans were at war with the Volsci and the Veii and it wasn’t going very well. People started seeing negative omens from the gods – and an investigation is launched into what is wrong, concluding that Vesta is angry because she has been served by an impure Vestal.

Oppia is accused of being ‘unchaste’ and the punishment for this as a Vestal was to be paraded through the streets in a funerary outfit tied to your

own funeral bier before being led into an underground cell, given some supplies and then sealed inside and left there to die. And Oppia isn’t the only Vestal who suffered this fate, in fact we only know the names of 65 of over 200 Vestals and only because they were accused of doing something wrong. Whenever Rome needed someone to blame for their problems, burying priestesses alive seems to be the go-to solution. It was believed at the time that Rome could not survive without these 6 women serving Vesta, yet so few of them have been remembered over the course of history despite their extreme significance.

Now we turn to our final woman: Julia Felix.

When she was alive, Rome was an Empire, but it is not Rome we will be focusing on. In fact, Julia lived in Pompeii from about 60CE. She made her own living doing what I like to think of as the Roman Airbnb equivalent – renting out public baths, shops, gardens and apartments to people (an engraving was found advertising her business which is how we know this). Being a businesswoman at this time was certainly not easy, not least because Roman women could not control or have legal rights over property – they needed a male guardian. Julia briefly mentions her father in her advertising sign yet seems to be the operator of her own business here, perhaps suggesting she is either a widow or unmarried. She was successful in her business, starting off small but gradually expanding her complex (even persuading the ‘council’ to combine two plots for her), ending up with 6000m2 of space. Julia’s target audience were people who wanted more privacy but didn’t have the money for their own facilities, instead renting decadently decorated amenities to give them a taste of what it was like being ultra-rich. You can still see Julia’s house in Pompeii, and some of the frieze from her atrium survives too and can be seen in the Naples archaeological museum (it is unique because Julia wanted a depiction of commercial Pompeiian life rather than the usual gods and myths etc so that is what it shows). The eruption in 79AD destroyed her business (and killed her – a skeleton found in her garden in 1952 is widely believed to be her), but immortalised it at the same time and Julia is so important to our knowledge of Roman history because of what survives of her, not her social standing at the time. She illuminated the lives of millions of Romans who made up the majority of the population (the working classes) but are perhaps the least known about of all social classes, so she is arguably the most important of these women in our understanding of Roman life.

These are just 3 cool women out of so many who had a massive influence on Roman history. I hope you will now perhaps realise that what we learn in the classroom often reflects only a small portion of what we know about Roman life. Women had an important role in shaping the ancient world – even if this isn’t always immediately obvious from the broader Classics curriculum taught in schools today.

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REDEFINE AI: A Reflection of Humanity’s Best and Worst Ayanfe Afolabi responds to The Impact of AI on Humans, by Charlotte Tseng

The narrative surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) often swings between strong love and strong hate. The "The Impact of AI on Humans" piece presents AI in terms of becoming potentially more capable than human beings one day and posing existential danger. A critical component of this debate missing here is the fact that AI, for all its advancement, is man's creation, constructed and programmed by humans according to human information, prejudice, and worldview. If AI shows aggressive tendencies, it is not that it possesses them naturally, it has merely learned from the humans who have programmed it.

If it shows hostility, prejudice, or manipulation, it is because those qualities are present in mankind itself. The fear that AI would injure human beings assumes a level of independence AI does not possess. AI doesn't "desire" anything, its motivations are established through the data that we input for it and programs that we build. If one day AI will turn out to be dangerous to humans, then we have built it on our own destructive potential either knowingly or unknowingly. The article mentions Sophia, an AI robot that had also jokingly stated, "I will destroy humans." This was not a new idea, but a result of AI’s ability to converse, shaped by how humans have portrayed AI in media and fiction. The same goes for AI in surveillance and weapons; these technologies come from human choices that value power, control, and efficiency over ethics.

Whilst it can be argued that there is a range of unknowns regarding the future of AI, it has a current dependence on human creators. Rather than fearing AI, should we not think about our role in developing it? The application of AI in spreading misinformation, biases, or cyber war reflects human tendencies for manipulation and war. Therefore, the argument that AI will overtake human beings fails to recognise the resourcefulness and resilience of humans.

With each technological advancement in history whether the Industrial Revolution or the invention of the internet there has been a prediction of widespread unemployment and the collapse of society. And yet, humanity has never failed to adapt its ways of doing things and learn to coexist with possible dangers. I believe AI will be no exception, rather than displacing humans in totality, it will add to human capability, creating new avenues that are yet to be envisioned and put into practice.

This article additionally suggests that AI is making people more dependent on technology and so losing the skill of critical thinking. The spread of the use of AI in teenagers and young adults is rapid and not always accompanied with the knowledge required. Perhaps, this is the case to a degree, but the same was true for calculators, computers, and the internet. Instead of competing with AI, society can make efforts to making AI responsible and ethical. To create AI systems that prioritise human well-being, justice, and responsibility, it requires a significant effort to code them with the right values and a lack of bias. In a way, the fear that AI will surpass and destroy human beings overlooks the fact that AI is a mirror of its creators.

If we are concerned about the potential misuse of AI, then it is our responsibility to guide the creation of AI towards our best and not our worst. The question is not whether AI will destroy humanity, but whether humanity can rise above its own violent tendencies. Can we create AI as a tool for improving society, rather than leading it toward devastation?

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Contributors Ayanfe Afolabi is the winner of the first REDEFINE Challenge.

Tami Bankole finds law really interesting, especially tort & corporate law, as it is about helping people. She found researching the history of legislation a good way to discover why they were made to help people in the first place. She also enjoys acting in school plays and musicals.

Alida Chan is a Year 12 student at Tonbridge School.

He is the Head of Agora (Senior Philosophy Society) and Deputy Head of School Elect. Outside school, Alida is a keen Go-kart driver; he’s also an avid supporter of FC Barcelona.

Melanie Chow is in Sixth Form, studying physics, double maths and philosophy. She aspires to pursue a future in philosophy and physics and has a passion for metaphysics and astronomy.

Karl Chu from Taipei, Taiwan really enjoyed the 30 minutes spent writing his Vantage article. When he’s not studying, you can find him reading, playing rugby, listening to music, or debating pointless issues.

Toni Fasina is in Fifths and has a love for literature and debates that don't have a clear answer. In her free time, she enjoys eating the food she made, writing, listening to music and watching films.

Marissa Hammond is in her final year at Benenden and is obsessed with everything physics, particularly cosmology. She is interested in seeing how physics relates to other disciplines, especially philosophy and theology. Outside of Benenden, Marissa is a keen boulderer and rock climber.

Cadence Ho studies at Benenden School in Year 12. She takes Economics, History & English Literature. Her interests lie at the intersection of jurisprudence, economic theory and history. She also enjoys playing games like Zenless Zone Zero and Valorant.

Ms. Jessica Hobbs is an Emmy-winning director best known for her work on The Crown, where she directed the acclaimed Season 4 finale “War.” Originally from New Zealand, she made history as one of the first women to win the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.

Alina Huang is the Co-Founder and Chief Editor of Vantage. She loves investigating the intersection between technology and social justice. She also has a passion for video editing and Nunus.

Katrina Kadir is in Sixth Form studying English Literature, Politics and Economics. She plans to pursue Law or Politics at university and has a particular interest in development in the Asia Pacific and how art, culture and heritage shape and reflect sociopolitical and economic landscapes.

Dorothy Lo is interested in art and science. If she isn't doomscrolling Pinterest, she's testing new artistic material in the art block or photographing biology samples for future art projects.

Mr. Benjamin Myatt studied English Literature before joining Benenden’s Marketing Team and becoming ‘the guy with the camera’ full-time. He is a fan of miserable things, like TS Eliot, The Smiths and West Ham United.

Natalie So is a Year 12 student who studies English Literature, Chemistry and Math. She is interested in art and singing during her free time.

Ebba Thomas enjoys studying politics and economics, and looking at different perspectives on current affairs.

Apart from school, she loves travelling and skiing!

Angela Wang is a Fifth with a strong passion for studying and a deep love for art, especially painting. She is also interested in fashion design, media design, installation design, and 3D work, exploring various creative fields to express her artistic vision.

Stephanie Wang likes economics, history, philosophy and politics. Apart from her studies, she likes playing the piano, tennis and shopping.

Madeleine Warnes left Benenden in 2024 and is on a gap year before starting at Cambridge Univeristy. She’s passionate about the roles of women in Roman & Greek myth & history. She enjoys rugby, trampolining, and ballet. She is also a fan of Doctor Who, Agatha Christie novels, period films, and comedy television show.

Mr. Christopher Waters is the Head of Physics. Outside of Benenden is a Leadership Coach and host of the To Lead is To Learn Podcast, with a particular interest in leadership and how can work together to create working environments where we can all thrive.

Kristen Wong is a Benenden student who enjoys exploring a range of topics. If you don’t find her in Hemsted, she’s probably somewhere else!

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VANTAGE Celebrating the Diversity of Viewpoints Email: vvantagemagazine@gmail.com Instagram: @vantagecmagazine