I’ve got strengths and weaknesses. Obviously, I’d see the history and philosophy of science as being a strength. I’d see political analysis as being a strength. I’d see, in a sense, you know, the high points of especially European culture, although I’m not insensitive to the great cultural expressions of all the other continents. But I’d say that, in a way, popular culture, including many aspects of sport, which is of secondary interest. Although I confess if I actually watch a close-run AFL match I can get quite excited at the end. But it’s not my first port of call. I think what the significant thing about my interests is the emphasis on complexity, on the complexity of the human mind and what the human mind is capable of taking on. And this is why, for example, I’ve got a great passion for music.
I used to get a bit irritated that you’d often come across people who would say, ‘Oh I remember you in Pick a Box, what are you doing now?’ And I then have to say, ‘Well, actually, I’m a minister in the Commonwealth government.’ But to them the most important thing was having been on the quizzes. But on the other hand, what I have been struck by, and this is a very, very commonplace experience, is I’ll receive emails from people and they must be getting on in years themselves, but they’ll say, ‘What you said about ideas and about concepts and so on was so important that it stuck in my mind.’ You know, there was a whole series of experiences that were triggered off because of something I’d said or done, or I think the approach that I used in answering questions, you know, the analytical nature of what I was doing. I had always to think in terms of context, what is the context of the question?
