World Philosophy Day @ Melbourne Museum

What has 170 legs and more wisdom than Socrates, Plato and Aristotle put together? 

Answer: the students gathered together from 6 schools around Victoria to celebrate World Philosophy Day at the Melbourne Museum.

Themed ‘Future Humans’ by those brilliant educators at The Victorian Association for Philosophy in Schools, Dr Janette Poulton and Mr Ben Kilby, the day was a series of philosophical exploration, thinking and discussion stimulated by exhibits including the Triceratops (the most complete in the world!), Bugs Alive (are bugs more powerful than people!?), Human Evolution and Melbourne’s History. 

Personally, I had an absolute blast and experienced (almost) more mental stimulation than I could handle, with the group I facilitated which included students from Edenhope College, Scotch College, Lloyd Street Primary School and our very own Melton Secondary College. Questions my group of young philosophers proposed included: ‘would humans be alive without insects’, ‘is diversity necessary’, and (my favourite I can now admit): ‘Should we try to prevent extinction or is it inevitable’? 

Philosophy is an opening, an opportunity 

I was struck early on by the number of young philosophers openly proclaiming that bugs were unequivocally more powerful than people. Yet minutes into our Community of Inquiry, this prevalent opinion had been turned on its head! Thanks to their open minds, these young people easily and effortlessly embraced an updated truth. 

Turns out that many of us, especially me, have much wisdom to gain from children.