Thunk 38

A Thunk is a beguilingly simple-looking question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light. © Ian Gilbert

Thunk 38

If you were cold, would it be ok to burn a renaissance painting for warmth?

Cosmic Citizen

What does it mean to be a Cosmic Citizen?

Theatre of the Absurd

What's absurd about the Theatre of the Absurd?

The Sublime

Can an earthquake be considered 'Sublime'? 

Cafe Scientifique Dubai: Event 2

Cafe Scientifique Dubai

Event 2: Human Brain-to-Brain Interface

Date: Friday 31 May 2013 

Time: 5:00pm-6:30pm

Now that rat brains have been connected via the internet, it's only a matter of time before human brains link up directly in cyberspace. Join us as we discuss the human brain, the meaning of consciousness, and the consequences of uploading the mind and storing it digitally.

For more info, visit: www.cafescidubai.com 

Space Oddity

A revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station. There's something poignant about the video - that's Earth in the background! For REAL!!

Click here to view. 

Talking of Books

A few of the Winchester Students were on 103.8 Dubai Eye's 'Talking of Books' radio programme this year. 

Click here to listen to Raya, Edeline, and Mr Roberts talk about David Deutsch's book, The Beginning of Infinity.

Click here to listen to Mehvash, Faiza, and Mr Roberts talk about Peter Diamandis' book, Abundance

Jason Silva Visits Winchester Again!

Wonder Junkie, Epiphany Addict, Re-mixer of Awe, Ideas DJ - The incredible Jason Silva visited the Winchester School again this year! It was great to have him over! A lucky few even got to have lunch with him!  Jason is the most inspirational, exciting person on the planet. Check him out on: thisisjasonsilva.com

Our Intelligent Optimism movement has been moving steadily along. We've had numerous workshops led by Mr Roberts and by the Sixth Reformers for students and teachers.

Visit our website for more information: www.intelligentoptimism.com 

Winchester Debates 2013

After a few extremely rousing and keenly contested preliminary rounds, we had the finals of the 2013 Winchester debates earlier this month. 

The motion was: "This house believes mankind should pursue immortality."

Click here to view the video 

Brain Awareness Week was successfully held at Winchester this year. 

Click here for more details.

Winchester Time Capsule

Join us on 16 June as we bury our Time Capsule.

Saturn Opposition

On Monday, The Winchester Astronomy Group took the Celestron CPC 1100 Cassegrain-Schmidt telescope to view Saturn and its moon Titan. We it's stunning rings and even saw the Cassini division in the rings! A sublime and awe-inspiring sight. 

Winchester Astronomy Art Exhibition

Click here to view images from the phenomenally successful and novelly-themed art exhibition.

Students take learning into their own hands

The video with the most views and downloads on  TED is Ken Robinson's talk on how 'Schools Kill Creativity.' This year's TED prize went to Sugata Mitra's idea of having a school in the Cloud. The tide is changing... will we see a Learning Revolution?

Watch this video in which students at Monument Mountain Regional High School take their learning into their own hands. 

Based on what you watched in the video, if you had to design your own school, how would you structure it? Who would get to attend? What problems do you foresee? What would the role of the teacher be?  I look forward to reading your response. 

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking is a word we bandy about all the time. What exactly do we mean by it?

 Post your thoughts on what you understand when you hear the words, 'Critical Thinking.'

Names

Do parents / should parents have the right to name their children whatever they like?

Read this article and then post your thoughts.

High-Tech High

Click on the image above to watch a video of a school with a radical new approach to education and then answer the questions below. 

1) Would you like to study at High-tech High? Say why or why not.

2) How long can you go without connecting to a device or to the internet? What do you feel when you are not connected or don't have access to the internet?

End-of-course exams?

What do you make of Education Secretary, Michael Gove's decision to bring back the traditional two-year A levels and end-of-course exams?

Click here to read 

Astronomy Club Website Updates

Our Astronomy Club page has been updated with info about all the stuff we've been up to over the last few months. Click here to view. 

Prank

Is this prank clever or sick? 

And how would you react if you were in the elevator and this happened to you? 

Click on the image to view the video. 

Thunk 37

A Thunk is a beguilingly simple-looking question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light. © Ian Gilbert

Thunk 37

If a land has no people, can you call it a 'country'?

Shakespeare at DUCTAC

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)

Shake out of your seat with laughter with Dubai Drama Group’s season opening production of the critically-acclaimed parody at Dubai Community Theatre and Art Center, Mall of the Emirates.

The Sixth Form Literature Students are going on Friday 5 Oct for the 4:30pm show.

Anyone interested is welcome to join us at the venue.

Click here to book your tickets.

Scientific Literacy

"One may not be considered to be fully literate if one is scientifically illiterate in the 21st century."

Say why you agree or disagree. 

Aggressive Teacher

Click on the image to watch the video.
Did he deserve what he got? Say why

Philosophy 101

Are you the same person you were one hour ago?

Science Stuff

Will the internet ever attain consciousness or become self aware?

TEDx Winchester Promo Video

TEDx

Why should we use all our creative power? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money. - Brenda Ueland

Click here to view our second promo video:
(2 min) The Importance of Creativity

Thunk 36

A Thunk is a beguilingly simple-looking question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light. © Ian Gilbert

Thunk 35

If you acted as if you were a good person, does that make you a good person?

Venus Transit

Well, Venus made its way safely across the face of the sun. The world didn't end (no thanks to the gong meditation masters)

I know, in this age of high-tech CGI and animations and HD graphics etc. the sight of Venus through the telescope as a black dot might have been underwhelming. Some of you might probably be wondering what the fuss was all about and whether it was worth missing out on your beauty sleep. But all I can say, is YES, it was most certainly worth it. How many people in the world can say they saw this? Just a handful. There was Venus - silhouetted against the fiery nuclear fusion explosion that is our sun - traversing its way on its orbit blissfully oblivious of our existence.

That black spot was Venus - our sister planet - baking hot and barren - but our sister planet all the same.

Those black flecks and blemishes that were the sunspots may have seemed unimpressive - but consider the fact that each one of those sunspots could swallow the entire earth. Those sunspots are associated with massive magnetic fields and intense coronal activity. And you got to see all of this with your own eyes (albeit with the aid of a telescope :)

Here are some awesome NASA images of the Venus Transit.

After a long wait, I've finally got our TEDx licences. More info below.

About the Winchester School TEDx Events

The TEDx talks at Winchester are under approved licence from© TED CONFERENCES, LLC The aim is to bring together the best minds from among the teachers and students both from the Winchester school and other schools in Dubai to talk about the power of ideas in a non-competitive environment in the spirit of free inquiry and honest exchange of thought. Speakers are encouraged to give the ‘Talk of their Life’

About TEDxYouth@Winchester

The theme for this event is ‘Ideas that will change the World’ If we wish to live in a 21st century world that is compassionate, creative, and scientifically literate then we need to encourage the youth to start challenging old notions and questioning traditional ways of doing things. The system needs repairing, and the best people to fix it are the youth. The young speakers at this event are encouraged to approach the theme from any angle: economics, art, literature, science, personal experience etc. They are encouraged to speak with passion, sincerity, and conviction to entertain, educate, and enlighten the audience.

About TEDxWinchesterTeachers

The theme for this event is ‘The Beginning of Infinity: Education and the Future’ New advances and cutting-edge discoveries in the fields of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, genetics, quantum computing, nanotechnology, and cosmology are dramatically changing how we perceive the world. If we wish to prepare students for a radically different future, the traditional methods of education cannot continue. Speakers at this event are encouraged to talk about the changes in the educational system that need to take place that will encourage innovation, creativity, compassion, curiosity, risk-taking, and a love for learning.

Here’s our webpage: www.tedxwinchesterschool.com

To register as a speaker/member of audience: click here
Our Promotional Video: the power of ideas

An idea worth spreading

An idea worth spreading is an idea that does not depend on dogma and authority, but instead is based on the values of the age of enlightenment. It is an idea that would help usher in the technological singularity and help us understand everything: the human mind, the mystery of consciousness, and the nature of reality and the universe.
An idea worth spreading is an idea that would promote kindness, creativity, art, and compassion.
An idea worth spreading would help find solutions, offer explanations, prevent cultural and intellectual stasis, and promote progress and innovation. It would propagate itself mimetically and would not be immune from criticism.

- Rohan Roberts (Organiser – The Winchester School TEDx Events)

Raya's in the newspapers!

Xpress Newspaper: Gifted with Existential Intelligence

Gulf News: Teenager set to Redefine Brilliance

And here's her short story published by Nevermet Press: Stories in the Ether

Congratulations, Raya!

Congratulations!!

Congratulations to Teresa Francis! Her short story 'The Open Door' won first place in the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature short story writing competition.

The awards ceremony is at the Intercontinental Hotel in Festival City at 1:30 pm on Friday 9 March. I'll be there. Hope you all can make it too!

Humans, for the most part, are superstitious. And no one loves their superstitions more than sports people. However, it's depressing to be confronted with the fact that pigeons are superstitious as well. What's the point of our large encephalogram quotient and powerful neo cortex? At the end of the day we're no better than superstitious pigeons.

Humanzee

"The human genome and the chimpanzee genome are now known in full. Intermediate genomes of varying proportions can be interpolated on paper. Moving from paper to flesh and blood would require embryological technologies that will probably come on stream during our lifetime. I think it will be done, and an approximate reconstruction of the common ancestor of ourselves and chimpanzees will be brought to life. The intermediate genome between this reconstituted 'ancestor' and modern humans would, if implanted in an embryo, grow into something like a reborn Australopithecus." - Richard Dawkins (Biologist, Oxford University)

We've all heard of  hybrids such as Tions and Ligers and Mules. But a few months ago, a rare Donkra was born in Haicang Zoo in China. Humans and chimps are just as genetically related to each other as a Zebra and Donkey - probably closer.

So, the question is: If (when) we have a human-chimp hybrid how should we treat it? Would it be ok to use it as a slave? Would it be immoral to eat it? Would it be murder if someone killed it? Should it have rights?

Nerd, Geek, Dork

What's the difference between a Nerd and a Geek? (And who is a Dork?)

Thunk 35

A Thunk is a beguilingly simple-looking question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light. © Ian Gilbert

 

Thunk 35
If you had a billion dollars to spend on humanity, would you use it to eradicate racism or to eradicate malaria?

Most pointless work of Art?

What is the most detestable, the most repellent, and the most pointless work of art you have ever seen?

In 1995, Jake and Dinos Chapman created Ubermensch, a lifelike 12ft-tall fibreglass image of Hawking in his wheelchair perched on top of a rocky pinnacle. It was clearly not a homage to Hawking's intellect or courage. Its title – meaning "Overman" or "superman", a term used in Nietzsche's philosophical writings – is plainly intended sarcastically. The work seems to suggest that Hawking, the modern superman, is a prisoner of his sick body. It stresses his carnal weakness and mocks the idea that his mind has somehow conquered matter.

It is less a work of art than a sneer. The Chapmans went on to make more interesting art. But the clumsiness of this caricature betrays their limitations.

They got it bizarrely, horribly wrong. Hawking's story really is an epic triumph of the human mind. His defiance of illness is profoundly moving, his ability to mentally explore the universe in spite of it an inspiration for our time and times to come. How many lives are so poetic? - Guardian.

So, the question is: What is the purpose of art?

Experiments

There are various psychological experiments out there that have been conducted by scientists to give us an insight into human behaviour. There's the Asch Experiment, the Standford Prison Experiment, The Milgram Experiment...

Is the Little Albert Experiment ethical? (It's based on the Pavlov's Response)

Say why or why not.

Congratulations!!

Congratulations to Raya Bidshahri and Teresa Francis! Their short story submissions are in the top ten shortlist at the Emirates Festival of Literature. Considering how many hundreds of stories were sent by students from all over the UAE, this is a stupendous achievement. They are truly inspirational.

Click below to read their work (Do leave a comment of commendation or appreciation)

Raya's Story
Teresa's Story

Superstitions and Occultations of the Moon

On December 10, the Winchester Astronomy Club met to view the lunar eclipse through the Celestron CPC 1100 telescope. It was a memorable experience - especially as we slewed the telescope to view Venus and then Jupiter and its four moons. We also caught sight of an exceptionally bright shooting star!

It is exasperating to hear of various superstitions associated with an eclipse. Has anyone come across any superstitions concerning eclipses?

(The lunar eclipse isn’t really an eclipse. Technically speaking, it is an occultation of the moon—caused by the earth coming between the sun and the moon and casting its shadow on the moon. It should really be called a lunar eclipse if the phenomenon is being observed from the sun. Only when viewed from the sun will the moon would be *eclipsed* by the earth.)

Click here to read further: Occultation of the Moon

Grammar Nazis

Watch this video about a Grammar Nazi

One word, four syllables: Hilarious!!!

Right and Wrong Language?

Stephen Fry is the high priest of the English Language. He's a word wizard, a linguistic master, and a national treasure of England. He is inimitable, unmatchable, and quintessentially English. The pen falters, and the lexicon runs dry in attempting to describe the literary prowess of this polymath. His books, articles, films, documentaries, and TV shows have given me countless hours of amusement and delight.

Here’s a clip of Stephen Fry declaiming against overempahsis on grammar and inveighing against pedants of the English language.

“There is no right or wrong language, just as there are no right or wrong clothes” he says, “it all depends on context, convention, and circumstance.” How far do you agree?

Knowledge

Is there any knowledge that humans should not seek to discover (because it's undesirable, immoral, too dangerous or for any other reason)?

Emirates Festival of Literature

The deadline (12 December) for the Emirates festival of Literature submissions is fast approaching. Please email me a copy of your short story and poem. Also remember to upload your work on the Festival website.

Click here for more info and to submit your work: Emirates Festival of Literature

Death

If doctors could read your genetic code and tell you with a fair degree of certainty when and how you would die, would you want to know? Explain your reasons.

Happiness

If we could spray a happiness spray in the air and make people happy, should we do it?

Alternatively, if there was an anti-grief pill, would you take it? (If you were to discover the loss of a loved one, would it be ethical to rush to the medicine cabinet and pop an anti-grief pill?)

Where do anti-depressants come into this discussion? Millions of people take them, need them, and cannot survive without them.

JC Debate

Conrgatulations to Yolany Aher and Raya Bidshahri for winning first and second place as best individual speakers in the16-and-under division at the recently concluded Jumeirah College inter-school debate. That's a phenomenal achievement! Kudos and hats off!