For our first ever Philosofriday session, we explored the way characters in stories that are granted wishes often get what they SAY they want but not what they MEAN they want. It’s a problem that is not just for stories such as King Midas, but is also a live issue in the philosophy of artificial intelligence. How could King Midas have rephrased, “I want everything I touch to turn to gold” so that got untold riches but his daughter didn’t become his golden girl in the wrong way? What instruction could you give a super intelligent AI so that it didn’t=, for example, end hunger by euthanising the world’s poor?
I’ve put some stimulus videos on The Philosophy Wall and you can use them as the stimulus for a session and then post your thoughts on the wall. Thank you to all those who took part in the Philosofriday. The format seemed to work well and there were lots of great contributions. both out loud and in the chat.
Sticky Questions for 2-Form Entry Schools
We’re very nearly half-way through the year. So for two-form entry schools, it’s a great time to introduce Sticky Questions – buy one Primary Silver Package containing a class set for each year group from Reception to Year 6, and it can be shared between two classes and last the rest of the year! It gives you a whole-school thinking and oracy initiative for the rest of the year for just £249+VAT. We’ll even split each class set between two boxes for your convenience at no extra charge – just add an instruction when you order.
Pause for Thought Training Video
The package comes with the option of attending a free, live 1-hour training session on Zoom, another one will be scheduled next half-term. Or you could use the Pause for Thought training video at your convenience: it designed for use at a staff meeting, with you hitting the pause button to do various activities along the way, but you can watch it by yourself.
Best wishes,
Jason