This document outlines the agenda for Cranleigh Thinking Day which includes seminar discussions and class debates. It provides discussion questions on various subjects for students to choose from to discuss with a partner. The subjects include Art, Business Studies, Classical Civilisation, Design, Drama and Theatre Studies, Economics, English, Geography, Geology, History, IT, Modern Foreign Languages, Maths, Music, Music Technology, PE, Philosophy and Ethics, Politics, Psychology, and Science. For each subject, students are to choose a discussion question, talk it over with a partner, and then be prepared to give a summary of their discussion to the class.

1. Cranleigh Thinking Day
Thurs 15th November
- Starters
- Seminar discussions
- Class debates

2. Questions about Art
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Can anything be a work of art?
• What makes one picture worth more than another?
• When you look at a picture of a tree, are you seeing the picture or the tree?
• What is beauty?
• Why does art matter to us?
• What is the point of a portrait?
• What do we mean by ‘great’ art?
• ‘The camera never lies’ – true or false?
• What would a world without art be like?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

3. Questions about Business Studies
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• What is the difference between taxation and theft?
• What makes a great business leader?
• Should all businesses be ethical?
• Should we sell arms to authoritarian regimes?
• Should there be a tax on business?
• Is profit the most important thing in a business?
• Would it be immoral to buy and sell kidneys?
• Is management an art or a science?
• What does it mean to be an ‘ethical’ business?
• Is there such a thing as a ‘fair’ price?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

4. Questions about Classical Civilisation
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Is imperialism always a bad idea?
• ‘The emperor Augustus was sensible that mankind is governed by names’ (Gibbon, Decline
and Fall). What does this mean and is it true?
• Why was there so little education for women in ancient Greece?
• What can study of classical civilisation tell us about the idea of beauty?
• Was slavery wrong even when no-one believed it was?
• Why do we watch tragedy?
• Can we say that the world has improved in the past 2000 years?
• What did it mean to be a ‘hero’ in the ancient world and does it mean the same today?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

5. Questions about Design
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Is the value of a design just what the end-user thinks of it?
• In the future, will computers be better designers than humans?
• Is sustainability more important than profitability?
• Is function more important than appearance?
• What is the difference between good and bad design?
• Why do we need design?
• Is design an art or a science?
• Where do design ideas come from?
• If you could re-design a human, what would you change?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

6. Questions about Drama and Theatre Studies
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Is verbatim theatre more ‘true’?
• What does it mean to be a great actor?
• What is the relationship between an audience and performers?
• What makes people want to act?
• Can theatre change the way we think?
• Is the meaning of a play purely personal?
• What does it mean to ‘become’ a character in a play?
• Should some plays be banned and if so, why?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

7. Questions about Economics
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Could Communism be made to work?
• Should unhealthy foods be heavily taxed?
• Should governments always intervene in cases of market failure?
• Why does productivity matter?
• Could we manage without money?
• Can you put a price on anything?
• Can economics explain human behaviour?
• Are economic laws like the laws of physics?
• Is economic growth a good thing in itself?
• Is there such a thing as a ‘fair’ wage?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

8. Questions about English
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Is it a problem if a political leader doesn’t have time to read books?
• Is watching a Youtube video just as good as reading a book?
• What would a world without literature be like?
• ‘Could all language be metaphorical?
• Where do words come from?
• Is there such a thing as the ‘true’ meaning of a poem?
• Do fictional characters exist?
• What makes people write?
• Do non-human animals have a language?
• Does language shape our thought?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

9. Questions about Geography
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• What is the difference between space and place?
• Does your identity depend on where you are?
• Who is responsible for dealing with climate change?
• Why does inequality matter?
• What should guide our decisions about which parts of the coastline need flood defences?
• What is a map?
• What defines a country?
• How many answers are there to the question: ‘where do you live?’
• Is space real or imaginary?
• What is a river?
• If we sent a Geographer to Mars, what would they do?
• Can you name clouds?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

10. Questions about Geology
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• ‘The present is the key to the past’ (C. Lyell). Is it?
• There is geological evidence that the Earth is 4.5 billion years
old. What does this imply about the story of creation in the
book of Genesis?
• Could animal behaviour predict earthquakes?
• Is it irrational to live near a volcano?
• How sure can we be about what is inside the Earth?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

11. Questions about History
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Are events bound to happen the way they do?
• Has visual culture become more important than written?
• ‘All history is the history of thought’ (Collingwood). Is it?
• Is the past real?
• How do we know the world wasn’t created 5 minutes ago, complete with a false
set of memories for each person and apparent records of the past?
• Is there such a thing as a true historical record?
• Does the way we think of historical events change the way they are?
• Do non-human animals have an awareness of history?
• What do we mean by the cause of an event?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

12. Questions about IT
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Should robots be used on the battlefield?
• Should we allow self-driving cars on public roads?
• Should we do more about online privacy?
• Can computers think?
• Are there any jobs a robot couldn’t do?
• Could we be living in a virtual reality?
• Is the mind a computer?
• Could computers have feelings?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

13. Questions about Modern Foreign Languages
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• What gives meaning to a word?
• In a perfect world, would we all speak one language?
• Why do we need tenses?
• Does language shape culture or culture shape language?
• Where do words come from?
• What makes people write?
• Does language shape our thought?
• Is any translation perfect?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class.

14. Questions about Maths
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Is zero something or nothing?
• Is maths a language?
• Was maths discovered or invented?
• Do numbers exist?
• Could anything be infinite?
• Why is mathematics so useful?
• Can you imagine a world where maths didn’t work?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

15. Questions about Music
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• What would the world be like without music?
• What does it mean to say a piece of music is ‘happy’ or ‘sad’?
• Why do we listen to music?
• Should you stop listening to a piece of music if you discover the composer was
wicked?
• How does music acquire meaning?
• Can everyday sounds be a form of music?
• Can silence be musical?
• Is musical quality purely a matter of personal taste?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

16. Questions about Music Technology
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• What makes a great tune?
• Could a computer compose music?
• Is copying a tune theft?
• Is the growth of online file-sharing ruining the music industry?
• Is any piece of music completely original?
• How does music acquire meaning?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

17. Questions about PE
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Is mindset more important than physical ability?
• Should PE be compulsory for all children?
• Should more be done to combat drugs in sport?
• What is the definition of ‘health’?
• Has sport been corrupted by money?
• Why does winning matter?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

18. Questions about Philosophy and Ethics
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Are philosophers better at telling us the difference between right and wrong than other
people?
• Do you know what the colour blue looks like for other people?
• Is knowledge the same as certainty?
• Can we prove anything apart from in maths?
• If you live for 100 years, will you still be you?
• Should philosophers rule the world, as Plato thought?
• What should philosophers be thinking about in the modern world?
• Could a bad person be a good philosopher?
• Has Science taken over from Philosophy?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

19. Questions about Politics
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Would the world be better if there were no nations?
• What gives the state the right to punish people?
• What is justice?
• What should politicians aim to achieve?
• Could an ideal society exist?
• Is democracy philosophically defensible?
• Where do rights come from?
• Should the voting age be lowered?
• Would having a single world government help?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

20. Questions about Psychology
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Is the mind the same as the brain?
• Are humans fundamentally unpredictable?
• Are people more irrational than rational?
• Is free will an illusion?
• Is what we perceive truly real?
• Does memory give us direct access to the past?
• Do dogs think?
• What makes a mental state count as abnormal?
• Is consciousness an illusion?
• Is the mind a computer?
• Can a psychologist believe in souls?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class

21. Questions about Science
Choose a question to discuss with a partner:
• Why should the government pay scientists to do scientific research?
• What is science?
• Why do we do science?
• Does science rule out religion?
• Could there be a scientific explanation of love?
• What is energy?
• Can science provide us with certainty or just theories?
• Does science disprove the existence of souls?
• Does evolution disprove creation?
• What is the difference between science and maths?
• Is history part of science?
• How many sciences are there?
• Could there be a science of ghosts?
• Could science come to an end?
• Could science explain why there is a universe at all?
Be prepared to give a summary to your class