Ideas are Better Than Sex

I've been looking forward to my Philosophy for Teens class that begins this week.  This will be the fourth time I teach this class and I am planning to take it down a slightly different road.  For starters, we will be using "More Philosophy for Teens: Examining Reality and Knowledge", the sequel to the text I used for the first three times I taught the course.  Next, I am going to include technology and the digital revolution in our discussion about aesthetics.  I recently watched the documentary, "Press, Pause, Play", an investigation into the role of technology in art and culture, and since then, have been thinking about who owns art and the power of the artist in this shifting digital landscape.

I am hyped for this new group and look forward to this course with relish!  I found myself thinking about how satisfying ideas can be, like the connections between technology, art and culture that I had never considered before.  Last week's CBC Spark's episode with Daniel Weinberger talking about the 'shape of knowledge' that changes because of networks was powerfully pleasing and exciting as it 'came together' with other similar ideas from Clay Shirkey's Cognitive Surplus  and Nicholas Christakis' Connected. 


 That lead to a silly list with this header, Why Ideas are Better Than Sex and with the following itemized points:

1. contagious without being harmful to your health
2. can bring great pleasure that lasts a lifetime
3. can make money (legally) from them
4. connects you to people you have never met (in person)
5. deepens connections between people .

I think I will begin my course this year with my silly list about ideas being better than sex.  It will get my students' attention and make my point about the power of ideas.  I wonder if they will agree with my observations and silly list.  I will report back next week.  In the meantime, if you want to add to the list, please leave your comment!