"What would you ask the past?" is the 11th Questions’ Festival motto

"What would you ask the past?" This is the motto of this year's Questions’ Festival. Now in its 11th edition, the Festival that gets the whole CIV community questioning kicked off yesterday, on World Philosophy Day. 

Kids made grown ups think, grown ups thought like kids, and such was the restlessness evident in many of the questions that would be asked to the past. "What's the best thing?" (Brian M., 5 years old); "Did the world get better the day I was born?" (Maria B., 5); "Can plants think?" (Matteo O., 6); "What was it like being inside Mommy's tummy?" (Vasco N., 6) or "Are you proud of me (Francisca do A., 7) seem surprising to you?

What about these? "Was there ever world peace?" (Paul S., 7); "Did I come from a star?" (Duarte C., 7); "Why did the black people have less rights?" (Madalena C., 7); "Why didn't humans think about the consequences of using oil and gas as energy?" (Chloé M., 8)

Andreia P., 9, liked to ask the Past: "Was I born before time?" and Miguel E., 10, "What would you do if time didn't exist?". Telma P., 10, would ask "What did it mean to be happy in the past?" and Vera S., 11, "Has philosophy always existed?". Emilie P., 11, would like to know "How would the past help me today?" and Mafalda A., 12, asked "The world was once a good place?".

"If you saw people today and didn't like them (their behavior), would you still fight for your country?" was Vicente R.'s question, 12. And "At what point will the past become the past, the present become the past and the future become the present?" is Madalena S.'s, 14. Pedro S., 15, wonders: "What challenges were overcome in the past, and what effective strategies could guide decisions today?"; Catarina V., 16, would like to know if "Is the world a flawed story?"; Inga L., 17, if "Is it possible to avoid pain?".

Among the adults, Jackie Rodrigues and Cidália Ferreira Bicho leave us with the pertinent questions: "Does the past define who we are or do we have the power to redefine ourselves at every moment?" and "In human evolution, where and when was the key to peace lost?"

The Festival includes 68 excellent questions mentored by philosophy teacher and facilitator Laurinda Silva, in partnership with CIV’s Library, which promotes reflection, and critical and creative thinking.

The most pertinent questions are now displayed on the windows of the bar and in the School Library, waiting for anyone who wants to think about them and draw them on the windows.