How should we live? What is genuine knowledge? Philosophy is a widely ranged topic in which many questions are asked about why we do the things we do. On Thursday, Ron Steven’s Grade 12 class at Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School (BMLSS) provided what they called a “Philosopher’s Café,” which helped to better educate and expand the minds of those taking part.

About a dozen different stations were available for examination throughout the high school’s entrance and within the library.

Tables, tarps, tents and electronics were set up in order to display each student’s presentation. Very creative outcomes were shown such as a space tent, where the young adults could view stars and galaxies. A lot of the stations were there to educate, socialize or play mind tricks with the person, making this event intriguing.

The Philosopher’s Cafe was good because it wasn’t necessarily something that one could just go to view; it also got the students involved. One girl attending the class, Marieke Follis, put on view five paintings she had personally created. With these paintings, there were pieces of paper and pencils hanging for the viewer to write down what emotion and meaning they felt were carried throughout each painting when looking at it.

“I presented this to find out why people think paintings express emotion,” she explained. “Also what jumped out at them at first; maybe it was the colour, the texture, the design.”

Standing behind each table, one student was present to amaze everybody and anybody with their creativity. The Philosopher’s Café displayed many different perspectives and thoughts. For instance, one of the students created a black tunnel in-between the library shelves with a dark door affront.

Sean Little, a student of the class, fabricated this mysterious tunnel to prove human curiosity. In order to do so, he didn’t advertise it like the rest of the projects, but instead lay it open for people to wander into. Nothing was inside the tunnel, showing that our mind led us into the dark because of the curiosity we hold within us.

BMLSS students had the chance to go into the “honesty box” where a young woman would ask personal questions to see how long you could stand in the box without feeling uncomfortable.

Speaking of one to play mind tricks, there was a cube in which two people were to sit on opposite sides and say what they saw. The cube was made of sticks arranged so that one student could see just random sticks sticking up, and not creating an object whatsoever, and the other student on the other side saw a perfectly structured cube.

Would you choose happiness over knowledge? Samm Amadio would.

“At one station, in the Philosopher’s Café, I sat down and a girl asked me if I’d rather have happiness or knowledge. I chose happiness because I’d rather be happy and not have knowledge than to have the knowledge and be sad,” said Amadio. “She then gave me the box, which looked like a present, and told me to never open it because I’d rather have happiness over knowledge and the contents of the box would only disappoint me.”

Students enjoyed the activity of the Philosopher’s Café, and it gave everyone a little taste of the world of philosophy.

“If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions” is a philosophical Buddhist saying.