Queen's gifted and talented out on the town!

On Fri 29 January thirteen of us, who are contemplating doing Philosophy and Ethics at A-level, were fortunate enough to go to a gifted and talented conference, held at the Quaker Meeting House in Euston. The conference was intended to complement and extend our learning at school and to help us explore some alternative ways of looking at major areas of academic study.

The conference was hosted by Dr Peter Vardy - academic, theologian, philosopher and author. He animatedly took us through such complex subjects as evolutionary psychology and truth in mathematics, explaining the role of the Fibonacci sequence. He is an impressive public speaker, leaving us in awe at his ability to speak fluently and without the aid of notes. We were then fascinated by Julie Arliss, lecturer and author, when she told us about nanotechnology and how it is set to revolutionize our lives. We learnt about the manipulation of matter at the nano scale and how one third of science budgets in the US are being allocated to this new technology. A few further topics included fast treatments and diagnosis for cancer, an elevator to the moon, self-cleaning clothes and the world of Willy Wonka. We are finally going to have chocolate flavored chewing gum, flavour changing drinks and much, much more! The food industry is looking at food that is pre-engineered to cater for individual tastes, dislikes and allergies.

This thought-provoking day ended on a high, with a heated debate on the morality of abortion on demand. The central issues lying behind the debate were explored. These included whether the foetus is a person or a potential person and how the rights of the foetus, if it has any, are to be balanced against the rights of the woman carrying it.

The conference left us talking for days after, examining the issues we had been introduced to, and I know we would all jump at the opportunity to attend another such event.

Report by Delaram (IIJR)

Posted: 5 Mar 2010