Suggested topics for philosophical discussion

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1. No one knows how, where or when people began to write limericks, but somehow this humourous form of poetry became a tradition that is still very popular today. When you start to think about it more closely, there are many other things that are as unexplainable as the origin of the limerick. For instance: how, where or when did people start using words to communicate with each other? What was the first word to be said in the world? What was the first sentence? When did Norwegians first start to think of themselves as "Norwegians" for the very first time? Where does a river start? When did you start to think of yourself as a person with responsibility for yourself?
2. Consider the old dame from Peru who dreamt she was chewing her shoe. She was alarmed to wake up and discover that her dream was in fact true. Has something like this ever happened to you? Have you ever dreamt that you were doing something at the same time as you were in fact doing it in reality? What kind of actions would you say are possible to dream and do at the same time:
   
   – chew a shoe?
   – walk around the house?
   – have a conversation with a friend?
   – watch TV?
   – eat a sandwich?
   – cuddle your pet?
   – ride a bike?
   – play a computer game?
3. The second limerick is about an ape that tells his children that, given time, apes may grow into human beings, who in turn may become university professors. Do you think that humans have evolved from apes? If not, where do human beings come from? Is it likely that there is no connection between human beings and the animal world? Would you say that humans are a kind of animal? Is it just as difficult to say when the human race started as it is to say when and where the first limerick was made?