Simon Armitage Leads Debate On Metaphors For The Institute Of Art And Ideas (VIDEO)

This Video Might Make You Smarter...

Last Summer, HuffPost Culture announced a media partnership with HowTheLightGetsIn - Europe's biggest philosophy festival that takes place right here in the UK (Wales, to be precise...).

Not content with pondering the big questions over 10 days in June, the people behind HTLGI also run The Institute of Art and Ideas (IAI) - a charitable, not-for-profit organisation that aims to 'foster a progressive and vibrant intellectual culture in the UK' by posting video debates online, prompting Total Politics magazine to describe them as the "European equivalent to TED".

To kick off a new series of video posts highlighting IAI's work, we've picked a debate called 'Blinded by the Light', a discussion about the role and impact of the humble metaphor on history, reality and truth.

Guiding us through the intellectual minefield are 'Radical theologian' Don Cupitt, philosophers Angie Hobbs and Barry C. Smith and poet Simon Armitage.

If you enjoy this video, there's plenty more to get your teeth into over on the IAI website, which founder Hilary Lawson promises has been built with 'innovative interactive elements' that allow you to dip into the parts of debates you find most interesting and contribute to them yourselves.

It's a fantastic resource for anyone with an inquisitive mind and a hunger for big ideas - and should keep you busy until HowTheLightGetsIn 2013, at least.

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