Studying philosophy can indeed encourage the development of synthetical skill as much as analytical skill. Very often philosophers will apply a concept or way of thinking common in one area to another, just to see what will happen. A historical example might be Thomas Aquinas applying Aristotelian metaphysics to Christian theology. It seems plausible that intellectual creativity and certain aesthetic creativities (visual or tactile, for example) would not be interchangeable; people are generally more comfortable in some media than others. But if one's media is thought, ideas and propositions, it can probably be transferred across disciplines (from philosophy to, say, literature or geology). It also seems plausible that intellectual creativity is a talent that people possess in varying degrees, though it can be cultivated, just like any other. How do the really good philosophers come up with their ideas? Wish I knew; then maybe I could be a really good philosopher, too :) In most cases...

There are indeed philosophers making strong arguments in favor of introducing philosophy to young children. See Michael Pritchard's article in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy for some examples. Gareth Matthews has been working for a long time in an area he calls " the philosophy of childhood ." As a philosopher and mother of nine, I can think of many, many instances in which a philosophical precept has helped my children understand a difficult idea or make a tough decision. (Of course, I can think of many more in which their eyes glazed over as they mumbled some remark about their friends' "normal" moms...)

I couldn't resist adding to Saul's thorough response. The combination of technology and philosophy raises many issues, of which two have intrigued me particularly, both of which were inspired by observing the online interactions of my teenagers. First is how the real-time communication technology so embedded in young people's social practices can be used in teaching philosophy. The second pertains to Saul's comment (above) about philosophy's role as an interpreter of conceptual change: I believe technology is very definitely shifting some of our standard philosophical concepts, especially in ethics (though this "especially" may be a reflection of my own specialization). Like Saul, I've put some of the more casual forms of computer-mediated communication to use in my classes with great success, including an instant messaging account that I also call "virtual office hours" (here I thought I'd invented the term!). My students love it, especially when they're studying for exams, working on papers,...

Oh, and one more brief comment, an anecdote: Saul noted that "[m]ost philosophersstill read prepared talks, and few use multi-media aids." This is quite true, at philosophy meetings, but can be a source of considerable anxiety for the philosopher invited to present at interdisciplinary conferences. I was fortunate to be on the program for the Society for Business Ethics annual meeting this past summer, where I expected to read my paper, without any multi-media enhancement, the way I always did. I soon discovered that everyone else -- except for the Presidential Address, on which level my paper was definitely not -- seemed to have PowerPoints, about which slides they spoke conversationally. Luckily, I'd made the acquaintance of a fellow philosopher who also happened to be a KPMG consultant, and he converted my paper into a very polished Keynote (Mac version of PowerPoint), which he operated remotely from his PDA, wowing the attendees -- and especially, me.

The questions that should be asked are those for which you'd like answers, I'd say. (How's that for a " right back atcha" response?) You might ask what makes an answer to a given question a good one. You might ask what it is about philosophy that makes questioning philosophers worth your while. When I teach undergraduates with no background in or plans to pursue philosophy, I start with rudimentary logic, because this is the area that sets the ground rules for the philosophical "game." But seriously, the best philosophical questions to ask really are the ones whose answers you want to know.