fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, September 27]

When the students came into the classroom, they found Anakin scrawling a quote on the board:

“In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.”--John Ruskin

He turned around with an eyebrow raised. "Is Master Ruskin correct? How about Master Lao Tzu? He said: 'Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one's status in the eyes of others; and shame is fear of humiliation at one's inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he is automatically involved in fear of losing his status.'"

He began pacing around the room. "Does pride always go before a fall? Do we have to be humiliated before we can learn? How high do the stakes have to be before we'll admit we've made a mistake, or have been fooled?"

Anakin wasn't making eye contact with Jaina as he gazed around the room. This topic hit a little too close to home for him to be entirely comfortable looking at family.

"In order to deal ethically with other people, we need to acknowledge this very human flaw in ourselves and others. We want to believe that we are different, better than everyone around us." His gaze sharpened. "We're not. Everything is connected. You, me, the desks, the rocks outside, the deer in the preserve, the annoying person in the dorm who plays their music too loudly. Take pride in being yourself, certainly," he concluded. "But don't for a moment believe that who you are makes you more than the person sitting next to you. Because that kind of pride is where you make your first mistake."

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Take notes, roll your eyes (he'll catch you), take a nap (he'll catch you), pass notes (he'll...probably catch you)...

River listened, looking thoughtful, her mind wandering through the arguments of today's topic.

Irulan glanced at River then thought, hoping River could catch: Hello, River

River smiled and rasied her hand in a wave.

Irulan smiled, pleased. So maybe she doesn't have the talent for mental telepathy but at least she can still be heard.

"What do you think of our lesson?" She asked, curious.

"Difficult questions," River said solemnly. Of course, that was the point of the class.

"This is true," Irulan said, "I do hope when I finally get the throne I will be able to think more clearly."

"Perhaps practice means one gets used to the unclear thoughts and learn to act regardless," River replied.

Irulan nodded, "Perhaps you're right. I confess, I have yet to perfect that skill." Then she smiled, "how is your work going , have you succesfully achieved your goals?"

"My ship is flying." That was one goal achieved; an important one.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/27]

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Ino was listening, but not taking notes, leaning her head against one arm and looking exhausted. At least this topic was more interesting than last week's.

It was early, and there'd been a party last night, which meant it was more difficult than usual for John to keep his eyes open. You can listen with your eyes closed, right?

River threw a piece of crumpled paper at John, aiming for it to get stuck in his hair without him noticing.

It being difficult not to notice paper becoming stuck in your hair when totally awake and just resting your eyes, John ran a hand through his hair to dislodge her projectile. He then looked around for his attacker.

River suddenly looked totally absorbed in what Anakin was saying at the moment.

Anakin walked past and slapped his hand down hard on the top of the desk.

"Pay attention!" he barked.

John sat up straight as his eyes shot open at the noise. "I'm awake!" No, he wasn't.

"Now you are," Anakin countered snippily. "Don't give me a reason to toss you into detention."

Not that Anakin would really need a reason for John, but the niceties should be observed.

John muttered a quick, "Yes, sir."

He wasn't looking for any reason to not be able to stay out late on his date Friday.

Anakin had stalked off and had thankfully missed that particular line of thought.

He was the kind of petty ass who would totally use detention to make his granddaughter's boyfriend have an early night.

Jaina definitely noticed he wasn't looking at her. She kind of could guess why.

Qui-Gon listened to the lecture with great interest; if there was one fault that tended to be common among Jedi, it would probably be this -- pride and a utter lack of being able to admit they were wrong.

Victor felt almost as if Anakin was speaking to him personally this week.

That solidified the fact that Anakin was wrong. Victor was different, better than everyone around him. That wasn't pride, that was truth.

Kabuto smirked at the lecture, but kept his mouth shut. The notes he took in his own language were basically describing what bunk the entire lesson was.

Sokka took careful notes, but mentally substituted "arrogance" every time Sifu Skywalker said "pride". Because pride was a good thing.

That was okay, though. Sifu Skywalker was very wise, and very very scary, so it didn't matter that he was wrong so often.