fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, January 17]

"Today we discuss lying," Anakin said as he closed the classroom door precisely on time. "Everyone lies. 'Of course that doesn't make your butt look big.' 'You like her, I like her.' 'I'm totally okay with you moving on.' 'Everything's fine, why do you ask?' It's how the world goes around because no one wants to be trapped in a conversation where someone whines at you for hours on end about how awful their life is."

He looked around the room. "Trust me. Everyone's life is terrible. They're just not telling you about it. Be grateful."

He reached onto his desk for a piece of paper. "Today we're conducting an exercise to see how well you pass this particular social ritual, then we'll discuss whether you think it is necessary. We're playing two truths and a lie. I'll tell you three things about myself and you have to decide which one is the falsehood. Then you'll all tell three things and we'll see how well you can either read each other or keep things hidden."

He gave them a small smile. "I'm very good at this." He schooled his face to absolute neutrality, put his mental blocks up to bar any psychics in the room from gaining an advantage, then recited: "During a war at home I was known as 'The Hero Without Fear.' I named my children after people I met in Fandom. I've never been beaten in one-on-one lightsaber combat." His eyes challenged them to call him out. "Who's next?"

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Does lying serve a purpose? When does it stop being a tool and start being a crutch?

"Of course lying serves a purpose. Whole damn world would blow up if everyone was honest all of the time." Reno lifted his head a little, thoughtfully mulling it over some more. "Bein' honest isn't going to change the fact that there are jerks out there who'd cut your throat if they knew the truth, and honesty isn't gonna stop people from workin' themselves to a lather when a cool head because the truth was left out is what's gonna save the day. That said, there's still a time and place. No reason to run around lyin' about everything, yo."

"It is not a question of the purpose a lie serves, but rather of the intent behind it," Karal said, voice quiet but sure. "A lie to harm someone serves a purpose, but however minor it may seem to be, it's wrong. A lie to save someone's life, or to stop them from rushing into harm, will almost always be the right thing to do."

He hesitated before continuing, because it was veering away from the question, but it was important. Well, important to him, in any event.

"When you lie to someone, you take away, in a great or a small way, depending on the magnitude, the person to whom you are lying's free will. You are taking away their ability to freely choose for themselves. Lying should be neither tool nor crutch, but rather an option of last resort."

"The fault in lying," Romeo began, "Is that, if one does it too often, people cease to believe you can ever be truthful. But I see no large harm in small lies."

"Lying definitely serves a purpose," said Hoshi. "My mother probably would have pulled me from this school if I hadn't told her a few lies."

Andrew sat there in pensive silence, listening to the other students give their answers and nodding in agreement with most.

The subject made him uncomfortable.

Adah sat there, chewing her lip thoughtfully as she considered her answer. When she finally broke through skin, she figured she should better just let out what she'd come up with, or else she'd never decide on anything. She pulled out a piece of paper and wrote.

"The trouble with lies is actually the trouble with truth. Everyone has a different idea of what is truthful; therefor, some lies, for some people, are truth, some truth, for some people, are lies. You could honestly, truly believe that something is truth or falsity, and you could still be wrong. It's all so subjective. I don't personally bother worrying about either one. 'The truth is rarely pure and never simple.'"

Wilde again. Adah had a feeling he was going to show up a lot in this class.

"Lying is a tool, just like any other," Anemone said shortly. "People are too stupid to understand the truth half the time, and are more likely to do what you want if you give them a pretty fantasy to believe in. Besides, it's only really lying if you don't commit to what you're saying. If you're spouting off a bunch of propaganda and you believe in the cause, even if you know what you're saying isn't true, it's not a lie. You just aren't providing the whole truth. Yeah, you're misleading people deliberately, but you aren't lying. It's a point of view."

"I think it completely depends on the situation," Amber answered.

"I think ... it's both yes and no," she said carefully. "About lying being a good thing sometimes as well as bad. You don't tell people the truth because hey, they can't handle it ... except they deserve to know, and maybe they could fix what's wrong. You tell your friend, hey, that haircut looks great, so she keeps going back to the same place. There's a price to pay, even with small little harmless lies. There always is."

Ethics [Thursday, January 17]

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