fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, January 24]

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?"

"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."

Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

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"Sometimes pride pushes you farther, teaches you faster, than anything else can," Anemone said firmly. "If you take pride in your ability to learn, or if it pushes you farther than you can go before, then there's nothing wrong with that. Hubris, yeah, that would be a problem, but thinking that all pride hinders learning? That's just shortsighted."

"False humility is much more dangerous," she remarked. "If you refuse to acknowledge a strength, then you can never learn your limits or use it to the best of your ability."

"If you refuse to allow that your strength might have limits, the fall is very, very long," Anakin warned.

"If you refuse to acknowledge your strength in the first place, other people are going to take the fall for you," she shot back. "Are you suggesting we let other people suffer to prevent a might-be?"

"I'm saying if the pilots I've flown against were even half as good as they thought they were, some of them might still be alive. An unchecked ego gets you and a lot of other people killed."

"What about all the times that pride is a good thing?" Anemone asked, clearly not backing down. "Without a sense of pride about who you are, you have no self-respect. Pride brings joy, and without joy, you may as well go toss yourself off a bridge, or something else suitably emo."

"Some pride is fine," Anakin replied. "Force knows I have no patience for people in constant need of coddling, but it's the excess that will get you in trouble. There has to be balance."

"Who gets to pick what's 'acceptable' or 'justified' then? Who picks the balance? You? A committee?" Anemone bristled slightly as memories of Dewey flashed through her brain. "When we start letting other people decide what's acceptable for other people, you've got a whole new problem."

"When people are describing you and use the term 'raging asshole', it's probably time to reevaluate," Anakin replied dryly, knowing exactly who that could apply to.

"You could be a charming ego-maniac," she said with a crooked grin. "It's the ones that everyone adores that are most likely to get people killed. They're very very good at that." No personal experience with that. Nope. Nada. Move along now.

"I'm a raging bitch." Funnily, Anemone didn't seem disturbed by that. Instead, she actually cheered up. "At least when I'm on my medication I am. However, I actually am the best, so it's totally justified. They still haven't found anyone I can't kill. Well, Eureka, but she doesn't count. She had the whole planet helping her cheat."

Probably not the best argument she could have made, but it makes sense to Anemone.

Anakin snorted. "They're not going to play by the rules," he said. "Rules are for youngling games. When it's killed or be killed we don't line up in neat little rows and wait for a whistle."

"If I played by the rules, I wouldn't have killed anyone," she pointed out logically. "I was just stupid and didn't finish her off fast enough the first time. I know better than to play with my food, I do, but I was a little crazy that day. Crazier. Something."

Ethics [Thursday, January 24]

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