fandomhigh | Ye Shall Be As Gods?

"Personality reconditioning," Juli said quietly, as soon as her class had gathered and had settled down, "is what we will be discussing today."

"A person's personality is defined, in its simplest form, as the totality of an individual's behavioural and emotional characteristics. This," a faint smile, "as I'm sure should come as no surprise to any of you, can be altered through various methods--such as drugs, and the like."

"In my universe," Juli told them, "this sort of reconditioning is used instead of capital punishment. If you commit a crime, your mind is rewired to produce a 'new you' that is more beneficial to society. What other uses can you think of for rewriting someone else's mind?"

She leaned folded her hands neatly over her stomach, her eyes sweeping the classroom. “Would you ever alter someone else’s mind?” Pause. “What do you think would drive you to do it? If you are sure you would never do it—and, please, remember that there are no certainties and the universe enjoys making a fool of the best laid plans—consider what might drive someone else to do it. Would you condemn them?”

“After that,” Juli said, “I open the room to discussion about the pros and cons of personality reconditioning. What do you think? Compare and contrast your ideas with your classmates and see if what they say has any impact on your own opinions.”

[~~Wait for the~~ OCD is up! Go to it!]

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Sky considered the question for a while before he answered.

"In my universe, to my knowledge the most we do as far as altering somebody's mind is erasing or modifying memories," he said. "And even then, only in extreme circumstances, such as in cases of time travel, where knowledge of the future or a changed past could have catastrophic consequences. I'd like to say that I would never consider altering somebody's mind, but you also bring up an interesting point with reconditioning, ma'am. I don't think I could ever do it, but as an officer of the law, some days the idea of having one less potential repeat offender on the streets could become tempting."

"It is also," she said, "more cost effective in the long run than keeping them in prison. The modifications range from relatively minor things to a total rehaul of an idividual's nature. Do you think it is wrong, as an idea, in and of itself? Or that, like any tool, it does have it's own place in the scheme of things?"

Sky fiddled with his pencil.

"Minor modifications to somebody certainly has its own place overall," he said. "Completely overhauling somebody's nature is something I can't agree with, though. In fact, I'm conflicted about even slight changes to someone's psyche- as much as I may like to change somebody to not want to commit crimes, I also have to consider the person being modified. Even though the one being modified might not even been aware it's happened, I don't feel as though it's my place to choose what someone's personality should be like, even if it goes toward the peace and order I desire as a police officer."

Juli glanced at him. "But the do know they're modified," she said, "and most of them are told why as well. How does that knowledge affect your opinion?"

"Do you really think changing memories is something trivial?" Naminé said abruptly. "Does the person get to decide? If you're an officer of the law, I would hope you'd be more concerned with protecting people and their basic rights. Including protecting them from people who would change them to fit whatever they've decided is most helpful to society."

"I said it only happens in extreme circumstances," said Sky defensively. "I don't think it's ever been used in my lifetime, or at least since I joined S.P.D., in fact. It's not like we go around zapping people for the fun of it- time travel isn't exactly common. But I believe it's important to make sure the past and the future are preserved the way they're supposed to happen as well- many more lives could be affected."

"Are those you change given the choice?" she asked again. "Informing them is one thing; reaching into someone's mind and rearranging what is there, for your own ends, is something else, no matter how dire the circumstances."

"I don't know," Sky admitted honestly. "I'm not a high enough rank to have ever been put in a position to have to do that to someone. I don't know anybody who has had to do it, either."

"Then I suppose you can't say for sure," Naminé said, lifting a shoulder.

Ye Shall Be As Gods? – Class 6, Period 3

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