Ethics [Thursday, March 6]

[sith_happened]

His plans to go tuxedo shopping soon must have been on Anakin's mind when he'd planned this week's lesson.


"Love is patient, love is kind," he began, then made the universal symbol for "blah, blah, blah" with his hand.

He might secretly be a soft touch on the subject, but he was hoping no one in the room would call him on it.

"In the Jedi Order, we were taught that in order to maintain proper distance, to negotiate impartially across our galaxy, we were to strive for serenity, not passion. To be proper Jedi, we should not know anger, or hatred, or love."

He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced around the room. "Is this an unreasonable standard to hold someone to? What do you think they were trying to prevent?"

No One Said It Would Be Easy - Sheryl Crow

Comments

Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

Not knowing anger, hatred or love. Totally unreasonable? What do you think the Jedi were trying to accomplish?

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[raspberryturk]

"Pretty easy, I think. You stop thinkin' if you fall into crap like that. You got somethin' you gotta get out and do, and if you got messy emotions tellin' you to do somethin' else... well, then you aren't much good to them, are you? The brain and the heart are two real different places, yo."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "Exactly. We were the ultimate diplomats. Our loyalty had to be to the truth--not to each other, not to family, not to planets."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[the_merriest]

That earned him a worried glance from his quite-possibly-girlfriend.

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal eyed Anakin, then looked down at Altra who was sitting between his front hooves, ears flicking.

The Firecat sighed. :He says that you don't reach serenity by denying part of yourself. It's like piecing together a puzzle, throwing away the bits which are difficult, and calling it done. He thinks the Jedi were well-meaning, and trying to do good by their people, but emotions are part of us. It is not always easy, but they cannot be ignored.:

Altra snorted and groomed one paw. :And I say life is a lot more fun with emotions than without. Sun-Priests are allowed to love and marry and experience the whole gamut of emotions, they're just expected to manage them, and not let it interfere in their judgement. They do just fine.:

Karal glared at him. Altra ignored it and started grooming his tail.

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

Anakin shrugged. "Sometimes emotions need to be ignored. The midst of a battle is no place to decide to decide you're terrified. Giving into fury will never turn out well. You acknowledge the emotion, then you set it aside. A Jedi is always in control."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

"Load of crap," Mel said with a shrug, "Did they make you eunuchs too?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

Anakin's expression sharpened. "They trusted us not to need that kind of procedure," he snapped. "Sex and emotions can be two separate things, too."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"I think it's unreasonable to expect anyone to not have feelings," Lana said a bit unhappily. "You can't control that sort of thing. But I guess they were trying to make sure that you acted on logic and reason or the orders you were given rather than basing your decisions on feelings."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

"You can absolutely control that sort of thing," Anakin said firmly. "Jedi trust our feelings, but we cannot--must not--put what matters to us ahead of what matters to the galaxy. It's what ruins most politicians, when self-interest gets in the way of doing good."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"I don't get it. How can they not show emotion? Isn't that almost physcially impossible?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

"Not at all," Anakin said. "It's a matter of practice. You decide that you are in control, not your emotions." He shrugged. "My old master was an expert at it."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[withoutverona]

"It is like what the priesthood is meant to be," Romeo said,thinking. "But I've known priests, and the things they cannot live show up in other ways, some of those destructive. So I suppose I should say it is a good idea, but would not work for men with blood in their veins."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

"It worked for a thousand generations," Anakin said, "though at various points marriage wasn't prohibited."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"Unless you're going to isolate someone from any living thing ever, it's impossible to keep them from coming in contact with emotion. Even the strongest conditioning can't remove it completely. Hate, anger, love, obsession, the extremes are easy, they're instinctual."

Anemone shifted slightly, looking mildly uncomfortable. "I'm sure they were trying to spare people pain, but if you remove emotion completely, you might as well send a dead machine to do the job, and an unawakened machine has no judgment, no ability to make the calls that need to be made."

"Besides, there's a difference between knowing your emotions, accounting for them, and being a slave to them."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "That's more what the Jedi meant," he said. "Acknowledge the emotion, then move on. But certainly don't give in to it. We have far too much power to be out of control because we're having a bad break-up."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[ecirpnellehada.livejournal.com]

Adah tapped her pen on her notebook for a long, long time until it finally got to writing.

"Emotion skews, badly, and it does not help that one man's perception of one emotion is entirely different from another's. I would imagine that anyone in a position of leading other people have a necessity to not be influenced by those sort of things; if you are easily drift toward emotion, than you have no business involving yourself in it, because when emotion overrides reason, nothing good can come of it..."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[sith_happened]

Anakin beamed at her. "Exactly."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[blessed_twice]

"Love gives you strength," Wyatt said evenly. His own powers, after all, were based off his emotions, so the stronger he felt, the more powerful he became. "Passion makes you stronger. Telling people to deny their hearts is just asking for trouble and can cause resentment."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[athosborn.livejournal.com]

"People cannot be expected to be serene at all times," Teyla said. "There are situations where showing anger or hatred will only make things worse, but that is not a constant. Sometimes, people must embrace their anger in order to have the will to keep fighting. And to not feel love is simply absurd. It's one of the most positive emotions we can feel. How would taking that away make someone a better person?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"It's not unreasonable at all," said Hoshi. "Back home, there's a humanoid species from the planet Vulcan who believe in reason and logic over emotion. They are the most calm, serene people I've ever met, and it seems to work for them. They have no anger, hatred, or love." T'Pol was totally going to prove her wrong on that.

"If you can control emotions, then you can control your fear." At least, that's why Hoshi practiced Vulcan meditation.

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[remember5th.livejournal.com]

"These Jedi -- they're people, aren't they? Not machines?" Evey asked softly, raising her brows. "How does anything get accomplished without any sort of passionate emotion?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[the_merriest]

"It's ridiculous," Rikku said, frowning. "I see where they're going, but if they wanted something without emotions, they should have made a machine for it. Being able to feel isn't a bad thing. If you throw out anger and hate and love, do compassion and pity and empathy go, too? It's who we are."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[harrydresden.livejournal.com]

"You're human, right?" Harry said. "So, yeah. Kind of unreasonable."

Re: Answer the discussion question [March 6]

[ashockingbitch]

Jenny was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to swear at the teacher, so she didn't give her actual opinion. Instead, she said, "Sometimes anger's all you've got. Or love, or whatever. Take away emotion and what are you fighting for?"