Ethics [Tuesday, October 28, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

"I trust your weekends with your families went as expected," Anakin said, slamming the door behind him as he stalked into the room.

"Love is patient, love is kind," he began, looking down at his notes, then snorted and 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."

The unholy mix of the three could lead to tossing grandsons through doors. Not that Anakin would talk about that either.

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?"

Comments

Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

Not knowing anger, hatred or love: "Is this an unreasonable standard to hold someone to? What do you think they were trying to prevent?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[always-damp.livejournal.com]

"Dude, these guys were hardcore. If you know the secret to not loving someone, let me know," Toby said, wishing he could turn off his feelings so easily.

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

"I've been married twice," Anakin replied. "On this particular matter, I was an exceptionally bad Jedi."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Wolves would never ask this not-knowing of their pack," Firekeeper said, one hand slowly stroking Blind Seer's fur.

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

"Why not?" Anakin asked.

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sonofmogh.livejournal.com]

"Apparently they wanted to be emotional eunuchs."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

Anakin snorted. "It wasn't part of the recruitment pitch."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[finding-x-dream.livejournal.com]

"Sure, it's an unreasonable standard," Agnes told him. "Emotions are what make us human, and suppressing them can hardly be healthy."

"Proper" Jedi were probably cold fish in the sack.

Agnes coughed, turning a little pink. "On the other hand... With all due respect, Master Skywalker, the thought of someone with your powers throwing a temper tantrum scares me."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

Anakin's cheeks turned a little pink at what he wasn't supposed to have heard. "Exactly that," he said, nodding. "Jedi possess enormous power. To be held captive by our emotions...it's like having a weapon without a safety on."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[endsthegame]

"Anger, hatred, love, pride, if they're too much, they can all be horrible disadvantages in a fight," Ender replied.

I once killed a boy because he was fighting for his pride and I was fighting to win, he didn't say.

"But they're also part of being human. Being completely without them is just fooling yourself, and ignoring the consequences of who you are and what you've done."

Guilt, after all, was an emotion too.

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "Can emotions be put away to be dealt with later?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[talon-wraith.livejournal.com]

"It's..." Myn shook his head, thinking about the subject at hand. "It would make things much more straightforward, without mixing emotion into it."

I wish I could turn them off that easily.

"It's hard to ask that of someone who's risking their life on a daily basis, however," the pilot mused, mostly thinking aloud. "Most pilots, for example, believe if they might die tomorrow, they need to pack all their living into today."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

"And would that kind of...recklessness...have any consequences you can think of?" Anakin asked.

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[stupid-toasters.livejournal.com]

"I think it'd be pretty damn boring not to know those things," Lee said. "Yeah, maybe less hurt in the long run but a lot less happiness too, probably. If they wanted these guys to remain scarily focused, I can see why they'd say no to those emotions."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

"They were very focused," Anakin said. "They were supposed to provide justice to an entire galaxy. Do you see why emotions might get in the way of that?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[grasshopper-mol.livejournal.com]

"I think it's way unreasonable," Molly answered, "but I guess they were maybe trying to prevent someone making a decision based on their emotions, since they're not always trustworthy?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled. "And yet they were told to listen to their feelings, trust what the Force was telling them. They just weren't allowed to let those emotions rule them. Are the two ideas mutually exclusive?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[darkangelsawyer.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I think it's pretty unreasonable," Peyton said. "But I guess I get that they wanted you guys to act on facts and stuff maybe rather than letting your emotions get in the way of what you were doing or deciding."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[sith_happened]

"Do you think it could work?" Anakin asked.

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[pyroliz.livejournal.com]

"In theory being without those emotions is ideal," Liz said, "it would stop someone from making decisions that were ruled by emotions that could have bad consequences but in practice I think it's unreasonable to live without them,"

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"I think it would be very difficult," Ella began, frowning in concentration a little. "But I can see the value, for knights. Jedi wouldn't be held back by their own fears or personal ties; they could focus on what was best for the group."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[meg-powers.livejournal.com]

"The theory makes sense. I suppose it would let you be more objective and even when negotiating. You could take into account all factors without being swayed by emotions," Meg answered. "Of course that makes for a pretty boring life and is completely contradicted by human nature, so I'm not sure how well it would work out."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[noboynextdoor.livejournal.com]

"I think it's unreasonable because people will always get angry," Jess said. "I can understand asking people not to fall in love, especially since most of the time, love just leads to anger. But I don't think you can ever ask someone to be totally serene and not get angry if they get hurt."

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[weetuskenraider]

"Anger leads to the Dark Side," Tahiri said, as if reciting something she'd heard a million times before -- or variants thereof, anyway. She wasn't much for subtleties, and the old Jedi Code was a little bit weird to her, student of the new Order that she was. "Jedi aren't supposed to act out of emotion, but how are you supposed to mediate or negotiate between people if you don't understand the ways emotion drives them sometimes?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [10/28]

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"I get what they're going for. People do a lot of stupid things in the name of passion and anger and love," Dick said. A weekend with Bruce in town served as a reminder of this. His anger led him to dress up like a bat in order to scare people who would really like to kill him, and then he accepted an angry ten year old as his sidekick. But it worked, didn't it? "But on the whole, aren't those things responsible for just as many good deeds?"