Ethics [Tuesday, January 6, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin walked into his classroom precisely on time and gave the students assembled there an appraising glance as the door clicked shut behind him. If you were late, you weren't getting in. "I'm Master Skywalker," he said in a voice that was intended to carry, "this is Ethics, and we're going to skip the introductions--I'll figure out who you are--and move straight to our first discussion."

He paced around the room, cloak flaring out behind him, as he handed out the syllabus. "Today's topic," he said. "Self sacrifice: knowing the difference between saving people and being a pretentious twit."

"Any time I ask a a group of people what they would do to save someone they love, they all blither on about how they would set the world on fire, lie, cheat, steal, kill, die, et cetera, et cetera. I've been at this school too long to believe that half of you haven't already been put into this situation and I'm in no mood to hear adolescent ramblings about how wonderful you were or might hypothetically be. We're going to ground it in reality.

"Last summer there was a woman who was in charge of this school. She had been placed in power legitimately, was allowed to punish in accordance with that power, and began pushing the boundaries of her authority almost immediately. She called students to her office, punished them for slights genuine or imagined, and began escalating the severity and frequency of her punishments, going over the line into what was no longer acceptable."

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest, the scars across his face very evident in the light coming through the window. "It eventually took a team of highly qualified adults to take her out. Today's topic: when do you draw the line? When do you admit to yourself that a problem cannot be solved, that to sacrifice yourself isn't a statement, it's merely pointless? How long does it take for you to realize you can't fix everything by yourself?"

He would hear the replies and choose his TAs from there.

Comments

Sign in [1/6]

[sith_happened]

With your most intimidating icon!

Re: Sign in [1/6]

[talks2objects.livejournal.com]

Dor

Listen to the lecture [1/6]

[sith_happened]

Take notes, doze off, wonder how many hours Anakin practiced to get the cloak to flare like that...

Re: Listen to the lecture [1/6]

[cataclysmicluck.livejournal.com]

And this would be the Jedi teacher Zayne had been told about.

Zayne wasn't sure what he was doing here instead of on a Council of some sort with that kind of cloak-flaring presence, but he hoped it would help him out a bit.

Re: Listen to the lecture [1/6]

[future_sandworm]

Leto's first impression of professor Skywalker was certainly a positive one. He never expected a teacher to be overly gentle; in fact that would have made him suspicious. Even if he tried to ignore him, the loudest ones of his ancestors were in agreement.

Re: Listen to the lecture [1/6]

[gobrookeyourself]

...Huh. Brooke had really only signed up because she thought it'd be a total blow-off class for the last semester of her senior year, so this topic was a little out of her league.

Oh, well, at least the teacher was hot.

Re: Listen to the lecture [1/6]

[intraspective]

Joy.

That'd be Ino slumping slightly down in her desk. Great. Ethics. Woo-hoo.

Sigh.

Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[sith_happened]

"When do you draw the line? When do you admit to yourself that a problem cannot be solved, that to sacrifice yourself isn't a statement, it's merely pointless? How long does it take for you to realize you can't fix everything by yourself?"

Not that Anakin will tell you his answer to that question.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[talks2objects.livejournal.com]

"Two seconds," Dor said with a sigh. He just figured any problem he faced couldn't be fixed.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[not-fangirl.livejournal.com]

"When there are no more choices that will keep your objective safe," Temari replied, terribly calm. "You're useless if you die without achieving something for what you are working towards. At the very least, you should survive to complete it."

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[wantstodirect]

Tony considered this. "Is there someone we can go to for help? Someone who'd believe us, at least?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"As soon as I'm in danger I'm out of there," Chuck replied without thinking about it much at all. Leave dying for the noble people.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"Dying to protect someone is almost certainly pointless. If you're dead then you can't protect them from the next threat. And there's always a next threat."

"As for fixing things, I don't make those decisions. If I am assigned a mission alone then it must be because I can handle it alone. If I am assigned with a team then it must require a team." The Agency wasn't big on self-directed agents. Which meant Triela wasn't big on self-direction.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[cataclysmicluck.livejournal.com]

"I've learned that I can't fix everything by myself more times than I really want to admit," Zayne said. "But I'll still give any problem my best shot, even if that means relying on people to help me. And if my best shot doesn't work, it's time to step back and look at the problem again."

Zayne had some experience with his best shot not working.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Ummmm, what if I already don't think I can solve all problems?" Hurley asks.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[notahostage]

"What happens when the only way to solve the problem is to sacrifice yourself?" Wendy asked. "You know, the whole 'needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one' thing."

Yes, she was quoting Galaxy Quest there, the point still stood though.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[future_sandworm]

"Those who think they can solve everything by themselves despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary will quickly learn that error once the opposition is to great," Leto said. "Although they might not live to reap the benefits."

This was the obvious answer. But then there were those, like his father, who could see things that others could not. Despite the visions that humanity was approaching extinction, Paul Atreides had not been able to make the final sacrifice. Leto frowned.

"Like water, lives should not be wasted." The Jihad killed sixty billion people across the galaxy, but the alternative would have been worse. "My life isn't my own, but belongs to my tribe. As it belongs to my tribe, it is also not mine to hold on to if sacrifice needs to be made." His father had seen the sacrifice needing to be made in order to save humanity. He had found the price to terrible. Leto looked up at Anakin Skywalker. "A sacrifice is never heroism. It's not done to strengthen your ego but to destroy it. Only others will reap the benefits of a sacrifice you make, while you yourself will, if you're lucky, only find death."

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

When God tells me to stop, was what Joan thought. But what she said was, "I'm not really the self-sacrificing type."

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[gobrookeyourself]

"Yeah, I don't really do the sacrifice thing? I mean, I like living," Brooke stated.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[intraspective]

"No one can fix everything by themselves," Ino said steadily. "But as for when I know... these days I figure most things aren't just going to be fixed by me alone."

She tugged at her hair, but figured that was a good enough answer.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[repeterpetrelli.livejournal.com]

"Even if you can't that doesn't mean you shouldn't try," Peter said. It was sad how he was probably never ever going to learn this lesson.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[i_vanquish_evil]

"Depends on how tough the opponent is." Admittedly, many of Van Helsing's 'problems' are of the demonic variety and he doesn't get much 'problem solving' skills that deal with logic and not violence. He's colorful that way.

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/6]

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Sacrifice isn't pointless," Sookie said quietly after thinking about it for a second. "If it's the only option, it's the only option. It's not a matter of stubbornness if you're painted into a corner."

Talk to Anakin [1/6]

[sith_happened]

Approachable, friendly guy that he is.

Re: Talk to Anakin [1/6]

[repeterpetrelli.livejournal.com]

Peter hung back after class to see what Anakin wanted.

OOC

[sith_happened]

As always, it is insanely easy to get a detention from Anakin. Ping down here if you're interested.

Just as reminder: everything that's said in class is something that can be overheard. Don't be afraid to make discussion threads messy.

Re: OOC

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

I am just hereby giving you permission to give Chuck detention whenever Anakin thinks he deserves it.

And, honestly, I don't think Bart Bass would care if Anakin mercilessly beat the hell out of Chuck. But for the sake of Anakin's job, we'll just stay away from that.