Everything's a Weapon, Wednesday, Period 1

[raspberryturk]

Today, Reno's class would find the Danger Shop set up as a library. No library in particular, really, mostly to keep any of the students from getting any ideas about just herding whatever the enemy of the week was into Special Collections and being done with it.

"Yeah, this week you've got some limited options," Reno began, gesturing around their surroundings. "You got books, the bookshelves themselves, and if you wander toward the back there's a few toys and pillows in the little kid section, yo. Remember rookies, no powers you can actively control and no outside weapons in this class - that includes lighters, Kathy. You gotta get by in this class by your wits and what you pick up in your surroundings, or else what the hell am I teaching this for, anyway?"

He gave his hands a clap and gave the group a wicked little grin, just as a wildcat roar cut through the room. Because sure, it was totally normal to unleash a pack of coeurls in a library, right?

Well, even if it wasn't, students were going to have to deal with it, now.

[Open!]

Fun With Microwaves!, Wednesday

[toteshammered.livejournal.com]

Thor had arrived a few minutes before class as usual, to get the Danger Shop simulation up and running... only to find his usual 'room full of microwaves and safety equipment' program had somehow become corrupted.

Technology of any sort wasn't really his forte, especially primitive Midgardian technology, so instead he went back to his office to send out a quick email to his students to let them know class was cancelled.

[ooc: sorry guys, i'm still so fucking exhausted from the mess that was trying to get home (san diego to denver to san francisco to edmonton over 24 hours spent in various airports WHAT THE HELL) that i totally, totally spaced on class.]

Customer Service and You [Wednesday, July 30, 2014]

[professor-lyman.livejournal.com]

"Hey guys," Josh said with a fiendish smile as he ushered them into a call center that smelled like stale coffee, old french fries and despair.

Aren't you glad you took this class, guys? SO MUCH FUN.

"Today you're the customer service section of a major cable company," he told them, "and one of the workmen just went out and accidentally cut a cable, knocking 5,000 customers offline. You have no idea when their internet or televisions will work again. So....good luck with that."

And with that, in true managerial style, he left them alone. With the phone ringing off the freaking hooks.

Practical Philosophy, Wednesday

[endsthegame]

"There aren't many philosophical thought experiments that get as much airtime as Plato's allegory of the cave," Ender said. "For the few of you who might not have been exposed to it - Plato ascribes to his mentor Socrates a story about a group of prisoners, chained to the wall in a cave. They can only see the wall in front of them. Behind them, there's a fire, and behind the fire, men and women pass by bearing figurines. But because of where they're trapped, the prisoners can only see the shadows. The shadows, then, are reality to them - only by leaving the cave would they be able to discover the truth behind the shadows, the perfect forms."

He sat back.

"Plato believed strongly in the theory of Forms," he said. "Everything we known and see, every object and every idea, is but an imperfect shadow of something greater, something pure and abstract."

He took a swig of water. "We won't be too concerned with Plato today, or at least his ideas," he said, "but we can use some of his vocabulary to talk about the subjectivity of our experiences and our worldviews. After all, Plato wanted to believe badly in some perfect world above our own - some solid truths that could not be seen in any other light."

"We live in a world where most are predisposed to investing in some kind of doctrine. Whether it be the religion you believe in or the morals you hold dear, there are some things we don't seek to question. Most of us like to believe that there really are perfect Forms of some capacity - abstracts that, when achieved, would bring perfection."

His mouth curved. "Of course, I don't need to tell you that isn't true," he said. "But there's a difference between knowing that and practicing it. So today, I'd like to pose you all a challenge - what's something you believe in that you've never really thought to question? Maybe it's something that informs the way you look at the people around you. Maybe it's something about how you feel about yourself. You don't need to denounce whatever it is that this is - I just ask you to find something you've never felt needed questioning."