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Game of Chance, Monday
Monday, September 19th, 2016 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
suitably_heroic"So, today we're actually going to talk about risk and reward," Atton said.
As was evidenced by the fact they were in a normal classroom, for once. "We've had a chance to try out a few card games, we've had a chance to try out how you'd act in a real world situation. And we'll go through many other scenarios like this in the future. But it all starts with the same question: when do you take a gamble? How much are you willing to gamble? And what are you willing to gamble for?"
He watched the class.
"I have a pretty good gut feeling," he said. "I've had to develop one. There are risks worth taking, but risking your life-- that should be a choice you think about. A lot. And so for a very long time, I decided that risking my life was the one thing I wasn't willing to do. Before that, I'd been a soldier. I'd thought that fighting and dying so my people could live-- that was the right choice to make. Because what was the stake of my life, really, in the face of potentially billions of more deaths?" He snorted. "Of course, I was a teenager, so I also thought I was immortal. At first. I got over that pretty quickly."
He sat down. "After that, I decided to say screw it. The war had been won. There was nothing left to do but survive. I had nothing to stake my life for, and so I figured what I should be doing was making sure every gamble I took was one that would make my life a little better, at the risk of making it a little worse. That was all. It worked. Again, for a while. Turns out I'm still not good at saying 'no' when universe-saving is on the menu, especially if the menu is being served by a pretty girl in her underwear."
Go figure.
"This week's class will be our first discussion class," he said. "I want you all to pitch in on this question. Argue with each other if you have to. The question is: what would you risk your life for? What's worth that kind of stake?"
As was evidenced by the fact they were in a normal classroom, for once. "We've had a chance to try out a few card games, we've had a chance to try out how you'd act in a real world situation. And we'll go through many other scenarios like this in the future. But it all starts with the same question: when do you take a gamble? How much are you willing to gamble? And what are you willing to gamble for?"
He watched the class.
"I have a pretty good gut feeling," he said. "I've had to develop one. There are risks worth taking, but risking your life-- that should be a choice you think about. A lot. And so for a very long time, I decided that risking my life was the one thing I wasn't willing to do. Before that, I'd been a soldier. I'd thought that fighting and dying so my people could live-- that was the right choice to make. Because what was the stake of my life, really, in the face of potentially billions of more deaths?" He snorted. "Of course, I was a teenager, so I also thought I was immortal. At first. I got over that pretty quickly."
He sat down. "After that, I decided to say screw it. The war had been won. There was nothing left to do but survive. I had nothing to stake my life for, and so I figured what I should be doing was making sure every gamble I took was one that would make my life a little better, at the risk of making it a little worse. That was all. It worked. Again, for a while. Turns out I'm still not good at saying 'no' when universe-saving is on the menu, especially if the menu is being served by a pretty girl in her underwear."
Go figure.
"This week's class will be our first discussion class," he said. "I want you all to pitch in on this question. Argue with each other if you have to. The question is: what would you risk your life for? What's worth that kind of stake?"