fandomhigh | Ethics Class [Thursday, September 10, 1st period]

"Today we discuss lying," Anakin said as he closed the classroom door precisely on time. "Everyone lies. 'Of course that doesn't make your butt look big.' 'You like her, I like her.' 'I'm totally okay with you moving on.' 'Everything's fine, why do you ask?' It's how the world goes around because no one wants to be trapped in a conversation where someone whines at you for hours on end about how awful their life is."

He looked around the room. "Trust me. Everyone's life is terrible. They're just not telling you about it. Be grateful."

He reached onto his desk for a piece of paper. "Today we're conducting an exercise to see how well you pass this particular social ritual, then we'll discuss whether you think it is necessary. We're playing two truths and a lie. I'll tell you three things about myself and you have to decide which one is the falsehood. Then you'll all tell three things and we'll see how well you can either read each other or keep things hidden."

He gave them a small smile. "I'm very good at this." He schooled his face to absolute neutrality, put his mental blocks up to bar any psychics in the room from gaining an advantage, then recited: "During a war at home I was known as 'The Hero Without Fear.' I have three children. I am the youngest Jedi ever to join the Jedi Council, which governed my Order." His eyes challenged them to call him out. "Who's next?"

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Jonas had just recently learned what lying was in comparison to most of his classmates. He didn't think he'd do well at this activity.

"My mom's a really good cook, I almost died due to extremely cold temperatures and I didn't always see in color."

That was...surprisingly easy and a lot less revealing that he originally feared he might be.

"Is it the last one?" Tara tried, volume almost too low to be heard. "I, I didn't know they could cure color-blindness."

"The last one is true," he said, shaking his head but smiling kindly. "I don't know what color blindness is so it wasn't cured."

More like it...went away. One of the many reasons he'd been chosen as the Receiver.

"It's, um, what it sounds like," Tara said, returning the smile. "It means you can't see color."

She considered the other two choices. Something about Jonas suggested he wouldn't lie about something as serious as almost dying, so -- "Your mom didn't cook?"

"It was a common trait in the Community," he explained. "Not seeing in color, that is. I was one of the few."

The two. Three, if his guesses about Gabe were correct.

"And no, she didn't," he answered with a nod. "All of our food was premade and delivered."

Karla blinked. And then blinked again. Either Jonas was a master at lying or utterly new to it, since even she could tell. Actually, if she hadn't been able to read his psychic scent and its discomfort at saying his mother could cook well, she would have assumed that he was just so good at it he could pretend to be bad.

It made sense in her head, okay?

"Your mother either doesn't cook or is really bad at it," Karla said. It wasn't really a guess. "Or both. Either way, that's the lie."

"She doesn't cook," Jonas confirmed with a slight food. "All of our food was prepared and delivered. No one cooked in the Community except the Food Service workers. That was the lie."

He wasn't surprised that someone had guessed but the specifics of her guess were...interesting.

"You don't lie very much or often, do you?" Karla asked gently. "You seemed very uncomfortable when you said that. More uncomfortable than a simple exaggeration. So I guessed that your mother was not only not a 'very good' cook, but that it went in the opposing direction."

She decided not to mention that she was able to sense his internal discomfort, too.

"Good observation," he said, blushing faintly. "No, I don't lie very much or often. I wasn't allowed to lie for a very long time. It was against the rules of the Community and punished in a few different ways. Nobody lied."

Well, that wasn't entirely true. People lied, they just tended to get caught and were punished. He'd been given permission so he'd avoided that punishment.

"The Community?" Karla asked. "That is where you're from?"

Still, his explanation was odd. "Lots of places have rules against lying. Though that doesn't stop people from doing so. Or do you mean any lies at all were punished. Even the silly ones like answering 'Fine' when someone's asked you what kind of day you've had and it's been miserable?"

"Yeah, that's where I'm from," he said, nodding. He had to think about her question because, on one hand, there was lying and, on the other, there was the precision of language. Most of the Elders didn't associate the two together since lies tended to be thought of as malicious while language errors tended to just be errors.

"It depended on the situation, really," he finally answered. "Lies were forbidden. You couldn't lie. But, you're right, that didn't mean people physically couldn't. It just wasn't done. There were repercussions if you were caught."

"With enough social sanction, I could see even the silly little lies ceasing to exist," Karla mused. "I mean, in Kaeleer at least, certain lies were socially acceptable--Hell's fire, even necessary--in certain social situations. Take that away and soon all you have left are the big lies that would get you in trouble."

Jonas's Community sounded interesting. "What kinds of punishments would lies invoke?" she asked.

"Most of them were mild," Jonas answered, reaching back in his memories to recall different punishments. "Admonishments, whippings, things of that nature. It was a reminder not to do it again. If they continued, the punishments grew more severe."

Jonas was certain someone had been Released for lying before. He might not have proof but he knew consistent lying would not have been stood for.

Karla raised an eyebrow at 'whippings,' but didn't comment on it directly. "With consequences such as those, I could see why lying fell out of fashion," she said, giving Jonas a wry grin.

"When I was little, I mostly had to chew peppercorns or lick soap," she said, making a face. "A deterrent in its own fashion, I suppose."

Propping her chin on her hand, she asked, "Does your Community ever tolerate lies? Find them necessary, like Professor Skywalker is talking about?"

Ethics Class [Thursday, September 10, 1st period]

Re: Two truths and a lie : Jonas

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Re: Two truths and a lie : Jonas

Re: Two truths and a lie : Jonas