Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]

[atreideslioness]

"Welcome to our last class of the semester," Ghanima said. "Today, I'd like to hear from you."

"We've covered another of religions in this class, looking at how and why they developed, and their basic belief structures. Now I'm going to ask you to think about what you've heard, and use your imaginations."

"I'd like you to picture yourself dropped into a hostile environment. You have no money, no allies, and the natives are quite hostile to outsiders. Luckily, you are exceedingly familiar with the planetary religion and it's resultant myths and legends."

"Out of all the various religions we've covered, which one would you find the easiest to use to your advantage in this situation? Or if you cannot picture yourself in such a situation, what religion that we've studied has intrigued you the most?"

[OCD up!]

Comments

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

"Losing an entire weekend rarely makes one 'fine,'" Ghanima pointed out gently. "Especially considering the brand of island madness that happened that particular weekend."

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[vanillajello]

"I was fine after I found out I'd just been in a coma." And yes, saying it was just a coma still sounded weird, even to Kate. "I was just freaked out about not knowing what had happened. Really, I think I got off easy."

She got off easy during the weekend. Not so much on Monday.

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

"Not knowing how you lost time can be...disconcerting," Ghanima agreed. "Is this something that happens often, to cause such panic?"

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[vanillajello]

"It hasn't happened before. That's why I freaked out so bad," Kate replied, wrapping her arms around herself. "I just thought it was something... else. Worse."

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima reached into her desk, pulling out her usual tin of shortbread cookies.

"Worse how?" she asked, holding them out in offering. "Any sort of blackout is serious."

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[vanillajello]

Kate took a cookie, although she didn't much feel like eating it right now.

"Worse like... I might've still been doing stuff all weekend and forgotten about it." She looked away, took a deep breath. "Like I might've been someone else. And not just because of the island."

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

Losing time and other people lurking behind your eyes. Ghanima knew a few things about that, although not exactly as Kate described.

But she knew someone who did.

"While what you're describing isn't that uncommon of a condition, it's not exactly something that onsets with no provocation," she replied calmly. "Are you concerned with this becoming a possibility?"

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[vanillajello]

Kate's instinct told her she should get her defences back up, and that she'd already said too much, and that people really didn't need to know about any of this.

Reason won over instinct. "Fandom is a huge provocation."

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima's lips twitched slightly in a smile. "I think I know an 'evil twin' that might agree with you on that score."

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[vanillajello]

Kate didn't understand what she meant, so she just raised an eyebrow and took a bite of the cookie, just to do something. Uncomfortable. So uncomfortable.

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

"You aren't the only one with worries about losing time, Kate," Ghanima said gently. "Especially not on this island. There's a few people with that concern, and there's one 'being someone else' in particular that likes to come over and eat my pizza."

TYLER. Both of them.

"If going to the guidance counselor makes you uncomfortable, my door is always open, or we can find someone else for you to talk with. Keeping these sorts of concerns bottled up inside only adds to the stress of the rest of Fandom, and you'll end up giving yourself an ulcer or worse with worry."

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[vanillajello]

"I already have someone." As far as Kate was concerned, Mitchell was doing a pretty brilliant job listening to her. He'd kept her on the island after the initial shock, after all. "But thanks."

But then there was that other bit, the bit that got her defensive expression to turn hesitant and curious. "...Someone on the island has DID?"

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

Kate's curiosity was palpable, and Ghanima nodded encouragingly.

"Yes, and they function perfectly fine 99.9% of the time," she agreed, not willing to name-names quite yet. "I like to think that we all have our quirks, some of us are just a bit more pronounced than others, or require special consideration."

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[vanillajello]

"I've seen what's it like when that percentage is reversed. It's more than a quirk."

16 years of experience speaking here. But Kate didn't sound as hostile or negative as she could've. She was merely stating a fact.