fandomhigh | Practical Crisis Problem Solving - Danger Shop, Tuesday, Period 3 (11am-12pm)

The Doctor's TAs were noticeably absent and that bothered him. That was only one reason why he looked irritable as he paced the room that looked like your average generic high-tech control room. The other reason, well, one of the other reasons was the topic at hand.

"Compassion. If you don't know what it is, look in the Wikipedia and don't bother me today. If you do know what it is, then you'll understand what we're doing today. Any species can develop enough technologically to be considered advanced. It's the social development, the interconnectedness with the rest of the universe and how one holds oneself in standing with the rest of existence that truly determines how advanced a species is.

Having compassion and exercising compassion differ. One is a feeling, a built-in empathy, an emotional response. The other is a choice, a moral dilemma that many of you will have to face at some point. Exercising compassion isn't easy. It shouldn't always be. It's the choices you make when it isn't easy that make compassion as important as it is."

The Doctor gestured around him. "All hypothetical here, but the emotion is real. We're in a control room under Fandom Island." It wasn't a recreation of the actual control room; this was just something that looked fancy and high-tech enough to do the job. "This is what makes it tick. It's what keeps the island as an access point to the many, many different universes and time periods. You'd need an incredible amount of power to keep that going as long as it has. Ever wonder what does it?" He pointed to a pulse beam that kept shooting electricity into what looked like a large, exposed brain.

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"Do you think sentient beings have the right to make choices we wouldn't make?" Didi asked. "In general."

"Yes," Peter said. "That's the joy of free will and general freedom. But I'm wondering about the ethics of resorting to torture instead of some other option. Because it can't be just cut and dried, torture or no island. That's too basic."

He was doubling back on his previous statement about no debate, really. But he was thinking a little more clearly now.

"It is, and I feel like there has to be a third way," Didi nodded. "But if the whale volunteered, if it's willing to sacrifice its own comfort so the island can be here ... we should certainly do everything we can to make it comfortable. But I don't know if we should force it to move because watching it makes us uncomfortable."

"I know on my part?" Peter said. "I'd move away if it was still going to be there. I'm glad this is all hypothetical, because if this thing really was under the island I'd probably throw up."

"Okay, but you have someplace to go if you move away, right?" Didi asked. "What about people who don't? Or people who'd be killed or hurt if they went home. They exist. Is it okay to make them leave so we aren't hurting the whale?"

Didi was also glad this was all hypothetical, and she considered that as she continued. "But if the whale doesn't want to be there, or we can't tell, I agree that we should evacuate and find other places for people who can't go home."

Edited 2010-07-27 17:13 (UTC)

"Well, people could always go to different universes," Peter said. "Trapped forever, but it's better than dying."

Ironic. Not that he knew it.

Practical Crisis Problem Solving - Danger Shop, Tuesday, Period 3 (11am-12pm)

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