fandomhigh | Canada Is Not That Strange And Other Biases | Wednesday

As the students filed into the classroom, they'd see Fraser standing at the front, leaning against the desk. The super straight posture he was so used to didn't seem needed right now.

"Good morning and welcome back," Fraser said, smiling at them all. "Today, we're going to get right into the lessons. I don't have a syllabus as I tend to stop following it halfway through so every week is going to be a surprise."

Whether that was good or bad, Fraser didn't know. "Today, we're going to be discussing extraterrestrial life. Now, that particular legend has been refuted time and time again to those of us on the island. There are people outside the island that still might not believe there really are other planets out there beyond our solar system and thus, they probably don't believe some people who are very much alive exist at all."

Fraser paused and pushed away from the desk. "Even if this island and it's amazing properties didn't exist, people would still be pushing the belief that extraterrestrial life existed because the universe is really too vast to just be us. That's just ridiculous, isn't it? Why would a universe that's probably comprised of an infinite number of solar systems, planets and stars be out there but we're the only ones living. Unfortunately, there are those people that believe that's true. They believe we're the only ones that are alive and they believe that the universes are ours."

Humanity was a selfish, selfish species. "Now, why do you think, presented with quite a bit of evidence, people would believe that we're alone in the universe? Isn't that short sighted and narrow minded at this day and age? It's true that Earth scientist might not have discovered extraterrestrial life on the planets in this system but that's not an indicator that they do not exist. Scientists need only to come here and find that other planets, other worlds and other universes truly do exist. So, today's activity is simple. We're all going to assume we're extraterrestrials. There's someone in front of you telling you that you do not exist and you never will. How would you convince them otherwise? Feel free to talk to each other and discuss your answers. Let's get started."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It seems to be working for the regular people who end up here," Warren noted, wryly. "But I guess we've already established that Fandom is kind of a special case, huh?"

"Pretty special," he agreed with a light smile. "I think presenting hard evidence is a very complete way of proving a point. I'm just sure that some people would be scared if you showed them some of the weaponry that students use here."

Warren pursed his lips a little at that.

"I think... I think the ones who are the types to get scared of that sort of thing are probably the ones who have decided not to believe because it's less frightening to think that the only people out there are the ones who are just like themselves," he offered. "Earth has plenty of terrifying weapons that they came up with all on their own, after all."

"Oh yes, they definitely definitely do," he agreed with a raise of his eyebrows. That was a strength of the planet, he believed. Making weapons that could cause damage and loss of life. Such a dubious talent.

"Do you think anyone that comes to the island believes that before they've been immersed in the culture?"

At that, Warren scuffed his toe a little against the floor, and he shrugged.

"I don't know what most people think," he admitted. "From what I've seen, there's a bit of a three-way split to the way people's minds work when it comes to something different, maybe even stronger than themselves. People who are interested and maybe even sympathetic, people who are afraid and who want nothing to do with it, and the ones who get angry. But... A lot of that is just what I've seen from the outside. I have to admit, I'm not entirely certain how it all breaks down from there."

"Neither am I," he admitted with a bit of a shrug. "It's hard to really break down how people deal with change that's completely new and sometimes startling to them. I've been lucky in that I haven't had to deal with what some of the students and teachers have had to deal with. There's always going to be the skeptics, the believers and the non believers though."

Fraser just continued to hope that the believers stayed strong and the skeptics were able to listen to proof and change their minds.

"And really, I don't even know if someone who's dealing with the change knows how it breaks down. From what I've seen, some people have the belief but they don't know why and then they don't know why they're reacting like they are. It's a bit if a vicious circle."

Canada Is Not That Strange And Other Biases | Wednesday | Period 2

Re: Class Activity | Extraterrestrial Life [Canada 09/07]

Re: Class Activity | Extraterrestrial Life [Canada 09/07]

Re: Class Activity | Extraterrestrial Life [Canada 09/07]

Re: Class Activity | Extraterrestrial Life [Canada 09/07]

Re: Class Activity | Extraterrestrial Life [Canada 09/07]

Re: Class Activity | Extraterrestrial Life [Canada 09/07]