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."

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"I think I'd want to know who that someone is, first," Karla said thoughtfully. "If it's a friend or someone on the island, I'd probably just do a big reveal. Show them some of my more obvious physiological differences or whatnot." Absently, she rubbed the back of her ring finger with her right thumb. "As my friend, I trust them enough to share my secrets and for someone on the island, they're just going to have to accept the fact that things they knew as Truth are often not as true here."

Much like her demonstration to Claudia about the existence of magic. She's pretty much gone for the in-your-face method of showing that Craft did exist.

"But someone else that I didn't have a tie to? Well, then it would depend. I might not care enough to wish to give them an explanation."

"There are a lot of variables that would probably change answers," Fraser agreed with a nod. "It's a general question with no real right or wrong answers. Would you, if it was a friend, want to be sure she knew who you were? Or could you go on with the secret and just continue as you are?"

"A casual friend, one that I just waved to most times and occasionally sat next to in class? I could keep the secret if I felt it best. But a true friend? Someone I trusted and who trusted me? I would want to tell, if only because I wouldn't want that kind of secret between us."

She thought of Raven's own careful, halting admission about her parentage. "If they couldn't handle the truth, I wouldn't want to be friends with them under false pretenses anyway."

"Good," Fraser said, nodding. "Not everyone would think like that. They wouldn't want to make waves, so to speak, so they would try to keep the secret and go on. Unfortunately, secrets do have a way of revealing themselves at the most inopportune times."

"I have never felt the need to lie or keep secrets about who and what I am," Karla said with a little heat, thinking of the rumors circulating about Black Widows back home. "If someone can't handle that, it's their problem, not mine."

"Calm down, I'm not implying anything to the contrary," Fraser assured her. "That's not how everyone is, though. I myself have kept secrets from those close to me because I was afraid those secrets would hurt them. I shouldn't have, of course, but sometimes secrets are kept for good intentions."

"I wasn't...I didn't mean to snap at you," Karla said, slightly abashed. "And I'm not suggesting that someone shouldn't or couldn't keep secrets, just--if you refuse to tell someone the truth about who you are, what does that say about your relationship?"

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]

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