sith_happened: (Anakin: nothing has changed)
Anakin Skywalker ([personal profile] sith_happened) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2010-09-09 09:30 am
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Ethics [Thursday, September 9, 2nd period]

"As you might remember from the syllabus I handed out last week," Anakin said as he leaned against his desk, "today's topic is lying. In Fandom, where multiple timelines meet and mingle, lying can be a terribly complex subject."

He gazed around the room. "We have students here from different centuries who by stepping foot onto the island learn immediately about electricity, electronics and reality television. Depending on societies they arrive from, they could learn about guns--or even the very concept of war--and change their worlds irrevocably."

Anakin began pacing. "Sometimes the situation is even more specific. Several years ago, a student arrived here who I knew--but I knew him as a Jedi Master I'd met when I was a small child. I also knew that his death, at least in my timeline, had been a violent one. A teacher I had used to say that the future is constantly in motion, but my experience with multiple timelines seems to show that certain large, galaxy changing events tend to stay constant. Did I have an obligation to tell this student about his future? Or do I respect his timeline and his ability to make his own decisions?"

He sat back down. "The questions today are these: if you have knowledge of the future, what parts would you lie about--even through omission--from someone further behind in the timeline? And if you met someone from your future, would you want to know anything about what you might face someday? Would you respect them for not telling you everything? Or even anything?"

Re: Answer the first discussion question [9/9]

[identity profile] nothornlessrose.livejournal.com 2010-09-09 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Cassidy chewed on her lip as she thought about this one. Mother Night and may the Darkness have mercy, this was a hard one.

"I'm not sure," she said honestly. "Because telling them or not telling them could both be a blade's edge. What if you not telling them causes something to change and it undoes their future -- and maybe affects something that was good and needed because of what they did in the future? On the other side of the argument, what if telling them makes them overly arrogant and they make a mistake earlier on and still undo the future that you knew." She shook her head. "Mother Night. There is no clear or easy answer on this one."

Re: Answer the first discussion question [9/9]

[identity profile] nothornlessrose.livejournal.com 2010-09-09 04:24 pm (UTC)(link)
She looked down at her notes for a long moment, then looked up at him. "I think... I think I would have to be convinced that the knowledge wouldn't hurt them or what is going to happen before I could even think about telling them about the future. I hate how selfish this sounds, but this would affect my future or present, too. That would give me double the reasons to be careful what I say." She took a breath. "On the other hand, if their future is something that could harm them, the person I am would always have to fight with protecting or staying quiet. I'm not one who is known for staying quiet and allowing people to go into dangerous situations."

She shook her head. "I'm not doing this at all correct, am I?"

Re: Answer the first discussion question [9/9]

[identity profile] nothornlessrose.livejournal.com 2010-09-09 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Cassidy sighed, thinking about the question again, trying to decide what was the right answer to give on something like this. "You're right, Professor Skywalker, I can't have two standards for a situation like this. I don't think that I would be able to keep it to myself, and may the Darkness have mercy on us all if it's the wrong decision for me to have made."