Ethics [Thursday, September 23, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin scrawled Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important.--TS Eliot on the board and then turned around to face his students. "Pride--or hubris, if you speak Latin--in the Catholic religious tradition of this planet, is considered the original and most serious of the deadly sins. In order to deal ethically with other people, we need to acknowledge this very human flaw in ourselves and others. We want to believe that we are different, better than everyone around us." His gaze sharpened. "We're not. Everything is connected. You, me, the rocks outside, the deer in the preserve, the beings who live across the causeway, the trillions who make up the multiverse around us." He smiled a little ruefully. "The dozens of different versions of yourself others might have met before arriving on this island..."

He leaned back against his desk. "I grew up as a slave on a desolate planet beyond the normal reaches of the law in my society. When I was rescued by Jedi and told that with training, I could be like them, my pride in myself and my abilities quickly spiraled into arrogance and disdain for those who were teaching me. It took some very difficult lessons for me to realize that pride was probably my greatest fault."

Though there were arguments for most of the other Deadly Sins, too.

"So, learning to swallow our pride and admit we're not quite as special or brilliant as we thought we were is never a fun process," he continued. "How high do the stakes have to be before we'll admit we've made a mistake or have been fooled?"

Hopefully everyone else doesn't have to be limbless, on fire, evil and alone first...

Comments

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/23]

[dontvotemeout]

Jason wasn't sure why people seemed so antsy at today's topic. He was pretty calm when he said, "I don't know. I mean, really, 'cause being prideful of my abilities has only brought me good things."

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/23]

[sith_happened]

"There's a certain degree of pride that's necessary in order to not be a complete dishrag," Anakin agreed. "No one enjoys spending time with someone without a spine."

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/23]

[dontvotemeout]

"True. But no one wants to spend time around someone who really thinks they're better than everyone else either," Jason said. "I guess I'd have to really screw up to think I wasn't good at something I'm proud of being good at though. And I might not even admit it to anyone but myself."

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/23]

[brat-intraining.livejournal.com]

Kennedy glanced at Jason and nodded quickly. "Yeah, I don't get why it's bad to be proud of what you can do. What's the point of being good at it if you don't realize that?"

See? Totally not chafing at the topic. AT ALL.

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/23]

[dontvotemeout]

"Especially if what you're good at is taking care of yourself and others," Jason said, speaking to what he thought might be both his and Kennedy's best qualities. "I don't see how it's bad to be proud of that, just 'cause some people might be better at it?"