fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, September 23, 2nd period]

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...

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"No, I haven't," Medusalith confirmed. "Is that odd?"

She'd had to admit there were things she didn't know, but she didn't think that was the same thing at all.

"It depends," Elphaba said. "I suppose you could be very careful, not to say things if you weren't absolutely certain. And you could avoid doing things that may be seen as right or wrong. Is that how you live, avoiding things? I don't mean it as an accusation, just a question."

"No," she said, although she had hoped to avoid, you know, the outside world, but it was pretty much 'whither Blackagar goeth will I go.' "I suppose my upbringing was sheltered, by most people's standards?" she offered. It usually worked, when 'I'm German' didn't.

Also, there was the part where she was royalty in a society that hadn't even heard of the Magna Carta. Admitting fault wasn't the done thing. But even if she was consciously aware of it, which she wasn't, she wouldn't know how to explain it without blowing her cover.

"I probably don't have the same standards," Elphaba admitted. "But sheltered makes sense. You've not really had the opportunity to make the mistakes, then." And that was that, really. She wasn't perfect, Elphaba thought, and she wasn't thinking she was. Just unfamiliarity, and Elphie of all people couldn't fault anyone for that.

"No," she agreed. "It's not been allowed."

There was no such thing as perfect. Just different.

"Well, I do hope you ease into it," Elphaba said with a little smile. "It's never a fun thing, making mistakes."

"I hope to avoid it, honestly," Medusalith said.

Elphaba laughed quietly, a little soft chuckle. "I think we all do. But no one's ever successful."

Ethics [Thursday, September 23, 2nd period]

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