Ethics [Thursday, September 30]

[sith_happened]

Anakin had backed himself up against his desk looking a little hunted as a unicorn talked to him. "You're so tall," it was saying happily. "And have such nice blue eyes--"

"Um, right," he said, turning his attention to the class. "Everyone look under your chairs, please," he said. A third of the students going by how they sign into class would find a bag with a full-sized chocolate bar waiting for them. A third would find a bag with a fun-sized chocolate bar. A third would find nothing at all.

"Oooh, chocolate!" the unicorn squealed. "That's so nice!"

Anakin ignored the unicorn as he waited for whatever grumbling there might be to subside. "Anyone feeling a little ripped off right now?" he asked rhetorically. "Two minutes ago no one had any candy and everyone was fine. Now I haven't taken anything away from anyone, no one's any worse off than they were when they walked in the door, and some of you are thinking very nasty things about me. Some of you have more than you did when you came into the classroom and still feel like you've been given an unfair deal."

"That's really smart," the unicorn commented.

Anakin moved on. "Isn't envy fun? Under its grip we never concentrate on the gifts we have been given."

"Like your hair," the unicorn added.

"Instead we focus on what others have that we want," Anakin said as his cheeks heated. "It's entirely a question of attitude. Today's question: how would someone capitalize on that very human failing if they were seeking to manipulate others?"

He looked around. "And where did that rainbow come from?"

The unicorn looked embarrassed.

Comments

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

[give-areason.livejournal.com]

... The unicorn deserved a momentary gawk, it did, truly.

And Rosalind was... not best pleased to find chocolate, a full-sized chocolate bar to be exact, under her desk. She didn't really care for chocolate.

Sigh. Perhaps she'd envy those who had none instead and that way the assignment would still be--completed, if in a roundabout fashion.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

[nohaircutsplz]

Medusalith had found no chocolate under her desk, but she had noticed Rosalind looking less than pleased with hers. And, since as far as she could tell chocolate was one of the few things humans had gotten right, she thought she saw a solution to both of their problems. One that probably didn't fit with how Anakin had envisioned this assignment going, but oh well. It was worth a shot. She leaned over toward the other girl and offered, "I'll take it, if you don't want it. I'd trade you, but I didn't get any, so I suppose I could give you one of the dollars?"

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

[give-areason.livejournal.com]

"One of the dollars?" she repeated, unsure if the girl meant something specific that happened to be named the same as American money, or if it was simply something that still needed to be more fully understood by the other girl.

Rosalind was, apparently, feeling charitable today.

"And if you had something, then you would likely not ask, no?"

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

[nohaircutsplz]

Medusalith wasn't very good at capitalism, but what she got from this was that the other girl wasn't interested. She shrugged and said, "Fine, keep it," and sat back.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

[give-areason.livejournal.com]

Sigh.

And she didn't even want it.

Still, it was hardly worth the effort of convincing the girl to take it. Rosalind turned her head to the front of the class and wondered, idly, if perhaps she should mail it to her little sister.