fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, September 30]

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.

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"It can be a much more subtle approach," Anakin agreed. "You have to notice what someone really wants to have--respect is a nicely intangible angle--and lever from there. Tell them that you agree with them, even if no one else does, and they're halfway in your pocket already."

Not that he had experience with this. Nope.

Scully looked thoughtful at that, as the unicorn said, "I think he's right." Then she rolled her eyes at it.

"No, I can see that. Especially in a highly competitive field-- that can seem like loyalty or support, even if it's based on a perception that isn't necessarily true, like lack of support from everyone else." She was thinking of Mulder here, and dryly added, "Of course, you can give up on that, and just settle for being a gadfly. I suppose that being everyone else's cross to bear is one way to get around envy of respect or belief."

Ethics [Thursday, September 30]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/30]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/30]