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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Like you're getting chocolate! Maybe.

Check under your seat as you boggle at the unicorn. Did you get anything?

"How would someone capitalize on that very human failing if they were seeking to manipulate others?"

Of course, if you also want to hypothesize about where the rainbow came from, feel free...

If they aren't too busy fending off the unicorn compliments.

Who, after class, will be showing the unicorn holos of Juliet and wondering if he should bring her to the island. Don't little girls love unicorns or something?

It is nasty outside, you guys.

Rosalind

Kennedy

... 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.

Edited 2010-09-30 13:07 (UTC)

"First by finding out what the person they wish to manipulate likes and dislikes," Rosalind said, her voice level and cool. "And then comparing those lists against what they, the manipulator, can afford to spare in pursuit of their particular goals. Different goals require different measures and the effort needed to manipulate someone may not be worth it."

A pause.

"Some, too, are harder to manipulate even if you offer them something they adore." Which sounded a bit awkward on her tongue but Rosalind ignored that.

It's FREAKING AWFUL. I'm surprised your power's not out!

What? Just a fun-sized chocolate bar? Man, that was a ripoff, and Kennedy thought-- to hell with logic here-- she should've gotten the big one on the basis of being TA. (Kennedy had issues with entitlement. Surprise.)

The unicorn's effusive compliments weren't disabusing her of this notion at all. At all.

Medusalith Amaquelin

Cara

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?"

Jonothon Starsmore

Jono was... staring at his fun-sized chocolate bar, and not particularly envying anybody in the room for having more chocolate, or less of it.

He was, however, somewhat envying their ability to eat it.

He looked more than a little sullen as he nudged the stupid thing to the far corner of the top of his desk, and then crossed his arms over his chest and proceeded to try to look as though he wanted as little to do with it as absolutely possible.

Zatanna Zatara

"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?"

No chocolate for Zatanna. Bugger. She spared a few seconds on the unicorn, but really, she supposed it would be best if she didn't ask the professor just what the horned horse was doing there. Besides complimenting him, of course.

The only thing it had caused, though, was giving her sudden chocolate carvings, so she would be going to buy some later that day. Rather than envious, she supposed there was no point on glaring at the students with chocolate, since they hadn't agreed on anything that she knew.

...That didn't mean she was going to glare at Anakin then; he was trying to prove a point. That left Zatanna without much to do, besides thinking about chocolate.

//I suppose if you find a person who isn't easy to manipulate on envy alone, th'challenge rests in making them think that they need whatever that item is that you have, and they don't.//

Jono, for example, adored chocolate. He sure as hell didn't need it. And he couldn't make any use of it when he had his hands on it. And so trying to manipulate him using it would be a bit of a challenge.

Rosalind nodded to concede his point. "Which is easier said than done in many circumstances unless you are dealing with a very immature individual."

Not to mention that the lengths involved quite often went past most peoples' moral lines.

//Perhaps so. I think in many cases, it's really just a matter of getting a bit... creative. The object of a person's envy isn't always as inconsequential as a bar of chocolate, after all.//

Jono shrugged a little.

//Sometimes, all it takes to manipulate a person is th'promise of that something at the end of it all. 'Do this, and I might be able to spare one of this thing that you want.'//

"Is there a difference between envy and greed?", asked Zatanna, although more to herself than to anyone else. "If I was envious of someone with a chocolate bar, seeing how I didn't get one, I would probably be a little more hostile; you know, envious. But if I activelly worked to get a chocolate bar for myself, even if it meant to do, um, unholy alliances, that would be greed. I don't need to be have envy to have greed. And it sound as if people usually manipulate the greedy ones."

"Many hostage situations are brought about by that scenario," Rosalind replied, glancing his way. "Do this and maybe I'll let your family go."

... Not that she had any experience with doing that to people or anything.

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Ethics [Thursday, September 30]

Sign in [9/30]

Listen to the lecture [9/30]

Answer the discussion question [9/30]

Talk to the TAs [9/30]

Talk to Anakin [9/30]

OOC

Re: Sign in [9/30]

Re: Sign in [9/30]

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/30]

Re: OOC

Re: Talk to the TAs [9/30]

Re: Sign in [9/30]

Re: Sign in [9/30]

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

Re: Sign in [9/30]

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

Re: Sign in [9/30]

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/30]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/30]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/30]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/30]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/30]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/30]