endsthegame (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2012-07-02 08:02 am
endsthegame) wrote in fandomhigh2012-07-02 08:02 am
Entry tags:
Practical Philosophy, Monday
Class gathered in a well-airconditioned classroom this time - considering the weather, Ender didn't think it prudent to go outside this time. All the chairs had been shoved aside to the walls, however, and a blanket spread on the floor. He sat down there before anyone else had entered, and waited.
"I'll tell you what I told my previous class," Ender said, "If you've come here for a lightning lecture on the dialogues of Plato or the nihilism of Nietzsche, or any other firm, philosophical field that gives some manner of answers, you're in the wrong place."
He shot the class a wry look. "I don't own any answers," he said. "I've got a great deal of questions, though. I'm always willing to share. While the philosophers of yore might make for a good touchstone for our existence, I believe most things are too complicated to rely exclusively on the wisdom of our elders."
"My name is Andrew Wiggin," Ender continued. "Some call me Ender. I answer to both. I'm a graduating student who's been here since his freshman year. I suppose that gives me some form of seniority."
He nodded towards his TA. "That's Tara Maclay," he said. "She's my teaching assistant. I think between the two of us, she might have more wisdom of her own-- so please, don't feel afraid to ask her questions, too."
Then he turned back towards the class. "This class is about opening a dialogue," he said. "It won't work if we're all silent. I believe each and every one of you has some defining experiences that are likely to be worth poking with a stick, because otherwise you wouldn't be here, and because I'm an inquisitive fool who enjoys prodding things with sticks and dodging any angry ants that might appear."
"Don't get me wrong, though. If you don't want to talk about yourself, don't. I'm perfectly happy to spend a class debating Hegel or something with you instead - though I do expect everyone to participate, no matter what the topic. If you have something to say, say it, and we'll judge between the lot of us whether it merits the conversation."
He smiled again, briefly. "We don't do introductions here," he added. "That's not to say there's never a good reason to have introductions-- it's a very neat way to put everyone in their place and define who we are to one another. I just don't think it's terribly constructive within the bounds of this class."
"I want to know what you find worth talking about," he continued, "and judge for myself whether it is. So we're going to talk. And we'll see where we wind up." He paused. "However, if anyone here chooses to be a jackass about how they react to anyone else, I personally maintain the right to kick them out of the class and shove their face into the pond."
Don't think he wouldn't.
"This is the time of the semester when everyone here is new in one way or another," he said. "Maybe you've been slacking off all week, forming new thoughts or new experiences or enjoying a complete lack thereof entirely. Maybe you're actually new to the school, and you're currently bewildered, flailing around for something to hold on to. I want to hear about that."
"We can talk about that. Or we can talk about something else. I'm open to talking about anything, as long as you think it's worth questioning. God knows I don't actually know a damned thing about anything, and maybe if you can think of something worth educating me about, you'll find something worth educating yourself about. Or maybe you won't. Wasting your time is your own prerogative."
"I'll tell you what I told my previous class," Ender said, "If you've come here for a lightning lecture on the dialogues of Plato or the nihilism of Nietzsche, or any other firm, philosophical field that gives some manner of answers, you're in the wrong place."
He shot the class a wry look. "I don't own any answers," he said. "I've got a great deal of questions, though. I'm always willing to share. While the philosophers of yore might make for a good touchstone for our existence, I believe most things are too complicated to rely exclusively on the wisdom of our elders."
"My name is Andrew Wiggin," Ender continued. "Some call me Ender. I answer to both. I'm a graduating student who's been here since his freshman year. I suppose that gives me some form of seniority."
He nodded towards his TA. "That's Tara Maclay," he said. "She's my teaching assistant. I think between the two of us, she might have more wisdom of her own-- so please, don't feel afraid to ask her questions, too."
Then he turned back towards the class. "This class is about opening a dialogue," he said. "It won't work if we're all silent. I believe each and every one of you has some defining experiences that are likely to be worth poking with a stick, because otherwise you wouldn't be here, and because I'm an inquisitive fool who enjoys prodding things with sticks and dodging any angry ants that might appear."
"Don't get me wrong, though. If you don't want to talk about yourself, don't. I'm perfectly happy to spend a class debating Hegel or something with you instead - though I do expect everyone to participate, no matter what the topic. If you have something to say, say it, and we'll judge between the lot of us whether it merits the conversation."
He smiled again, briefly. "We don't do introductions here," he added. "That's not to say there's never a good reason to have introductions-- it's a very neat way to put everyone in their place and define who we are to one another. I just don't think it's terribly constructive within the bounds of this class."
"I want to know what you find worth talking about," he continued, "and judge for myself whether it is. So we're going to talk. And we'll see where we wind up." He paused. "However, if anyone here chooses to be a jackass about how they react to anyone else, I personally maintain the right to kick them out of the class and shove their face into the pond."
Don't think he wouldn't.
"This is the time of the semester when everyone here is new in one way or another," he said. "Maybe you've been slacking off all week, forming new thoughts or new experiences or enjoying a complete lack thereof entirely. Maybe you're actually new to the school, and you're currently bewildered, flailing around for something to hold on to. I want to hear about that."
"We can talk about that. Or we can talk about something else. I'm open to talking about anything, as long as you think it's worth questioning. God knows I don't actually know a damned thing about anything, and maybe if you can think of something worth educating me about, you'll find something worth educating yourself about. Or maybe you won't. Wasting your time is your own prerogative."
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Listen to the Lecture
Re: Listen to the Lecture
Topher was still deciding how he felt about being in Ender's class considering that he, you know, knew Ender.
Also, he did not want his face shoved into the pond.
Re: Listen to the Lecture
You know, so long as they weren't jerks to him, first. But then, most people here didn't look like the type. Kind of.
Sparkle was going to just sit there and speculate, now.
Re: Listen to the Lecture
She couldn't promise, however, that if someone were disrespectful in Ender's class that she might not trip them on the way out the door.
Re: Listen to the Lecture
Talk.
[[ messy is the rule around here! ping off each other, ping off each other's threads, get a major discussion started, it's all open. ]]
Re: Talk.
"Yesterday was Canada Day. Never really gave a damn about it before. Woo, parades and fireworks and shit. Big deal, right? Didn't think I'd actually miss it, but it was... like... extra quiet in a little place like this after coming from Toronto. I guess maybe I'm hoping that in a couple of days, Independence Day is going to manage to like split the difference or something."
Was that how it worked?
Re: Talk.
"There's usually a reason cliches like 'you never know what you've got until it's gone' came into existence," Ender mused. "Usually it's because they stem from experiences we've all had at some point. Like homesickness."
His own experiences with that particular one were a little complicated, though.
"What would you usually do on Canada Day?"
Re: Talk.
"'Usually' is a funny word," he settled on. "I don't usually do anything. It's what everyone else usually does, you know? Like there'll be everyone all dressed up in red and white and people out getting drunk and partying and maybe some sort of free entertainment somewhere, and I might try to get lost in the crowd or see if someone is passing around a joint or I might, I don't know, just find some people and grab some booze and find a place to watch the fireworks, it's never the same, I don't ever do the usual. But usually, at least the choice is there."
He'd just skipped work yesterday. Whoop.
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"So... they... lost it? After a while?"
Re: Talk.
That was one way to put it.
"So part of their allegiance - mentally, in the heart, however you'd describe it - that stuck with the home they'd lived in for most of their childhood."
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"You're comfortable with what you know, kind of?"
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And then, finally, he nodded.
Ender was right. At least within his own experiences. It applied easily enough to so many other things, beyond just nationality. Things that would shape who he became, for the rest of his life.
"Those are the rules that made more sense than any of the others. Of course I will."
Re: Talk.
Anna still wasn't so good with the keeping track of time thing.
Also it was Dominion Day when she was alive but we'll just pretend she found out about the name change somehow, shh.Re: Talk.
"If we're both still around next year, I'll remind you," Sparkle offered. "We can, like, claim a chunk of the island in the name of Canada. I can get my hands on something to blow up..."
Fireworks. But that was a much more fun way to say it.
"... And we can beat all these Americans at the patriotism game by a few days."
Talk to the TA
Re: Talk to the TA
Talk to Ender
OOC