endsthegame (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2014-05-19 01:46 pm
endsthegame) wrote in fandomhigh2014-05-19 01:46 pm
Entry tags:
Practical Philosophy, Monday
"There are those of us who come here believing very strongly in duty," Ender said. "Others who come here to escape it - and some to who it's absolutely not a part of their lives."
He smiled a little.
"I had a mentor, once," he said. "I was told that people were free, unless humanity needed them, and that humanity never asked us to be happy, merely to act on its behalf - for its survival. Happiness, he felt, was a luxury that at times we could scarcely afford. To opt out of doing our duty at such a time was the worst crime imaginable: a crime of stupidity."
He took a sip of water. "I've met people who disagreed, since," he said. "I've also met people whose lives were so intricately bound to these rules they didn't even know where they stopped and the rules began. Some of you have already made your views fairly clear already, but I'm curious as to everyone else's input, too.
"How important is duty? Do we people all carry some grand responsibility to our species, or should we exist only for ourselves and the development of our self? And if we live for duty, then when does that end? Is there some point where all of us may be afforded personal freedom, or are we perpetually tied to our responsibilities, whether we flee from them or not?"
He smiled a little.
"I had a mentor, once," he said. "I was told that people were free, unless humanity needed them, and that humanity never asked us to be happy, merely to act on its behalf - for its survival. Happiness, he felt, was a luxury that at times we could scarcely afford. To opt out of doing our duty at such a time was the worst crime imaginable: a crime of stupidity."
He took a sip of water. "I've met people who disagreed, since," he said. "I've also met people whose lives were so intricately bound to these rules they didn't even know where they stopped and the rules began. Some of you have already made your views fairly clear already, but I'm curious as to everyone else's input, too.
"How important is duty? Do we people all carry some grand responsibility to our species, or should we exist only for ourselves and the development of our self? And if we live for duty, then when does that end? Is there some point where all of us may be afforded personal freedom, or are we perpetually tied to our responsibilities, whether we flee from them or not?"
Re: Talk.
"Just out of curiosity, who's got the responsibility right now?" Joker asked. "I mean, there's some sort of... I dunno, steward or something, taking care of things in your name until you come of age? So... what's wrong with handing things back to them when you need a break from everything? You've got responsibilities, sure, but you're still just a person, and you deserve a chance to let your hair down. Part of effective management is learning to delegate."
Re: Talk.
Place? Elsa frowned a little as she said that. It just stank to her of more skirting around the truth, and this wasn't even much of a secret, was it? Really, 'place' was almost so deliberately vague, she might as well have been announcing it from rooftops anyway.