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Practical Philosophy, Wednesday

It was a somewhat tired-looking Ender that met them outside today. He hadn't slept well last night, and he had no doubt his class would suffer because of it. Ah, well; it wasn't like the fate of the planet rested on his shoulders.

"I spent some time talking to some of you about attachment last week," he said. "It's as good a topic as any to head into further, considering that the most notable event of the week was the invasion of a series of clones... and I'm not sure how interesting discussing the ethics of cloning would be."

Or pink ponies, for that matter.

"So. Attachments. Do you need them? Don't you? When do they go 'too far'? Human social structure relies on them - in so many ways - but for us personally the experience of them can differ wildly, depending on our circumstances. Sometimes it may be advantageous to avoid them altogether, to get rid of distraction. And sometimes they can suddenly come through in unexpected ways, as our friends swoop in to clear debris and fight battles we thought we had to face alone."

He shrugged lightly.

"I have a complicated relationship with the notion myself," he said. "I'm an introvert. I prefer to keep my circle small, so it doesn't suck up too much of my energy, and so I can rely on the fact that those I care about are invested enough to stick with me."

To a point. Ender's real thoughts on the matter were rather more complicated.

"Some of you are social butterflies. Some of you aren't. Some people have a near traumatic reaction to the end of the summer - the time of year when all the graduates leave. I wonder how all of you'll handle that."

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Attached.

Paddra Nsu-Yeul

Evan Sabahnur

Kathy Li

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Or eat food. Nom nom nom.

Evan almost choked on his sandwich when Ender mentioned the ethics of cloning.

He remembered how to breathe again when he moved right along to relationships, instead. Oh, good. A lesson on how unethical he was simply by existing would not have been a great addition to his day.

About attachments. Or come up with another topic; Ender won't mind.

"People can adapt to nearly anything," Yeul offered quietly. "I would say that people do not need attachment, but that it can both positively or negatively impact a person until they feel as if it is an absolute requirement or an utter anathema."

"I'm still working on figuring out my balance," Evan offered. "Losing Gert and Sholeh and her sisters all leaving at the start of this summer kind of reminded me that it's something I'm going to have to accept is a part of life."

Maybe sooner, rather than later. Last year had been brutal, too. Who knew what the future would bring?

She did, in bits and flashes that ate her lives away.

Yeul's glance at him was friendly enough, though perhaps a little more vague than Evan was used to from her.

"Yes," she agreed. "It is. And even when you find your balance, it won't stay that way forever."

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"Dispassionate," Ender noted, "But not untrue. From that bird's eye view, what would you say about yourself?"

She tilted her head slightly and thought about that.

"That having experienced both extremes does not make it any easier to find a balance once it has been rocked." She shrugged slightly. "That there is always a way to have to struggle again, even if I forget that sometimes."

Ichabod thought for a while about what to say. It wasn't a topic he had often discussed, and it had the potential of becoming very private.

"I believe everyone needs attachments to others. How else would we survive? That doesn't mean it is ever easy, and why every society has moral rules to control our instincts."

Ender was not entirely sure about Ichabod's first statement, but he ignored it in favor of taking another path. "Do you believe there's any absolute set of moral rules we need?" he said. "Or can multiple rulesets function at a similar level of moral quality?"

"Perhaps it would be advantageous if our moral rules were absolute and once and for all decided," he began. "But there is disagreement on the matter, and reason and conscience might contradict one another." After another moment of silence, he added: "I also have to take into account that moral rules have changed, in some ways considerable, since my time."

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"This is the first time I've really had attachments outside of my family," Kathy said, a little shyly. "Even now...I've made friends that I'd miss, but I don't think I'd be a wreck if anyone were to leave. I just find it hard to get to know people, I guess."

"It's a little scary, isn't it? At least a little? The thought that most of us are going to part ways after we graduate? Maybe even before then?" Evan was staring down at his sandwich with a little, bittersweet smile. "It makes it hard, knowing what losing people feels like, to get attached. But I don't regret making the friends I've made, either."

He could never regret Sholeh, or Gert.

"I'm not sure," Kathy said, shrugging a little. "I mean...maybe when I get closer to people I'll get all choked up about it? But for right now, even a year later, there are people I'll miss, but no one I'd be devastated to leave behind. Or be left behind by them."

She flushed, looking down. "Maybe I'm just a cold person by nature."

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genesishero - 2014-07-10 21:26 (UTC) - Expand

"Is it because you have a hard time making friends," Ender said, "Or because you're innately careful about the level of attachment you get yourself into?"