fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

Today, class was meeting... in the Danger Shop. Ender had programmed it with a simulation of a nice, cool forest clearing, though otherwise his setup was unchanged.

"I suppose this week is as good a week as any to talk about nurture," he said wryly, sitting down. "Specifically, what effect does the environment you grew up in - or exist in - have on you personally? Has it helped define you, or does it define you entirely, or are most of your traits inborn?"

He spread his arms.

"It's an issue on which scientists and philosophers have quarreled for centuries," he said. "When a child gets born to a family in the desert, are they instilled with a resistance to heat on a biological level, or is it that they grow up accustomed to it? Is a child born cheerful, or is that a mechanism they build as they explore how their interaction affects the world around them? And so forth, and so on. I don't want to really talk about other people, though. I want to talk about you."

He took a sip of water.

"So tell me about where you come from, in as much detail - or lack thereof - as you like," he said. "How much of an effect do you think it's had on who you are?"

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She chewed her lower lip. "Here feels...less safe. Like I'm missing something not seeing multiple levels."

"Like there should be a second or third meaning to everything, even if it looks like there isn't?" Ender asked softly.

Mara nodded. "Exactly like that."

"Well, there's usually an undercurrent of something," Ender said. "Everyone does always want something."

"But here it doesn't seem to be power or influence with my mentor," Mara said, "so I get confused."

"Well, it's high school," Ender said, smiling faintly. "Most people just want you to like them."

Mara looked genuinely confused by that. "Really?"

"Really," Ender said, smiling a little. "You can see it as wanting to have alliances with your peers, if that makes more sense. But generally, they're looking for friends."

"But what's the point to it?" Mara said. "I'm not staying here."

"Do you think friendships just evaporate because you're not in the same location anymore?" Ender asked.

"I don't have enough experience to draw a conclusion," Mara admitted.

"That's why," Ender said. "Sometimes friendships are meaningful in the moment, too. Sometimes they can last forever and a day. You don't know until you've tried it-- and it's in our nature to seek out bonds like that."

"Is it?" Mara asked.

"Yes," Ender said. "Humans are a collaborative species, and a social one. We seek out bonds for life, both to support us and our communities, and to procreate. We need companionship, approval, and the opportunity to offer the same to someone else. Degrees vary, of course, but these are the traits that made our kind successful."

Mara wrinkled her nose up at "procreate." "I'm not having children, thank you."

Ender managed to repress an amused noise. Barely. "I'm talking about the species in general," he said, straight-faced. "Which you're still a part of, regardless of whether or not you'll have children."

"Humans are--" she cut herself off, remembering Kanan's lecture about her view on "humans are the superior species."

That might be part of her problem making friends...

"I'll try harder," she tried.

Practical Philosophy, Monday

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