Game of Chance, Monday

[suitably_heroic]

"So I feel like we haven't done enough discussion lately," Atton said.

He had not at all decided on this topic purely because it was cold, or because he'd gotten rained on by candy this morning and he was grumpy about it. Nope.

"Chance is, at the end of the day, about uncertainty," he said. "How certain is it that one thing happens over another? It's rarely a hundred percent chance anything will happen. Anyone on the mainland would tell you that it could never possibly rain candy out of the sky, but look--"

He waved towards the window. "...There we go. Now, I can't speak for all species, but humans don't handle uncertainty well. We want our chances to be 100% in our corner - or at least 100% on us. Even people blaming themselves for stuff they can't control, that's about trying to minimize uncertainty: it's gotta be something you did. Or didn't do. The odds were in your hands, not at the whims of fate."

He shrugged. "That's not actually how it works," he said. "So today I just want to open up a broad discussion. How do you deal with uncertainty? Not knowing if the chances are in your favor? Knowing they're not, but wanting to push it anyway? Do you deal well with not knowing, or does it drive you nuts at night? It's stuff like that that should inform when you take a chance, and how."

With that, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a marzipan apple, and bit into it.

Comments

Sign In!

[suitably_heroic]

Unsure.

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[era_two_triangle]

Peridot

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[snipsnspecks]

Ahsoka Tano

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[boneyard_girl]

Ada Miller

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[not_every_mage]

Anders

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[giveherahand]

Mara Jade

Listen to the Lecture

[suitably_heroic]

It's totally because he stepped outside and got hit by a marzipan banana this morning.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot, who had a marzipan cherry perched atop her hair and most of the rest of a proper fruit salad scattered throughout, listened thoughtfully to the lecture, mostly paying attention to Atton's observations about human nature. Clearly a logical being such as herself wasn't prone to such obsessiveness.

Really.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[boneyard_girl]

Ada always looked out her window before leaving the dorms, since she had certain... weather restrictions, which meant she had an umbrella, and a large shopping bag full of marzipan, which she was steadily snacking on as Atton talked.

She was pretty sure today's odds were in her favor, since everything was coming up candy.

How Do You Handle Uncertainty?

[suitably_heroic]

"Not just the questions I asked about handling it emotionally," Atton said, after a long pause. "But also, how do you plan for uncertainty?"

Re: How Do You Handle Uncertainty?

[era_two_triangle]

"Isn't that the thing about uncertainty, though? Can it really be planned for?"

Peridot, there was a banana in your hair.

"I suppose it would theoretically be possible to set up contingency plans for most probable outcomes in any given situation that might be accounted for, but if it's something that can't be foreseen, all you can really do is prepare a spectrum of plans that might be easily altered to apply to any given situation, and hope for the best."

Re: How Do You Handle Uncertainty?

[suitably_heroic]

"That's kind of way of planning for uncertainty, though, isn't it?" Atton said. "Getting a nice big spread going."

Re: How Do You Handle Uncertainty?

[era_two_triangle]

"One of a few ways that I can think of offhand," Peridot agreed, "though it isn't always doable, either. Especially when stepping into the complete unknown. Either the resources aren't available to you, or you'll inevitably encounter factors beyond your control."

Like when the Crystal Gems haven't actually been shattered or corrupted after all, and they smash all your equipment. Not that Peridot had a grudge, of course. She basically was one of them now. But still.

Re: How Do You Handle Uncertainty?

[giveherahand]

"You have to be agile," Mara said. "You can't expect something to go one way and then panic when it doesn't."

Re: How Do You Handle Uncertainty?

[suitably_heroic]

"So be ready to improvise?" Atton prompted.

Re: How Do You Handle Uncertainty?

[giveherahand]

Mara nodded vigorously. "Have a few things in mind, but don't get locked into how things should be. Today is weird, but an umbrella pretty much fixes the 'stuff coming from the sky' problem, unless the stuff coming down's acidic."

Talk to the TA

[suitably_heroic]

When he pings in.

Talk to the Teacher

[suitably_heroic]

He's there, along with his marzipan apple.

OOC

[suitably_heroic]