Here is your homework assignment. You don’t need to do it all at once. Perhaps just read the questions and think about them and discuss them at a later date.
1. Get a piece of paper. This paper represents a reality of which you are the Supreme Master. Anything you write or illustrate on the paper is absolutely true and real. Write down a few things that are true of your reality. Now, create a character (human or not) and name it. Have your character take issue with one of your truths and disagree with it. Which one of you is correct in this matter? Why? Is it enough to say that your rules are valid simply because you say so? To whom are you justifying your decisions? Is it possible for this scenario to take place somewhere other than your sheet of paper? In a lab, perhaps? Or within a computer program?
2. Given the vast number of planets in the universe, does it seem likely that there is another planet inhabited with life? Is it reasonable for us to assume that we are more intelligent or advanced than every other possible form of life? Is it possible that there exists a race of beings to which we would be comparable to the dogs of their world? Imagine that we ARE that race of advanced beings and we are having this same discussion. Could there be yet another race of beings more advanced than we are? How many permutations of this scenario could there be? As the permutations increase, how would you describe these aliens? What sorts of abilities would a race that is many steps removed from us have?
3. List three things that were true before you knew about them. Name something that was true in 600 BC but no one knew about it because they lacked the experience/technology. How about something in 1900? Name some things that may be true right now but we lack the experience/technology to really know for sure. What is the difference between understanding supernatural or magical phenomena and possessing highly advanced technology and/or evolution?
4. Describe a situation in which you could have prevented something bad from happening, yet for some reason, you didn’t. Is inaction that causes unpleasantness the same thing as Evil? Why or why not? Is your definition of unpleasantness good enough to apply to most people or does it only apply to you? What frame of reference are you using when you decide that certain outcomes are disagreeable to you? Do people have a right to complain about anything?
5. Imagine this experiment: You stand on the side of a moderately busy road. On the opposite side of the road are two hamsters. One is an extremely intelligent flesh and blood hamster and the other is a robot hamster that has been programmed to expertly dodge traffic and cross the road to where you are standing. You tell both hamsters that, if they choose, they could cross the road and become your friend. But only if they wanted to.
List some things that may invalidate the results of this experiment. If the robot hamster made it to your side of the road, would that mean that it wanted to be your friend?
6. Now go to another part of the road. The posted speed limit is 55 MPH. In this cruel country, the penalty for going even one mile over the speed limit is death by vivisection. Let’s say that you are caught speeding on this road. Regardless of whether you knew the law or not, would it be fair for you to be vivisected? Why? Why doesn’t your mere displeasure with the law simply change the nature of the speed limit or make it disappear entirely? Doesn’t your opinion count in this matter?
7. Describe why it would be impossible for an all-powerful being to wear tennis shoes. Describe why it would be impossible for it to turn invisible. To lift 1000 pounds. To be in three places at the same time. To invent a new color. To create a square circle. To enforce a speed limit. To stop time. To have emotions. To be smarter than you. To assemble a planet. To invent laws of physics. To invent any kind of rules.