Game of Chance, Monday
"Next week, I'm going to put you all in a situation where the deck is obviously stacked against you," Atton said. "House odds will be high, but you won't be playing card games."
He walked around his desk - and then sank down on his chair. "Which means that this week, we're going to talk," he said. "I've said before that this class is as much about knowing how to play the odds to get out of a scrape as it is about winning a hand at pazaak or doing the math right. Now, all of you are going to wind up in situations where the odds aren't in your favor. For some of you, that might be college applications. For others, life and death situations. I'm going to throw you guys a random bunch of scenarios next week, which could be any of those."
He leaned back. "The first thing you want to do in a situation with bad odds is to change those odds," he said. "You all have weaknesses - some shared between most humanoids, some individual to each of you - that can be exploited. But you also all have strengths you can use to balance things out. Bad odds happen when the situation is tailored better towards your weaknesses than towards your strengths. Changing them means changing how you utilize your strengths."
He looked at each student. "I want each of you to identify one weakness of yours that can be used against you," he said. "If you're not comfortable giving me a big one, give me a small one, or one universal to your species that's common knowledge. I'm not here to do oppo research." ... Someone had been reading a lot of American election coverage lately. "Then, give me a strength of yours. Figure out how it can balance out your weakness. Or even better, tell me how your weakness could be turned into a strength - that's the real holy grail."
Then Atton nodded at a student. "Go."
He walked around his desk - and then sank down on his chair. "Which means that this week, we're going to talk," he said. "I've said before that this class is as much about knowing how to play the odds to get out of a scrape as it is about winning a hand at pazaak or doing the math right. Now, all of you are going to wind up in situations where the odds aren't in your favor. For some of you, that might be college applications. For others, life and death situations. I'm going to throw you guys a random bunch of scenarios next week, which could be any of those."
He leaned back. "The first thing you want to do in a situation with bad odds is to change those odds," he said. "You all have weaknesses - some shared between most humanoids, some individual to each of you - that can be exploited. But you also all have strengths you can use to balance things out. Bad odds happen when the situation is tailored better towards your weaknesses than towards your strengths. Changing them means changing how you utilize your strengths."
He looked at each student. "I want each of you to identify one weakness of yours that can be used against you," he said. "If you're not comfortable giving me a big one, give me a small one, or one universal to your species that's common knowledge. I'm not here to do oppo research." ... Someone had been reading a lot of American election coverage lately. "Then, give me a strength of yours. Figure out how it can balance out your weakness. Or even better, tell me how your weakness could be turned into a strength - that's the real holy grail."
Then Atton nodded at a student. "Go."