The deep underlying idea is that if we have to choose a social and political arrangement without knowing the position that we may occupy in society, we will choose fair principles to govern our social and political institutions. My teacher had our class re-enact a scenario very much like this one in class. We discussed the principles that would govern our imagined society before we picked our fate out of a hat. Until that point in my young life, I had never thought about justice in that way. The power of this exercise contributed in no small way to my becoming a philosopher. I have recreated a similar activity in various classes I have taught. The discussion it generates among students is reliably superb, but the best moment is when students discover their fate – whether they end up being a doctor or a garbage truck driver or a poor young mother – and have to reckon (at least for that class period) with their principles. Many philosophers have persuasively criticized Rawls’ use of the original position as an argumentative tool. But we often forget, I think, how successfully it harnesses the power of the imagination to construct an alternative vision of what society could be like.
This idea that we must get rid of the idea of "safety" within our lives and experiences can be imagined as a vision of the future that we as people, don't want to imagine. Being a "poor mother" or a "garbage truck driver" can be thought of as a disappointing fate to many who attend college, it can even be a fate so poor in the minds of students, that it serves as motivation in their eyes ; to not be like "them" , its a phrase that sticks with many who hold themselves to a high idea of success. But I believe and resonate with this idea of harnessing imagination as it broadness our perspective on education and life, because no matter how safe we feel behind a wall of education or wealth, there can always be a force of society that challenges our goals.