(there was a certain amount of kudos granted to any boy who successfully met the President in good, if not record, time, on his first run-through)
Now that he's about to "win the game," Bill seems to be having second thoughts about the institution behind the mission.
sensation that there was someone or something else in that grim room, both unseen and present, and coming for him as much as for anybody.
Is this whole mission a test of loyalty to the Program (that Bill has now failed)?
“As our students reach tenth grade they begin to gain insight into the great human mysteries of this world, and a special sympathy for locals, the poor, ideologues, and all those who have chosen to limit their own human capital in ways that it can be difficult at times for us to comprehend.”)
Is this technology aiming to solve these great human mysteries? This would go with Bill's desire for approval from the Program and his need for control. Every action Bill makes seems to have some kind of extrinsic value for the Program or himself.
He couldn’t even extend an arm—there were people everywhere, local, offensive to the nose, to all other senses.
There seems to be class prejudice throughout the story - depending on who has access and control of this type of technology
The boy was of the latter sensibility. He wanted to augment in clean, blank places, where he was free to fully extend, unhindered.
The boy seems to want to achieve complete escapism. That seems to be what "the question" is debating. How in control of your reality can you be?
It would surely count toward completion of Module 19, which emphasized empathy for the dispossessed.
Do they have moral modules they must complete? Seems odd given the weapons and violence that the boy is fascinated by - he wants authority (not human connection)
“animist beliefs.”
In this case, judeo-christian beliefs
And in those circumstances could precision be entirely guaranteed?
No way to account for the complexities of humans/human experiences
Bill Peek raised his eyes to the encampment on the hill, pretending to follow with great interest those dozen circling, diving craft, as if he, uniquely, as the child of personnel, had nothing to fear from them.
Who's encampment is this? Who is in control?
directed by unseen hands. On his first day here the boy had trailed his father on an inspection tour to meet those hands: intent young men at their monitors, over whose shoulders the boy’s father leaned, as he sometimes leaned over the boy to insure he ate breakfast.
It seems like the boy must be in some type of virtual reality that is controlled by a group of men.
o good and you build knowledge together and stuff. Of course, it’s another type of knowledge. It’s more like a construction site where you add different aspects
What type of knowledge building do we want our students to participate in?
Credibility is associated with the control and stability of a source;
Can knowledge evolve? Who controls it?
.
Interesting to see how "common knowledge" differs from what academics might say about a topic (since anyone can collaborate on a Wikipedia article).