Beyond the Curve Lesson Plan

Is it natural to commodify human life? Is war our “default” mode as human beings? Is it in alignment with the life cycle, or is it contrived by humans who are hungry for power?

This prompt is broad and philosophical and students are reminded that there is no single right answer. They may go as deep as they want with it, for instance, raising further questions such as: is power-seeking "unnatural", or rather an inevitable result of human evolution and the development of civilization? While students are invited to draw on their own personal experience and intuition, they are still encouraged to use critical thinking and support their ideas with evidence from Abe’s text....