I suppose it should come as no surprise that ideas with far-reaching implications can sometimes arise from the unlikeliest of situations. Over the past few weeks, my much-younger sister and I have embraced the popular practice of watching television series on DVD, episode after episode until our brains grow numb and our intellects dwindle.

It just so happened that we were watching an episode of the science fiction favorite “Stargate SG-1,” and our favorite team stumbled across yet another civilization. As always, my sister looked at me slyly and asked the oft-repeated question. “Ave, how come even when they go to other planets people speak English?” Of course I saw the flaw, and of course I had no real answer, so I mumbled, “It’s science fiction. It’s not supposed to make sense.” What does this have to do with education, you say? Bear with me, I’ll get to it. So, it turned out that this particular society in this particular episode had chosen to purge all traces of its history to ensure its people were not haunted by past horrors. At this point my sister grew very thoughtful. She paused the DVD and said, “I don’t get it. If they don’t know what happened before, how will they win if the problem comes up again?”

Of course I was tempted to say, “It’s science fiction. It’s not supposed to make sense.” But then it dawned on me that she had made a very good point, and without realizing it she had put her finger on a very touchy topic particular to Lebanon.

By Ave Tavoukjian