Psychology of finals:

In the middle of finals week, I often speculate about what would happen if I didn't take a final, even for classes that I actually didn't mind taking. So we get conversations like,:

"Well, it can't be worth that much. There was a midterm and homework and doesn't participation count?"
"Yeah, but you probably still have to show up."
"What if I were taking it Pass/Fail?"
"You still need a C, right? You'd still have to go to the final."
"Dammit. Are you sure? I mean, what could it be? Like 30%?"
"You'd still have to go."

Why do I do this? I'm not actually going not to show up for a final. Maybe this speculation just makes me feel like I have an out, if the studying really doesn't happen, it's OK. It's also kind of fun, to imagine sending the cat to take a final.

"But how would he get there? He'd get lost."
"Maybe you could just shove him in the door and run away."
"Would he need a note or something on his collar? So they would know he was supposed to take the final."
"Or maybe you could stick a pencil behind his ear."