Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 342 The Sea of ​​the Past [Part [-]]

This is a brutal reality.

A technology that greatly prolongs life cannot benefit everyone. "Old people" cannot survive the process of "species renewal".

In order to ensure the smooth progress of technology application and promotion, the first batch of recipients of the benchmark human genetic modification surgery will only be young people in their prime.And the young veterans who are very close to the age of "cannot be operated on" are equivalent to being abandoned.

For middle-aged people on a certain borderline, the time of "a few years" is terrible.Maybe a disease, maybe something else, he will become an "old man".

Superman Corporation has developed gene medical technology that can eliminate diseases and reverse aging.

But it doesn't benefit everyone.

Some people will always be excluded from this history.

And these people may be old people who have dedicated their lives to the operation of human society.

The baseline human genetic modification surgery is conservatively estimated to raise the upper limit of the life span of a natural person to four hundred years.During these 400 years, the "aging" mechanism may be explained at the genetic level.Perhaps humans can master gene therapy to completely reverse aging.

Yawgmoth's achievement of "Unraveling the Enzyme System" has such potential.

In other words, a group of people may miss out on "eternal life" because they were born two or three years earlier.

Xiang Shan felt that this was too cruel.

Jing Hongtu put his crutches aside and sat beside Xiang Shan, watching him wipe his tears.The old man shook his head: "You are not normal."

Xiang Shan didn't know why.

"It is because of your weakness and entanglement that the intellectuals of the entire company have fallen into meaningless guilt with you, right? You even go to a nursing home to do volunteer work... Redemption? This kind of morality is a bit too Christian, right? .” Jing Hongtu looked at Xiang Shan: “You are not normal.”

Bow your head to the mountain.

"Let me ask you another question." Jing Hongtu changed his method: "Are you today?"

Xiang Shan didn't know why.

"Do you want to be the President of the Earth? Or the Secretary-General of the United Nations? Or one with a high degree of power concentration."

Xiang Shan shook his head: "Are you kidding..."

"You don't want this power, why do you have to take on this kind of responsibility that doesn't belong to you? Or is it a restriction that you deliberately made to say that 'the elderly cannot undergo surgery'? Then this is a bit vicious."

Xiang Shan smiled: "This... just kidding."

"You are the one who pushes the world forward, the one who opens the way. You are not a savior, an emperor, or a god. It is the responsibility of the family and the community to appease the emotions of the elderly and let them go through the last stage of life happily. Responsibility is the responsibility of society, but it cannot be your responsibility alone—unless you want to be a savior, an emperor, or a god. Human beings are not your people."

Jing Hongtu took a deep breath, and then sighed in abandon: "Although I really don't want to die. But the laws of biology and technical conditions are too objective, I can't help it?"

Xiang Shan was also sitting on the floor, looking up at the ceiling: "But, will our company make those old people uneasy at the last stage? 'I am the last batch of human beings to die of old age'..."

"Have you investigated?" Jing Hongtu asked.

Xiang Shan shook his head and smiled wryly: "There are old people who come to kowtow every day at the gate of the company. Some even bring their whole families with them. There are also scolding people on the Internet..."

"This is not a survey, but an observation at most. If you have been observing the society in a hospital, you may not want to come to the conclusion that a large proportion of people in this society suffer from diseases." The crowd' is used as a sample, and it is even possible to draw the conclusion that 'everyone in society is a Buddhist'." Jing Hongtu spread his hands, "Is it possible that you don't understand the principle of statistics?"

Xiang Shan sighed and did not speak.

Jing Hongtu also imitated him, looking at the ceiling: "In fact, your mentality of 'I'm not my ideal saint so I'm ashamed' is not too bad. Every time there is a wave of technology, there are old people who are thrown away. Down. In a few years, I was among the first batch of smartphone users in the Republic. I am very glad that I caught up with this wave. Then in the next few years, I was at the family reunion dinner, watching When a high-ranking uncle of mine was instructed by his granddaughter to use a smartphone, his hands trembled and he couldn’t even unlock it. I have never liked relatives at home, so I was thinking at the time——ha, he also has today .”

However, Jing Hongtu didn't laugh either.

"Then, my uncle was very angry and said, this thing doesn't work at all, how can the old man take the bus - he has never taken public transportation, and there are secretaries and assistants to help him take care of everything. He has heard that ordinary people use Take the bus with a mobile phone. If no one reminds him, he will not think of the fact that 'the elderly will have a special bus card'. He will definitely not feel inconvenient because he 'doesn't know how to use a smartphone'."

"But what about other old people who can't learn? The whole society is moving towards the 'age of intelligence'. But there are always people left behind."

"When I was young, there was also a joke. 'So who is so great, but I have never played Big Brother'... You may not know what 'Big Brother' is. It is a technology product of the past. This kind of thing It has become common in the last 100 years. The cycle of technological development is already shorter than the human life cycle. In the past few thousand years, human beings will not encounter such a thing as 'not being able to adapt to technology'. Only in recent decades There is such a phenomenon. Traditional morality is not suitable for this kind of thing.”

The old man patted Xiang Shan on the shoulder again: "But you are kinder than most people in technology companies. This is not bad. Really. It's just that normal people should see that you have provided long-term support for the other 70.00% of human beings. longevity, a healthy body, and a bright future. This merit is immeasurable.”

Xiang Shan didn't speak.

"Remember what I said to you in the past [-] years... ah, before you took over as the head of Rama's R&D department?" Jing Hongtu said suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, I remember."

"I definitely didn't remember it. I said at the time, 'How can there be a completely white and clean thing that doesn't touch a single ink?' If you really want to be critical and demanding of yourself, think about this sentence carefully. .And you shouldn't be stuck on this—morality has domesticated you into a tame domestic animal, so how can you get rid of the old ones?"

Xiang Shan's glasses quickly gave a prompt: "Ah, Nietzsche..."

"Yes, he said something similar. What's the matter? Don't you like it? Your company's name has a little connection with him."

"Ah, that's it. I'm purely technical transhumanism... After all, I'm someone connected to the Nazi thought." Xiang Shan shook his head, "I don't like it."

"Yes, you are a technocrat and a rationalist. I also watched your public lectures at the university. You admire rationality very much." Jing Hongtu nodded: "But it is a strong spiritual medicine for you. Some of Nietzsche's views are wrong, and his philosophy is indeed the most easily misused thing. But vaccines are also harmful antigens, right? Isn't it?"

Jing Hongtu wanted to stand up from the ground, but with some difficulty.Xiang Shan hurriedly helped the old man up.

"Okay, come with me. I want to give you something." Jing Hongtu walked towards the study, babbling: "Nietzsche is the easiest thing to be misused. He advocates positive self-improvement,'yes Everything is revalued'. He is actually exploring the road of 'living happily' - in science, a wrong exploration is also valuable, isn't it? Our ultimate ideal is 'free association of people', yes' Freedom for everyone and freedom for all' is different from him. But it can be used as a kind of stone, a kind of supplement. You indulge in the ancient morality, and if you want to be a perfect person, you should put a little bit of this fierce medicine."

"You are already at the forefront of history, and you will face many problems that history cannot give you 'known answers' in the future. You should not be defeated by your own weakness."

Jing Hongtu skillfully pulled out a few books from the bookshelf.The old man's bookshelf is huge.Xiang Shan seldom reads books.For him, the most advanced knowledge is either in his own projects or in the heads of his friends.But Jing Hongtu's book records something else.

"Let's read it. You can read it not as a philosophy book, but as a literature book." Jing Hongtu said.Then, he hesitated, and pulled out another book.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

"I'd better give you this book as well, lest you misunderstand and go the wrong way." Jing Hongtu said: "This novel is the result of misuse and misuse of Nietzsche's philosophy. In addition, you should also pay attention to Here's another trend that counters 'Superman thinking'."

Raskolnikov, a poor college student, is pushed to the limit by society and life. He doesn't want to be slaughtered by others, he wants to become a "strong man", and he wants to transcend past morality and become a "superman".And the path of "transformation" he chose was to kill a ruthless loan shark.However, after killing the loan shark and her innocent family members, Raskolnikov was tortured by the punishment of conscience.Inspired by traditional religion, he surrendered himself to the police station and regained his life.

Jing Hongtu stroked the cover of the book: "It is 'tradition' and 'culture' that counteract this radical trend of thought. You seem to hate this kind of thing? Yes, I hate it too. But, you have to admit that they To a certain extent, it can hedge the risk of extremist trends. I do not deny your ambition to improve culture. I am not worried that you will make mistakes in this regard-Ms. Granat is still fighting with you. However, from other Think from different angles. You could do it before, don’t lose it now.”

"And...yes, there's this one."

Xiang Shan looked at the top book in the pile of books in his hand: ""The Good Angels in Human Nature"?"

"Written by a conservative professor in the United States." Jing Hongtu sighed: "True progressives will not put forward any moral requirements for people, such as you should love each other, you must have the spirit of self-sacrifice— - No. Those are fanatics who launched religious jihad. Their world is full of love and sacrifice. Those who want to liberate mankind do not sacrifice themselves for reincarnation in heaven. We choose self-sacrifice because of objective conditions Is the most suitable path, is their self-realization. They stand with the masses, not because the masses are 'weak', not out of moral sympathy, but because they think the masses are a more progressive class, are 'no The Awakened Strong'."

"Of course, the reason why they are desperate to promote progress is also because...they will see the bottomless abyss of human nature. In their eyes, the old society constructed by old morality will not be tender, but cruel. No progress Otherwise, there will be no light."

"Conservatives are not. In their eyes, the current world is good enough. Perhaps from the perspective of the length of an individual's life, human civilization has its ups and downs. But from the perspective of history as a whole, human beings are progressing. There is something in human nature. Good angels, there is kindness, love and light in every era. So they don't rush to the future like progressives. They have a tender past."

Xiang Shan was a little confused: "Is this telling me... not to be too fast?"

"No." Jing Hongtu shook his head: "You have done really well, better than I imagined. But I also know that you will encounter more tests in the future. But you are facing challenges about human nature and history. When making a decision, think about these points of view. You can see the abyss in your heart, and you can see the pain of others. But you might as well try to believe that there are a few good angels above the abyss. Be optimistic, you have to be optimistic , Xiao Xiang."

　This chapter is longer than usual.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)