Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, reception room.
The door was pushed open, and Lu Zhou walked into the reception room. He immediately saw Professor Angus sitting on the sofa and Wang Peng sitting across from him.
Lu Zhou made eye contact with Professor Angus. He had a friendly smile on his face and spoke with a simple greeting.
"Professor Angus Deaton, what brings you here?"
Professor Angus pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and squinted his eyes. He finally saw that it was Lu Zhou who walked in, and his expression gradually became serious.
"Of course it's because of the recent events. I thought you knew why I'm here."
Recent events?
When Lu Zhou heard this, he immediately understood something. After thinking for a moment, he looked at Wang Peng and signaled him to go out for a while.
Wang Peng, who was sitting across from Professor Angus, hesitated for a second and stood up.
However, he didn't immediately leave the reception room. Instead, he walked next to Lu Zhou and spoke.
"… We've heard some bad rumors. It's better for you to be more careful."
Lu Zhou gave him a reassuring look and spoke with a smile.
"Don't worry, I don't plan on doing anything dangerous. Not to mention that the environment in China is different from abroad. I'm sure the trouble that Professor Grange is facing is not a problem here."
After his thesis was published, the Chinese media chose to remain silent on this matter that caused a lot of uproar abroad. Even though Chinese radical human rights organizations were making a lot of noise, it was still a bit strange for them to cause trouble in China.
"No, I don't mean those radical human rights organizations. They're not a problem, it's just …" Wang Peng hesitated for a second and glanced at Professor Angus, who was sitting on the sofa drinking tea. He lowered his voice and said, "It's the CIA … We recently received news that they seem to be planning something bad."
Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at Wang Peng with a strange expression.
"Do you think the CIA is capable of this?"
Wang Peng paused for a second and didn't know what Lu Zhou was talking about. However, he quickly remembered the visitor's information, and he suddenly had a strange expression on his face.
"That makes sense."
Turning a Nobel Prize -level scholar into an agent …
Even Hollywood wouldn't make such a ridiculous plot.
Lu Zhou shrugged and said, "That's why I said you're worried."
Wang Peng: "Anyway, it doesn't hurt to be careful, he's an American after all."
"Don't worry, it doesn't matter if he's American or not. I believe he won't do anything bad to me. Not to mention …" Lu Zhou paused for a second and said in a joking tone, "I'm not weak enough to be threatened by an old man."
Because Lu Zhou insisted, Wang Peng finally left the reception room.
After Wang Peng left, only Professor Angus and Lu Zhou were left in the reception room.
Lu Zhou sat down on the sofa across from Professor Angus. He picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. He then leaned back on the sofa and spoke.
"I'm guessing you have a lot to say, we can start now."
Professor Angus said bluntly, "I only want to say one thing, please stop what you're doing! Your research is releasing a terrifying demon! "
Lu Zhou looked at the mist above the teacup and spoke after thinking for a while.
"I don't know much about economics and sociology, and I don't know what the demon is."
Professor Angus supported himself on the armrest of the sofa and sat up straight. "If you don't understand, I can tell you."
Lu Zhou nodded and gestured for him to continue.
Professor Angus: "I need a whiteboard … or a blackboard."
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No problem, there are plenty of whiteboards and blackboards here."
Lu Zhou got up and walked to the wall. He then helped Professor Angus hang the whiteboard on the wall.
Professor Angus picked up a marker and scribbled down lines of calculations on the whiteboard. He then explained his theory to Lu Zhou in a concise manner. He used a simple curve to show his expectations for the future economy.
He also talked about his concerns about frozen dormancy technology, including the large amount of asset precipitation, the transfer of the elite class to the future, the solidification of the population, etc., which would eventually cause society to fall into a full-scale stagnation.
After all, no one was stupid.
If they could live a better life in the future, who would want to stay in an era without dreams and work on this barren land?
"… No matter what kind of society, in countless circulation processes, the means of production will eventually be concentrated from the hands of the majority to the hands of the minority. Therefore, we use laws, regulations, inheritance taxes, and many other means to limit or weaken this phenomenon. "
"However, your research will make all of our efforts go to waste."
After listening to Professor Angus's theory, Lu Zhou thought for a while and spoke.
"Even though I admit that your concerns are reasonable, I can't agree with your point of view."
"Why?"
Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.
"It's not just cryonics technology, advanced AI, VR, autonomous production … There are too many things that can destroy our idyllic fantasy. If you want to maintain the status quo, I'm afraid you have to call on researchers around the world to give up their brains."
Professor Angus said angrily, "This is sophistry!"
"No, that's not it, this is just an objective fact." Lu Zhou shook his head and said calmly, "The technology itself is not guilty, it's the people who use it that determine whether it is guilty or not."
Professor Angus immediately asked, "But how can you guarantee that a technology will be used correctly?"
"I can't guarantee it, just like politicians can't guarantee the elimination of war, economists can't guarantee that economic growth will always be stable, and even weather forecasters can't guarantee that tomorrow's weather will be accurate … So why are you asking me to guarantee that my technology will be used correctly?"
Professor Angus paused for a second.
He hesitated for a second and frowned.
"You're right … But there are some risks that we can't afford."
"But there are some risks that are unavoidable." Lu Zhou stared at Professor Angus and said, "Our civilization is always moving forward. Even if I don't discover some things, someone else will.
"Just like controllable nuclear fusion, a lot of people might hate me because I destroyed millions or even tens of millions of jobs. But I also believe that more people will thank me in the future. Even though I made their parents lose the opportunity to continue working in the coal mine, a rich future will allow more people to live a more dignified life. More people will have the right to choose their own future and life, instead of working in dangerous mines and narrow workshops. "
This was the law of the development of civilization. Even if it was temporarily stagnant, it would always be moving forward on a large scale.
New technology would replace old technology, and advanced productivity would replace backward productivity. One day, artificial intelligence would become more and more intelligent, and it might even become like a living human. One day, humans would become their own god, and through gene editing, they would become omnipotent …
"… Human cryonics technology is the same. It can provide many terminally ill patients with a chance to live a complete life. It can also allow our civilization to spread the seeds of civilization to galaxies several light-years away or even further away."
"As for the impact it may have on our original social order and even destroy some old concepts … The problems you mentioned will definitely exist, but I believe that our civilization will eventually find a suitable solution to solve these problems that originate from us. Just like how we solve technological problems. "
Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at Professor Angus, who was deep in thought.
"And these matters will be your job."
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