On the way back, inside the shuttle, Li Yao was frowning, deep in thought.
He was naturally overjoyed by the profoundness, vastness, and infinite possibilities of 'Civilization'. However, when his initial excitement gradually faded, another emotion that he could not quite describe surfaced in his heart.
It was perhaps the fear of the unknown that human beings were born with.
It was exactly like the uncanny fear that human beings had when they looked at the starry sky and realized the vastness of the universe itself for the first time.
Ling Xiaole saw Li Yao's face in the rearview mirror and chuckled. "What's wrong? Are you worried that the Spiritual Nexus has become intelligent?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. 'Intelligent' was rather cleverly used. He could not help but blurt out, "How did you know?"
"Because when the Water Crystal Sector, the Forest Ocean Sector, the Nether World Sector, and the Uranian Ring Sector joined the Federation, the most distinguished specialists and experts from the four new Sectors all came to the Federation to visit and investigate. They were all worried that the Spiritual Nexus would become intelligent!"
Ling Xiaole shrugged and said, "It seems that every civilization of mankind that boasts a crystal processor has the same legends and fears. They are afraid that as the crystal processors become more and more developed, their computational ability and deduction ability surpass that of human beings, they will become intelligent and control and destroy human beings."
"Shouldn't we be worried?" Li Yao asked.
"I don't know if we should be worried," Ling Xiaole said. "But the same concerns have been raised a long time ago. I have a video here of two specialists having a fierce debate about the pros and cons of the Spiritual Nexus in the Sky Fantasia Academy about sixty years ago. The one who supported the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus was Professor Mo Xuan, the helmsman of the game 'Civilization', and the one who disagreed was Professor Xie Wufeng, the deputy director of the Sky Fantasia Academy."
"Wait," Li Yao said. "Isn't Professor Xie Wufeng the helmsman of 'Civilization'?"
"Yes," Ling Xiaole said. "Professor Xie was a firm vigilant of the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus in the beginning. He had intense discussions with Professor Mo Xuan about the future of the Spiritual Nexus and mankind many times. But in the end, he was persuaded by Mo Xuan and joined Mo Xuan's team. He even became Professor Mo Xuan's successor. Your questions and concerns may be answered in the competition between the two of them."
Ling Xiaole sent the video to Li Yao's wrist crystal processor.
The screen showed the crowded auditorium of the Sky Fantasia Academy, one of the Nine Elites of the Federation.
Countless energetic youths set off a blood-boiling atmosphere in the auditorium.
Professor Mo Xuan, Li Yao's old friend, and another scholar who was relatively younger were sitting opposite each other, surrounded by many students. The two of them were arguing with each other without giving in at all.
But out of Li Yao's expectation, Professor Mo Xuan did not crawl into an artificial body and show up as a regular spectral Cultivator as usual. Instead, he showed up in the real appearance of 'liquid metal' openly. He did not even simulate 'limbs' and 'head'. He was just a glittering silver ball.
Such a posture made him appear to be unrestrained and aggressive.
Xie Wufeng: "… To this day, the behemoth that is the Spiritual Nexus has controlled our everything. Our food, our accommodation, our work, our entertainment, our transportation, and our shopping all depend on the Spiritual Nexus. All the data is collected and stored by the Spiritual Nexus. Should we lose the Spiritual Nexus, our seemingly prosperous civilization will collapse instantly. Such a life hanging by a thread is too unstable and creepy!"
"The history of the civilization of mankind is the process of 'networking'," Professor Mo Xuan said. "In the age of the ancient Cultivators forty thousand years ago, the ancient Cultivators who could be self-sufficient in a random residence deep in the mountains and forests and train in seclusion for decades were naturally more 'stable' than the modern Cultivators who are highly dependent on the social division of labor, the developed Spiritual Nexus, and the resource distribution network. The ancient flying swords that the ancient Cultivators used were made of a whole piece of metal. Naturally, they were more 'stable' and less likely to malfunction than the modern chainswords made of hundreds of components. But what's the significance of the two kinds of 'stability'?
"To some extent, it is true that the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus is very unstable and vulnerable, and it is vulnerable to the enemy's attack. But do we not perfect and develop it because we are scared of the enemy's attack? Is that any different from giving up food for fear of choking? "
Silver ripples spread out on the surface of Professor Mo Xuan's liquid metal body. His voice came from the center of the ripples.
It made him look not like a human being at all but more like … a representative of an alien civilization.
"Professor Mo, let's stop beating around the bush," Xie Wufeng said. "You know very well that what we are really worried about is not the attack of the 'enemy' but the 'grand-unified Spiritual Nexus' itself.
"Of course, the enemy's attack can be defended and cracked in all kinds of ways. However advanced and evil our enemy is right now, they are human beings at least and boast the same brains as us. Therefore, they will not exceed the limits of our imagination. They can be defeated, or at least understandable.
"But what if something goes wrong with the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus itself? In the near future, because the computational ability is too high and exceeds the tipping point, the Spiritual Nexus itself awakens a soul, like …"
"The Spiritual Nexus becomes a demon," Professor Mo Xuan said coldly.
The students below the podium burst into laughter.
Expressionlessly, Xie Wufeng did not give in at all. "Yes. That's exactly what I meant. If we are truly mired deeper and deeper in the Spiritual Nexus and our civilization is completely entangled with the Spiritual Nexus, what should we do when the Spiritual Nexus becomes a demon and gains self-awareness one day?"
Silver ripples were still spreading out on the surface of Professor Mo Xuan's body. "Today, we are discussing the 'grand-unified Spiritual Nexus and the future of mankind' in the Sky Fantasia Academy, which is the most famous residence of the highest authority in the Federation. It is a veritable place of literature and literature. I know that most of the students here majored in liberal arts. Chances are that some of you are lovers of romantic novels. You must have read or even written stories about the Spiritual Nexus becoming a demon, the crystal processors rebelling, and the enslavement and destruction of mankind. Have you? Have you? Those who have read or written such stories, please raise your hands, will you?"
The audience burst into laughter again. Almost all the students raised their hands.
There was amusement in Professor Mo Xuan's voice. "It seems that you all have the same concerns and concerns as Director Xie."
Xie Wufeng slightly frowned. "It is perhaps an instinctive warning for unknown dangers that all human beings share."
"I understand your concerns and even fears," Professor Mo Xuan continued. "In fact, ever since 'crystal processors', a piece of magical equipment dedicated to computation and thinking, were invented, human beings have never stopped fearing crystal processors. Even a long time ago, when crystal processors were just born and could only perform four operations, such fears were born. Countless literary works with the theme of 'crystal processors enslaving mankind' have been born.
"Flying swords and sabers are the extensions of our limbs. Armor and spiritual shields are the extensions of our bones. As for crystal processors, they are the extensions of our brains.
"But we often consider the 'brain' to be the most important organ of the human body. It even means human beings themselves! Therefore, nobody is worried that 'flying swords' will rebel one day and replace the limbs of human beings. But almost everybody is scared that their brains will be replaced by crystal processors. Even today, when artificial bodies are so developed that the soul of a human being can live inside a crystal processor, such fears are still not gone but are even worse than before. "
"It proves the rationality of such fears and concerns," Xie Wufeng said.
"The romance of a liberal arts student is one thing," Professor Mo Xuan said. "The wild imagination of a novelist is one thing, but the birth of a 'brand-new life form' in reality is quite another.
"To be honest, I would like to be an 'evil expert of crystal processors' in a novel and create a brand-new virtual life form stealthily in the darkness. It's a pity that I can't do it!"
The audience burst into laughter again. The atmosphere was quite cheerful.
Professor Mo Xuan went on with mixed feelings. "The birth of life is so mysterious. To this day, nobody can clearly tell what 'soul' or 'self-awareness' is exactly and where they come from.
"Professor Xie, you said just now that the computational ability of crystal processors is higher and higher, a certain 'critical state' may be triggered and a self-awareness may be developed in the end?
"But in fact, soul, self-awareness, and computational ability have nothing to do with each other at all!
"The computational ability of the tens of billions of people in the Xing Yao Federation is no match for a common 'Dawn IV' crystal processor, which is only sold for 12,500 star coins in the magical equipment store. If it is the 'Mirage Dragon VII' mainframe crystal processor used on heavy warships, 99% of the Yuanying Cultivators are no match for it in terms of the instantaneous computation with their telepathic thoughts.
"However, the 'Mirage Dragon VII' mainframe crystal processor, whose computational ability is even higher than that of the 'Yuanying Cultivators', does not have self-awareness. The 'Dawn IV' mainframe crystal processor does not have self-awareness, either.
"But the billions of ordinary people, whose computational ability is only one tenth or one hundredth of theirs, all have self-awareness.
"Even the mentally retarded children with genetic defects have only one hundredth of the computational ability of the crystal processors of the lowest level, and they can't even do addition and subtraction within a factor of ten, but they also boast self-awareness and precious' souls'!
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