"Well …"
Li Yao thought for a long time before he finally understood what Gu Wuxin meant.
It was true that in the civilization of mankind that Li Yao lived in, both the Xing Yao Federation and the Imperium of True Human Beings had stepped into the age of information. Almost everybody was connected to the network through crystal processors. Their work, study, and life could not be separated from the network. Even the 'Spiriters' such as Lu Qingchen were born, who were trying to connect everybody to the virtual space through the network and give birth to a brand-new civilization.
It was needless to say that 'Fuxi', the mastermind of the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, was a sort of hybrid of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. Just like Xiaoming, Wenwen, and A Boxing Champion, he was a new-generation information life.
Then, was Gu Wuxin's so-called 'superbody' the same as Lu Qingchen, Fuxi, Xiaoming, Wenwen, and A Boxing Champion?
Li Yao did not think so. Gu Wuxin and his superbody had touched on a deeper level than the information lives such as Lu Qingchen, Fuxi, Xiaoming, Wenwen, and A Boxing Champion. Perhaps that was the essence of life.
"You have to admit that human beings, or rather, all carbon-based intelligent lives, are animals of information. Ever since our most ancient ancestors, the bacteria and viruses that were born in the primitive ocean, appeared, they existed to copy, transmit, and weave information. Swallowing information, swallowing more information, outputting information, and transmitting information to a larger scale of people and a farther range are all our instincts and the significance of our existence."
Gu Wuxin went on. "In the ancient times when technology was underdeveloped, the individuals of carbon-based intelligent lives had to seal themselves and live a monotonous, boring, and devoid of information interaction. But it did not mean that they liked it. It was just that their instincts to absorb and transmit information were suppressed.
"Once the technology matured and the social environment allowed it, the carbon-based intelligent lives would immediately transform themselves in the direction of informatization, post-informatization, and super-informatization. They would also transform the whole world, connecting all the individuals with networks in various forms.
"They crave information and swallow the information that is of no significance to them at all, from the changes in the universe and national affairs, to the scandals of celebrities and the social news of the neighboring towns, to the trivial matters of the family and the trivial matters around them. In fact, what does such information have to do with their lives, and how can it affect them? But they just wanted to know, and they didn't hesitate to sacrifice their precious lives.
"In the same way, they upload their information to the network without stopping, not caring that no one cares about what they eat, what they wear, what their mood is, or what problems they encounter in their life or work. No one cares about that, and they know that no one cares about that, but they just can't control the impulse that is engraved in the deepest part of their genes. Like a high-power radio that never stops, they release information, information, information, and information incessantly. Then, they use the information to reconstruct themselves in the network and the virtual world, a better, more exciting, and more 'real' self.
"This is what happened to every individual in the early years when the Pangu civilization entered the information society.
"Of course, because the Pangu have the ability to sense telepathy on a large scale, and they have passed this ability to the other races in the Pangu Civilization Alliance, the way we build the network may be different from yours.
"But I believe that they are essentially the same. There must be more and more 'network addicts' and 'informatics' in your civilization. Your society is slowly developing toward informatization, networking, and even virtualization, too, right?
"You don't have to answer. I can already sense the answer from the ripples in your brainwaves.
"Actually, what's the difference between reality and illusion? What's the difference between me and other people?
"Just now, when I said that once I become a superbody, I can live in the minds of billions of people, and billions of people can also surge into my mind to share their wisdom, emotions, and memories, you seemed to be very wary and disgusted, but if you think about it carefully, it's not as exaggerated as you think.
"I don't know if your civilization has something similar to … using the words on Earth, novels, games, and movies, but I think you do. Then, when you are immersed in beautiful novels, exciting movies, and exciting games, aren't you also putting yourself in the shoes of the main character in the novels, movies, and games and experiencing another life? When the technology kept upgrading and the cyberworld gradually gained all the beauty of the real world, who would refuse to live a more brilliant, beautiful, and rich life in the cyberworld? After all, how feeble are our brains and bodies, and how lonely and dull is the real world in which we live, compared with our geometrically exploding intellect and desire!
"The trend of history is unstoppable. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who defy it will perish. Do you understand? This is the inevitable trend of the evolution of a civilization, and it will not be changed by the will of a certain 'hero' or 'devil'. At first, all kinds of large, fixed terminals established the rudimentary network. Then, terminals were miniaturized, mobile, and wearable, allowing the network to cover the entire civilization. Then, terminals were further miniaturized and implanted into the skin, becoming artificial organs that everyone has to wear since they were born. Gradually, the boundary between the fleshly body and the network terminal became more and more blurred. With the development of biotechnology and quantum technology, brain cells will become biological crystal processors, and crystal processors will be reduced to the level of mustard seeds and cells. They will be perfectly melted into the fleshly body and will not be damaged or wasted for the rest of their lives.
"In every phase of development, the efficiency of people's information exchange, including the amount of information they swallow and output per second, will be hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times higher than in the past! An ordinary person living in the early years of the information age might read more news and information through a network terminal in one day than his ancestors who lived in a village in the dark age thousands of years ago did in their entire lives. His descendants living in the later years of the information age, or in other words, the 'super-information age', will also swallow billions of times more information in one second than he did. If such a beautiful super-information age did arrive, wouldn't it be perfectly logical and natural for their brains to be connected to share wisdom, feelings, and memories and form a 'superbody'?
"Of course, I believe that you will definitely mention the cliché and old-fashioned question of how to maintain 'free will'. I can't blame you. This is a question that carbon-based intelligent life forms will definitely ask when they are limited by rigid thinking. Back then, when my ancestors decided to build a small super-information network and link it to our own superbodies, they also considered this question repeatedly.
"Don't worry. Even if you are linked to a superbody, you will still be able to maintain your small, futile, and laughable independence. As long as you want to, you can completely turn off your super-information exchange protocol, cut off your connection with other people, and wander at the edge of being a superbody. There is no compulsory order forbidding you from doing so. It's just that very few people will do such a thing."
"Why?"
Li Yao could not help but ask.
"Why?"
Gu Wuxin raised his eyebrows high, as if his brainwaves, which contained strong mockery, were still not enough to express his surprise. "Isn't this obvious and self-evident? Humans — carbon-based intelligent life forms — are all animals of information. Information is our mission and meaning. No one can fall back to the low information exchange state of 'one hundred thousand' or even 'ten thousand' after getting used to the super-information exchange state of 'one hundred million'.
"Imagine this. Throw a person who is used to being immersed in the online world day and night, who wears several kinds of information terminals, has countless accounts in countless forums, and has experienced countless kinds of lives in countless novels, games, and movies, and throw him back to the dark and uncivilized Middle Ages, where there is no internet, no newspapers, no books, and no ten thousand kinds of exciting lives." What he faces is the monotonous sky, the barren land, and the mountains that surround the village. The only entertainment he has throughout the year is to get drunk with low-quality narcotics. Can he bear such a life? If you cut off the internet and lived without entertainment, how long would you be able to bear it?
"The logic is the same.
"For the people living in the Era of the Transcendents, they have to read ten thousand pieces of information every second, from the supernova explosion millions of light years away, to the experts and scholars in another Sector cultivating a brand-new life form, to the beautiful scenery that explorers have just discovered on a certain planet … At the same time, they have to express their opinions and feelings about these ten thousand pieces of information, and upload these opinions and feelings to the Transcendents to share with everyone. For them, information is as indispensable as air and water. Even if they were to return to the early days of the Information Age, it would be unimaginable for them to use all kinds of portable terminals to 'only' process three to five pieces of information per minute, much less return to the ancient times when there was no information exchange. If such a tragedy really happened, they would either have a mental breakdown or suffocate to death.
"So, you understand now. Separating oneself from the Transcendents and maintaining a laughable independence is no different from mental suicide.
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