"Is your so-called 'main civilization' keeping a connection with everybody's mind and soul all the time?"
Li Yao said subconsciously, "That's crazy!"
"Crazy?"
Gu Wuxin said, "Let's say that a villager living in a secluded village in the dark, ignorant medieval times comes to the early years of the information age, sees so many terminals, media, and information exchange platforms, and realizes that the people of this age have to learn all the news that is happening on the entire planet, the entire space zone, and even the entire Sector every day, including the dozens of celebrity scandals and the murders that take place thousands of kilometers away. It is the same every day until the villager dies. I believe that the ancient villager must feel that this age is crazy, too.
"However, you and I both know very well that the age is not crazy, and the society will not collapse because of the excessive information. On the contrary, it is the course of history and the inevitability of civilization. There is nothing wrong with you and me wandering in the ocean of information and enjoying ourselves. Instead, we take it for granted, don't we?
"What's the saying? Any technology born before I was born is part of the original order of the world. Any technology born when I was young will become a revolutionary product that will change the world. Any technology born after I'm middle-aged is an evil and taboo technique that violates the laws of nature and will be punished by the heavens.
"Do you not feel that you are behaving very much like the target of the sarcasm?
"Now that you can enjoy all the benefits of the information society in peace, discuss problems with your friends in another space zone in real time through terminals, share your life experiences, and share your feelings at this moment, which are out-and-out evil arts in the eyes of the ancient people, why can't you open your mind and break the limits in your head so that you can appreciate the meta-information society of a higher level with more tolerance and openness and join it frankly?
"Don't be scared, and there is no need to be vigilant. Trust me, it is good for every one of us and even our civilization.
"First of all, connecting everybody's mind and brain will help gather all the wisdom to consider the questions of a higher level that are of paramount importance to the civilization and the universe. Because of the limitations of the brains of the carbon-based intelligent lives, if every brain is kept in the way of independent calculation and thinking, it will be impossible for us to crack the mysteries of a higher level, such as the truth of the four-dimensional space, the origin and the end of the universe, and whether or not there is a fifth or sixth dimension beyond the four-dimensional space that is even more mysterious and weird.
"Those questions can only be solved by gathering the brains of thousands of people into 'superbodies'.
"Secondly, as I said just now, joining a superbody can make the life of a carbon-based intelligent life billions of times richer and thicker all of a sudden. It can give the originally pale and powerless lives of billions of people a brilliant color. Admit it, in any civilization of carbon-based intelligent life, the lives of most people are meaningless in the first place. They only live in ignorance and die in ignorance. They are nothing more than beasts who can talk and think. Perhaps their lives are not even as carefree and happy as beasts! If that is the case, what's wrong with giving them some color and meaning in life?
"Finally, the most important thing is that the superbodies solve the chronic disease that every carbon-based civilization shares. They can completely end our internecine warfare and self-destruction. They can completely eliminate the phenomenon of the 'chain of suspicion' that exists among different civilizations, turning the entire Cosmic Ocean into a perfect paradise that is extremely harmonious and bright.
"If we get to the bottom of it, why is it that every civilization of carbon-based intelligent lives will decline after they reach the peak of their development, leading to a civil war that leads to the destruction of the civilization? It is because the instinct of the continuation and diffusion of genes leads to the selfish nature of the individuals. This nature then turns into infinite greed. The irreconcilable contradiction between infinite greed and limited resources has led to countless similar tragedies.
"Selfishness is perhaps the most important factor in the evolution of all creatures. It is also the first impetus for the birth and rise of civilizations.
"However, when a civilization develops to an extremely high level, the selfishness of an individual becomes the greatest obstacle that prevents the civilization from continuing to develop. It is even the sharp claw that grips the civilization's throat.
"Selfishness leads to every individual having ulterior motives. They have the urge to compete with their own kind, eliminate their own kind, and even destroy their own kind at all times. The poor communication of information leads to the intersecting of the 'chain of suspicion' within the civilization, which seriously interferes with the normal operation of society. In the end, the urge to eliminate their own kind expands infinitely, and they fall into a vicious cycle. A war of 'everyone against everyone' occurs, and it ends in mutual destruction. The third World War on Earth, the thermonuclear war that almost destroyed the civilization of mankind, is the most typical example.
"However, in the superbodies, none of this is a problem.
"Because all the information is shared. When you enjoy delicious food, it means that billions of people enjoy delicious food with you. When you spend time with the opposite sex that you're obsessed with, it means that billions of people feel the sweet pleasure of youth. When you go on a soul-stirring adventure and feel the blood-boiling heroism, there are also billions of people who fight with you. Similarly, everything that they gain, whether it's fame, fortune, the luck of surviving a disaster, or the pleasure of solving a problem, you can also feel it 100% in an instant.
"In such an era of superbodies, the concept of individuals has been diluted to a very low level. There is no need for 'selfishness' at all. Therefore, there is no need for jealousy, hatred, fury, or the urge to eliminate other people. Is there any reason to fight against each other and kill each other?
"On the other hand, because the mind and soul of all the individuals are connected, everybody is as clear as candlelight about other people's evil thoughts and malice. If a certain sociopath or a natural-born homicidal maniac really has the tiniest distraction, it will be perceived by billions of people instantly. Billions of bright and kind thoughts will immediately come over and help him purge or isolate the threat while it is still in the cradle.
"Therefore, the era of superbodies is the most peaceful, bright, and harmonious era since the birth of the universe. Both the civilization of mankind that created the superbodies and the primitive civilizations and alien species that gradually joined the superbodies trust each other highly and are very united. There is not the slightest estrangement, disagreement, or wariness. Of course, there is no room for conspiracy and war. If the universe is a dark forest, isn't the superbodies — the grand universal superinformation unity — the best way to crack the dark forest?"
Li Yao was rather stunned.
Tilting his head and thinking for a long time, he said, "It doesn't seem wrong."
"Of course it doesn't," Gu Wuxin said. "All the problems and concerns that you can think of have been considered by the specialists and scholars in the Divine Palace in the thousands of years of exploration and research.
Gu Wuxin said. "Thousands of years ago, when the expedition army of the Pangu civilization encountered the Flood Tide Army outside of the black wall and managed to crush them, some of the captives of the Flood Tide Army sent invitations to our experts, asking them to be chained to the superbodies.
"At that time, our experts and the researchers who came later were naturally wary and prejudiced. It was impossible for them to accept the invitation immediately. Instead, they regarded the invitation of the captives of the Flood Army as a special kind of bewilderment and brainwashing. They scoffed at it and continued their research.
"However, the temporary failure in marching into the universe caused our civilization to run out of resources and internal instability.
"The hundred generations of pioneer civilizations discovered in the ancient relics and their experiences of destruction made us realize in desperation that the ultimate contradiction between resources and desires is a dead knot that no civilization can bypass. For billions of years, all the civilizations have been destroyed because of it. Can our civilization be an exception?
"Only by establishing a 'Grand Cosmic Hyperinformation Unity' that belongs to us and linking it to the 'Main Civilization Superbody' created by the civilization of mankind in the near future can the great harmony of the entire universe be realized and the series of problems such as wars, poverty, and crimes caused by selfishness, ambition, and internecine strife will be completely resolved.
"Even if the specialists and scholars in the Divine Palace can bury their heads in the sand and deceive themselves and turn a blind eye to all the problems, the Pangu civilization outside of the Divine Palace is indeed slowly decaying, falling, and splitting, just as the captives of the Flood Army said. Ugly black spots have already grown on the seemingly splendid body of the civilization. The incurable virus has long penetrated into the bones and spread to the internal organs.
"Against such a background where undercurrents are surging, a few seniors in the Divine Palace were finally tempted.
"At first, they only connected their minds according to the secret training method provided by the captives of the Flood Army.
"Because the Pangu race is good at large-scale telepathy in the first place, the common communication method of the entire Pangu civilization is the combination of language and brainwaves. The secret method of 'mind connection' is not much more advanced than the Pangu race's methods. Naturally, it is not dangerous or taboo.
"The reason why the seniors connected their minds was not that they wanted to solve the high-level problems such as the crisis of their civilization, but that they were faced with a series of unexplainable mysteries in the ancient relics, and they needed a higher level of wisdom.
"According to the captives of the Flood Army, the wisdom released after the two minds were connected was far greater than the sum of the wisdom of the two minds. In other words, 'one plus one is greater than two'.
"Also, the more brains are connected, the more unfathomable the wisdom of the entire system will be. Even the most mysterious problems will be solved easily.
"The captives of the Flood Army did not lie.
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