Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, reception guest room.
When Lu Zhou pushed open the door, he saw Professor Angus sitting on the sofa. Professor Angus had a gray beard on his face. Wang Peng sat across from him.
Lu Zhou showed a friendly smile toward Professor Angus as he greeted him.
“Angus Deaton, what brings you here?”
Professor Angus adjusted his glasses. His old eyes didn’t work so well anymore. He finally recognized Lu Zhou and replied seriously, “It’s because of what happened recently. You must know why I’m here.”
What happened recently?
Lu Zhou immediately knew what he was talking about. He looked at Wang Peng as a signal for Wang Peng to leave the room.
Wang Peng hesitated for a bit before standing up.
However, he didn’t immediately leave the room. Instead, he walked up to Lu Zhou and said, “I heard some bad news. You should be more careful.”
Lu Zhou looked at him and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’m not doing anything dangerous. Not to mention the Chinese community is different from the foreign community. I’m sure the problems faced by Professor Grange isn’t a problem here at all.”
Ever since Grange’s thesis was published, the Chinese media chose to remain silent on this controversial matter.
“No, I don’t mean the human rights organizations, they’re not a problem, it’s…” Wang Peng hesitated for a bit and looked at Professor Angus. He whispered to Lu Zhou, “It’s the CIA… I heard they seem to be up to something.”
Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at Wang Peng with a weird expression.
“Do you really think the CIA is sabotaging us right now?”
Wang Peng suddenly recalled Angus Deaton’s background. He smiled awkwardly.
“I think you’re right.”
Angus Deaton is a Nobel Prize-winning scholar, there is no way the CIA could turn Angus into a spy…
Even Hollywood wouldn’t have such a ridiculous plot.
Lu Zhou shrugged and said, “Your worries are unnecessary.”
Wang Peng: “Just be careful, he is an American.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t care if he’s an American or not. I trust him. Not to mention…” Lu Zhou jokingly said, “I’m not exactly afraid of an old man in his seventies.”
Wang Peng finally decided to leave the reception room.
Professor Angus and Lu Zhou were left alone in the reception room.
Lu Zhou sat down on the sofa across from Angus. He picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. He then leaned on the sofa and said, “I’m guessing you have a lot to say. You can begin now.”
Professor Angus said, “I just want to say one thing… Please immediately stop whatever you are doing! Your research could release a terrible demon!”
Lu Zhou looked at the mist rising above his teacup, and after a while, he spoke.
“I don’t know a lot about economics and sociology, and I don’t quite understand what you mean by a terrible demon.”
Professor Angus stood up and said, “If you don’t understand, I can teach you.”
Lu Zhou nodded as a gesture for Angus to continue.
Professor Angus: “I need a whiteboard… or a blackboard.”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “No problem, we have plenty of whiteboards and blackboards here.”
Lu Zhou found a whiteboard and rolled it into the reception room.
Professor Angus picked up the marker and scribbled down a line of calculations on the whiteboard. He explained his theory to Lu Zhou in a simple manner. He then drew a line that represented his expectations for the future economic trend.
Angus talked about his concerns regarding dormancy technology, problems such as those causing a large amount of asset sedimentation, shifting the elite class to the future, amplifying class differences… He said these were all factors that would lead to the collapse of society.
After all, those rich people were greedy.
If they could live a better life in the future, who would want to stay in the current era?
“… In our society, the means of production are controlled by a small number of people. Therefore, we have adopted many methods to restrict this phenomenon, such as laws, regulations, taxes, and so forth.
“But your research will destroy people’s efforts at creating a balanced society.”
After hearing Professor Angus’ theory, Lu Zhou contemplated for a bit before speaking, “Even though I admit your concerns are reasonable, I cannot agree with you.”
“Why?”
Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.
“It’s not just human cryonics dormancy technology, advanced AI, VR, automation… There are so many things that can collapse our society. If you want to maintain society as it is, I’m afraid your only solution is to ban scientific research.”
Professor Angus said, “You’re a fascist!”
“No, I’m not, I’m just looking at this in an objective manner.” Lu Zhou shook his head and calmly said, “Technology itself is innocent, people, on the other hand, are not.”
Professor Angus immediately said, “Exactly, then how are you going to promise that people will use technology in a moral and ethical way?”
“I can’t promise anything, just like how politicians can’t guarantee world peace, economists can’t guarantee economic growth. Even weather forecasts get the weather conditions wrong sometimes… So why are you demanding me to promise that my technology will be used correctly?”
Professor Angus paused for a second.
He hesitated for a moment, then frowned.
“You’re right… But, this is a risk we can’t afford.”
“Some risks are inevitable.” Lu Zhou stared at Professor Angus and said, “Our civilization is always moving forward. Even if I decide not to research this technology, someone else will.
“It’s just like controllable nuclear fusion. Many people may hate me because I eliminated millions or even tens of millions of jobs. But I also believe that more people will thank me in the future as fewer people would be suffering in coal mines. People’s quality of lives will increase.”
This was the law of civilization development. Even though things might temporarily seem worse or stagnate, over the long term, quality of life would always improve.
Artificial intelligence would become more and more intelligent, smarter than human beings. One day, humans could act like gods, editing their genetics and making themselves omnipotent…
“The same is true for human cryonics dormancy, it will provide many terminally-ill patients a second chance at life. It will also allow civilization to expand across the galaxy.
“It will impact society in negative ways… The problems you are talking about are valid. But I think civilization will eventually find a suitable solution to these problems. Just like how we find solutions to scientific problems.”
Lu Zhou looked at Professor Angus and added, “And your job is to incorporate these new technologies into society in a non-destructive manner.”
