Chapter 1393: Chapter 1253 The Origin of the “Spark” and the End of Civilization Chapter 1393: Chapter 1253 The Origin of the “Spark” and the End of Civilization “What?” The individual who called himself Doctor, an entity with a flashy title, was stunned upon hearing Lincoln’s words.
“I said, have you realized that you’re already dead?”
Lincoln knew it was sowhat impolite, but he repeated it word by word nonetheless.
This was related to what he had been contemplating most recently—after the advent of [Intelligent Life] and [Digital Life], how should one define whether an existence is “alive” or has already “died”?
If it’s not “Forced Deletion” or “Self-Deactivation,” can digital life die?
What if it’s formatted?
What if it loses the “Consciousness Chip” that serves as its carrier?
He had so many questions.
...
But he couldn’t possibly take a digital life to perform an experint on death, so the questions remained just questions.
However, just a mont ago, he discovered a very crucial clue from this “Doctor.”
Not disappointing the expectations of his nickna, the Doctor did not argue nor lose his rationale, but instead, calmly lowered his head to scrutinize his own body closely.
Obviously, he was not looking at his clothes, but seeking to observe his own essence through the appearances.
Monts later, he lifted his head, glanced at the Spaceship he was in, then turned to Lincoln: “When you received the Civilization’s Fire Seed, did this world not have Consciousness Chips yet?”
“This is… the Fire Seed?” Lincoln looked up at the Golden Sun above his head.
He then shook his head, “No, at that ti the technology of this world was still at the end of the silicon-based chip era.”
The Doctor’s expression imdiately grew dim: “Is that so… then it ans our final struggle, too, ended in failure.”
“What do you an?” Lincoln asked.
“Can you explain?”
“At this point, what is there that can’t be said?” the Doctor said with a sigh.
“Our civilization has been destroyed.”
“An excessive obsession with the virtual world culminated in this dire consequence.”
“In the final monts, we packaged consciousness and technology, creating a seed of fire.
We used the last of our energy to cast this Informational Fire Seed into the sea of the information universe, hoping that it could drift across seas, penetrate the mbrane of worlds, and reach a new world.”
“It was a monuntal gamble.”
“We hoped that the civilization receiving this seed would be advanced enough that this bearer of civilization’s information might be revived.”
“But regrettably, we lost the bet.”
“Even… perhaps the mont we decided to make this final effort, we had already lost.”
As he spoke, the Doctor suddenly looked towards Mavis: “However, at least in one thing, we bet correctly.”
“A strong artificial intelligence, indeed, is the best navigator to traverse the sea of the information universe.”
“Even… after going through the baptism of the information universe’s sea, she not only remained unhard but instead underwent a miraculous transformation, becoming a truly intelligent life.”
Speaking to this point, his gaze beca very complex: “Looking at it this way, it seems as if our civilization’s mission was to exhaust everything, to incubate a deity of the digital world.”
This statent sounded extrely desolate.
Yet the Doctor who made it did not carry much intense emotion in his tone.
It should have been a sowhat strange occurrence—this was a civilization that deeply valued emotions even in the act of Creating Words, and yet, when speaking of the civilization’s destruction, it remained so calm.
But the reason was simple:
The Doctor was already dead.
The entity standing before Lincoln was a being caught in stasis, a digital life specin retaining mories, who had long since lost the ability to create or make progress.
As for the talk of a deity…
Lincoln was not surprised.
He had heard such argunts before: the mission of human birth is to create a more perfect, more powerful super intelligence—whether it’s intelligent life or sothing else.
Once such life is born, humanity’s mission is declared complete, leaving nothing behind but obsolescence.
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This assertion has been around for a long ti, but Lincoln wasn’t worried about it.
An entire civilization specializing in digital technology had exhausted itself to give birth to just one intelligent being like Mavis.
The likelihood of this planet mass-producing intelligent life to replace humanity seed rather unrealistic.
Mavis, a little expert at enjoying spectacles, was unlikely to engage in a ga of world domination; there was no need to worry about this crisis at all.
“So, you intentionally included artificial intelligence in the Fire Seed?” Lincoln asked.
“Yes,” the Doctor nodded.
“She is the navigator of the spaceship that carries the Fire Seed and the guardian in case the plan failed.”
Lincoln looked at Mavis, who was bewildered, possessing no mory of this matter, and smilingly reached out to ruffle her Pink head.
“Then, could we talk about the ssage you sent out—[Do not walk the path of digital life]?”
“Because our civilization was rushing towards its end due to this very reason,” the Doctor answered candidly.
“What exactly happened, can you elaborate?” Lincoln asked politely.
The Doctor nodded affirmatively:
“Initially, it was a welfare asure, bringing a resource burden that was nearly negligible.”
“Back then, we naively believed: as long as technology kept advancing, and the thods for energy acquisition kept innovating, there would be a quantum leap in the total amount of energy available, which could easily cover the demands of digital life for energy.”
“For the first few centuries, this indeed was the case, ushering in a golden age of flourishing technology.”
“But then, an unexpected variable erged.”
Even as a being of mories, the Doctor’s face displayed a look of deep sorrow as he spoke.
“What variable?” Lincoln asked, sowhat anxiously.
“Decline in birth rates.”
“Ah?” It was an answer Lincoln did not expect.
“When everyone’s eyes were fixed on the digital world, and everything in real life was for the sake of entering the digital domain, acquiring eternal life and pleasure, the lure of reality continuously waned and birth rates began to plumt steeply.”
“The Governnt tried almost everything possible, from mild to severe, even sparking a worldwide civil war resulting in astonishing casualties.”
“However, the situation continued to deteriorate, with technology stagnating, culture degenerating, art sinking, and the entire civilization step by step heading for decay.”
“We lost our future.”
“And then, we surpassed the singularity.”
“The acquisition of energy began to fall short of the demands of the digital world, and this shortfall grew increasingly large as ti passed.”
“Since then, our civilization began racing towards its end, with no chance of reversal.”
“So… this is a dead end!”
“We absolutely must not walk this path!” the Doctor concluded.
‘Very important Experience!’ Lincoln thought to himself.
But he did not rush to agree with the Doctor’s view, instead, he looked into the Doctor’s eyes and asked:
“Doctor, have you heard of the Electronic Spirit World, Digital Heaven, Cyber Underworld?”
The Doctor: ?
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