The world enters the age of myth

Wang Zhaoyang said this sincerely. If they hadn't encountered the group of compatriots on the Yunhai, it would have been very difficult for them to survive this disaster.

If I want to develop to the same stage, I don’t know how long it will take...

It is even more difficult to find a relatively safe world by luck. In the past, he would just think about it quietly in his heart.

"We can't slack off. We have only taken the most basic step now. If we look at it from a longer-term perspective, we have barely escaped from the existential crisis and are still in the initial stage."

Lu Yiming said: "If we want to truly reach the stage of interstellar civilization, there are still many things worth striving for in the future..."

"And with the new population joining, I believe this social atmosphere will be diluted a lot."

The two talked about the "fertility trap" and some interesting yet heavy social topics.

The fertility rate of the Eastern Fleet is actually quite high. The annual birth rate is almost 2%. This is already a very remarkable number. After all, the living conditions of the Eastern Fleet cannot be compared to the City of Clouds.

"If there are better living welfare... the fertility rate can reach 3% or even 4%. Of course, this high fertility rate cannot last long, and 3% should be a more appropriate number. Ten or twenty years later, It will still fall below 2%." Wang Zhaoyang said.

"There are actually reasons for such a high fertility rate, not just economic reasons, but also due to some past experiences."

"How do you say it?" Lu Yiming asked with interest.

"We once encountered a parasite that lives on humans, called a human slave... It is only as big as a finger, like a watermelon seed, and is a very magical bug. It will appear when humans are sleeping, Crawling quietly into the ears and into the brain."

Looking back on the past, Wang Zhaoyang felt quite sad. It was really a very strange experience.

"The human slave parasitizes the human brain and does not attack the brain directly. Instead, it uses a certain happy hormone to manipulate the human brain to a certain extent, making people very happy. At the same time, this happy hormone can inhibit sexual intercourse and parasitized People will slowly stop reproducing. Human reproduction requires too much energy, and reproduction is not a good thing for individuals."

"After being parasitized by human slaves, all this energy is deprived, and humans lose their passion."

"Then what?" Lu Yiming asked.

"We discovered the existence of this strange bug in an ancient civilization, but the strange thing is that it only parasitizes half of the human beings, and the remaining half does not parasitize. Moreover, the parasites are often male and female. Relatively few. In this way, the growth of the population can be ensured.”

"Why?" Lu Yiming asked curiously: "Generally speaking, this kind of parasite will parasitize all humans, right? Could it be that it gave birth to wisdom and knows how to develop sustainably?"

The monster that gave birth to wisdom is the real scourge of mankind.

"Yes, we have also raised such a conjecture. But later through investigation, we found that it is not intelligent."

"One of the experts put forward a hypothesis based on a special phenomenon in the Earth's period. A creature on the Earth called lemmings reproduces very quickly. After the number of lemmings expands rapidly, something will happen. What happened: all the lemmings started to become restless, shouting, running around, and stopped eating."

"These lemmings began migrating in large numbers to faraway places."

"This phenomenon looks amazing, and the main reason is for sustainable development. Whenever the population reaches its limit, these lemmings will take extreme measures to reduce the number."

"The same is true for parasitic human slaves. If humans do not reproduce, over time, the human population will become extinct itself, and the parasitic 'human slaves' will also become extinct."

"So, in order to avoid their own extinction, the 'human slaves' will only parasitize half of the population, and the other half will no longer be parasitic. This kind of parasite has no intelligence, it is just long-term evolution that leads to this situation. "

"Ah... that's really..." Lu Yiming shook his head. In fact, this kind of parasite is quite scary.

Wang Zhaoyang narrated this past event with emotion: "However, the ending of the story is exactly the opposite of what was expected... guess what happened in the end?"

Lu Yiming thought for a while and said: "After all, this is just a parasite. It is not smart or powerful. Certain human drugs should be able to kill them. It should be curable, right? Have you helped this indigenous civilization?"

"It can indeed be cured, and antibiotics can cure it." Wang Zhaoyang smiled, "But the local rulers rejected our good intentions. Even in the local culture, this kind of bug is called a 'holy bug', and people parasitized by bugs People, they think it’s a gift from the gods!”

He showed an expression of "I didn't expect that."

Lu Yiming was surprised: "It can still be like this!"

Wang Zhaoyang explained: "The main reason is that people who are parasitized by 'human slaves' lose their ability to reproduce, lose a lot of desires, and ultimately live a long life. The size of 'human slaves' is only a little bit larger than a melon seed, and they need less nutrients." Just a little bit.”

"Because you lose some desires, it can actually bring a lot of benefits. Certain hormones it secretes can make people happy every day. Because they have a good mentality, they can also make people healthy and live longer."

"You know, eunuch... In fact, the average life span of eunuchs is higher than that of normal men. The human slave wants the person he is parasitic to live longer."

"Normal human beings in this civilization have much shorter life spans in comparison. Their main job is to give birth and reproduce. They will be troubled for various reasons and engage in heavier physical labor. So this civilization refuses our help, and they There is no desire to get rid of this parasite, which is another interesting thing.”

Wang Zhaoyang spread his hands. Although they were technologically advanced, there was no need to forcefully help each other. "In the end, we both left peacefully."

After Lu Yiming heard this story, he also sighed in his heart.

The dangers caused by supernatural beings are all kinds of strange. This is the first time I have heard of this type of symbiosis.

He sighed deeply: "No wonder this kind of parasite is called a 'human slave'. Before we know it, humans have become slaves of insects, and they will remain slaves for generations, and they will never wake up." come over."

"Half of the children born by normal people are parasitized. The parasitized people feel that they have been chosen by the gods and are ecstatic; the other half can only continue to have children and be reproduced from generation to generation, and even long to be parasitized."

"This fate seems so cruel to us, but to the locals, it is... a very normal behavior. They think this kind of life is normal and even a gift."

"Once this kind of thinking is solidified, there is no way to correct it."

The reproductive behavior of the people in the City of Clouds has many similarities with this story. It is easy for individuals not to have children, and it saves a lot of trouble.

The quality of life in the DINK state is obviously higher than raising children.

But for the entire population, being barren is not a good thing.

.

Of course, if you want to become a true interstellar civilization, you must break out of this framework. The original model driven by capital interests has many hidden dangers and must have a development limit.

How to break out of the previous framework is also a difficult point in becoming an interstellar civilization.

Wang Zhaoyang said: "What interesting stories have you experienced over there?"

"Of course there is, haha, there are many, many." Lu Yiming thought for a while and briefly told the story of the "Akara Civilization" about the rapid decline of a more powerful interstellar civilization.

"The planetary fortress where the City of Clouds is located is the legacy of the Akala civilization..."

"So productivity is not the most important thing, but the spiritual will of the entire society is more important."

Wang Zhaoyang, Li Mingrui and others also listened with interest.

From the first moment of surprise, the legacy of an interstellar civilization is in front of you. Who wouldn’t be jealous and eager? This kind of luck is so good!

Then I fell silent and thought deeply.

It turns out... humans have only received a small amount of inheritance, and more inheritance has been occupied by monsters, so it is not so easy to obtain.

In the end, after hearing the speculation about the "technological trap", Wang Zhaoyang turned all his emotions into a sigh.

"You are indeed right. Once a poor boy makes a lot of money, it is difficult to control himself. He quickly learns to eat, drink, whore, and gamble. The same is true for a normal civilization. The productivity is too high and the spiritual level cannot be improved. , there will be hidden dangers.”

"Sloth, laziness... Most people live just to pursue a little simple pleasure. The parasites like 'human slaves' I just mentioned can bring simple pleasure to people. This is the trap of ancient civilization. Modern civilization has invented various addictive drugs and various entertainment products...but who can say that all of these are wrong?"

"I didn't expect that even after becoming an interstellar civilization, it would still be like this...a more advanced virtual world technology? Hey."

"From this point of view, if you want to become a true interstellar civilization, it is not enough to rely on technological advancement. It also requires essential evolution at the spiritual level."

Lu Yiming nodded in agreement: "Yes... But this is easier said than done. It is much more difficult than technological development!"

"So we have to find a way to capture the opposite world and obtain more social information so that we can slowly explore it step by step."