75: Chapter 75: Is Earth Alive? And the Judgment of Humans and Animals?

Kyoto, suburbs, Qingfeng Temple.

Inside the classical study, brushes, ink, paper, and paintings were everywhere.

Jiang Zhe's live stream was playing on the projection wall.

Second Senior Brother Zheng Ming, theology expert Xu Mu, and Celestial Master Zhang, who was dressed in a deep blue Taoist robe and possessed an extraordinary temperament...

They were sitting on a white sofa, sipping tea while observing.

Admittedly, they had been shocked by the apple metaphor earlier.

But Zheng Ming quickly recovered and gave a disdainful smile:

"Beastly instinct? What utter nonsense!"

"That which distinguishes man from beasts is but a small margin; it lies in—compassion, shame, modesty, and the sense of right and wrong!"

"This is the innate [nature]."

The silent Celestial Master Zhang had a sharp gaze and spoke slowly:

"Junior Brother Zheng, you have become too attached to appearances."

"The saying 'Man is born good' has always been empty words."

"What Xiaoyu's brother and Xiao Yu are talking about is extremely similar to the [Distinction of Purity and Turbidity]."

"Distinction of Purity and Turbidity?" x2

Hearing this, both Zheng Ming and Xu Mu looked at Celestial Master Zhang with bright eyes.

"The Distinction of Purity and Turbidity: Human nature is like clear water—while beastly nature is like turbid mud."

"[If there is more clear water, one is human; if there is more turbid mud, one is a beast.]"

"This method is a reflection of the soul's origin. To be able to see this layer, Xiaoyu's brother is definitely no ordinary person!"

"Furthermore, he could use the simple Way of the Apple to make Xiao Yu understand—that extreme simplicity can actually explain extreme complexity!"

"He is very strong; I feel somewhat inferior!"

He knew Zheng Ming had brought him here to regain some face.

In the end, in the very first round of meeting Xiaoyu's brother...

A total defeat!

Celestial Master Zhang felt like laughing.

"Is he really that amazing?" Zheng Ming expressed his doubt.

...

In the living room.

Looking at his sister who had suddenly seen the light, Jiang Zhe nodded with an approving look.

"You are right. In theology, this is called reincarnation."

"But for me, this is a [coupling and redistribution of information] on a macroscopic scale."

"This naturally explains—why the more developed a civilization is and the more abundant its material wealth, the more some people behave like shameless, pure beasts..."

"That is because what returns is not a pure human consciousness!"

"Back to your original question: Among the 8 billion people, not all of them are human!"

"According to the deduction model of my hypothesis—"

He didn't use grand principles to explain it to his sister, but instead adopted the [Consciousness Hypothesis] that was popular in his previous life.

It was data that he and his colleagues had spent two and a half months investigating.

His expression gradually became serious, but his tone became flat:

"The rationality threshold for a standard human consciousness template is: 82%!"

"People above 82% have a sense of morality, sympathy, empathy, and are intelligent, earnest, decisive, and pragmatic... almost every positive word you can imagine is describing a [True Human]."

"Once it falls below this value, the creature or vessel will exhibit uncontrollable [Beastly Overflow]."

"Negative terms begin to emerge—"

"Cruelty, madness, manic desire, extreme jealousy, ferocity, disregard for life, and so on."

Xiao Yu's eyes darted around; she... seemed to have many positive traits and almost no negative ones.

"Why isn't it one hundred percent?"

Jiang Zhe smiled gently. "The one hundred percent ones have already vanished from the world; they were the first batch of humans!"

"This involves the first batch of consciousness and souls. I will talk about that later."

"Even I cannot reach 100%."

Xiao Yu nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

It seemed very difficult, almost impossible to reach 100%. Even someone as smart as her brother couldn't do it.

"In global history—the [humanity] of the consciousness information of soldiers who massacred civilians is usually lower than 30%!"

"In modern society—those [human elites] who have zero mercy or empathy for the weak, who view exploitation as natural, and who revere Social Darwinism... there is a 99% probability that their humanity purity is lower than 50%!"

"As an intelligent being—why should we follow the law of the jungle?"

"If that were the case, did humanity spend so many millions of years evolving into what we are today just to live in steel houses and then deceive, hurt, and belittle each other? Did the human race evolve for nothing?"

"Therefore, laws and morality are essentially an external framework designed for [humanoid creatures]."

"Attempting to regulate [humanoid objects] below 50% within the behavioral framework of a [human]."

At this point in his explanation,

His expression gradually became regretful:

"When true humans gradually become fewer, chaos and disorder will replace this society."

"Normal people will be viewed as outliers."

"The scales of the law will tip toward [humanoid creatures]."

"So, Xiao Yu, we have always lived in a massive [humanoid animal world]."

"Because a true human, regardless of profession or race, is a rare existence."

"There were more [humans] in ancient times; there are fewer and fewer [humans] in modern times!"

These cutting-edge theories from his previous life were, for this backward parallel world...

A dimensional reduction strike!

When that paper first appeared in his previous life, it directly offended the top bosses in biology, anthropology, and political power.

It was far more subversive than the old theological ideas like the Six Paths of Reincarnation!

Xiao Yu was stunned into silence on the spot.

She hadn't expected her brother to be so professional; it was like listening to an academic report!

Cold and ruthless!

According to what her brother said, he was definitely one hundred percent.

No, he was a human with 99% consciousness information!

The viewers couldn't help but feel their scalps go numb.

"I asked you to talk about reincarnation, not to deny that we're human, big brother!!!"

"Good grief, this is clearly an academic report. It's very similar to the [Consciousness Purity Theory], right? Refine it a bit more, and you could go straight to a global biology paper!"

"This standard is a bit harsh!"

"So scary. According to Xiaoyu's brother, aren't there many people around me who aren't human, but livestock?"

"Your brother is defining, concluding, and categorizing [humanity]!"

...

Meanwhile, in the faculty housing of Kyoto University of History.

Professors Chen, Qian, and Wang were waiting in front of the screen on time.

Professor Chen said with a focused expression:

"He is right; he has jumped out of the scope of biology to reach the essence."

"The logic behind the actions of the great villains in history was indeed beastly nature."

Professor Wang sighed:

"If we judge by Xiaoyu's brother's standards..."

Old Qian smiled with perfect understanding and said:

"Then oh boy~ we're finished. There would be no people left in this world."

...

Silence then fell over the living room, leaving only Xiao Yu's heavy breathing.

She was digesting this truth that was so massive it was chilling.

Suddenly, she thought of the most fundamental question.

She looked up, her eyes filled with a bit of awe and fear, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz:

"Brother, one last question."

"All of this... who exactly is deciding it behind the scenes?"

"Who is responsible for allocating these consciousnesses? It's definitely not some Six Paths of Reincarnation. Who is deciding—how much humanity and how much beastly nature are coupled together?"

"Is it the rules of the zero-point field? Or something else?"

In the live stream room.

All the experts and viewers held their breath, waiting for the truth.

Jiang Zhe stood up. Under Xiao Yu's gaze, he looked up at the night sky outside the window, then at the earth outside.

His expression followed suit and became serious:

"Who decided it?"

"Of course, it's not some god, nor is it some so-called physical formula."

He paused for a few seconds until the surroundings were completely silent before revealing the truth:

"The one that decides all this..."

"Is this thing beneath our feet, which nurtured humanity, carries humanity, and will ultimately recycle us humans—"

"The living..."

"Earth."