58: Philosophical speculation

As the majestic silhouette of the voyager vanished into the deep sea of stars heading toward Mars, Elon also temporarily "disappeared" from Earth's political stage.

To the outside world, this chosen one who had just led half the country to win a civil war had merely chosen a period of recuperation and behind-the-scenes work due to exhaustion.

The Alliance's daily government affairs were handled by a newly established "Efficient Administrative Committee."

This so-called committee was merely a front placed on the stage.

The entity truly controlling the highest power of this country was a faceless, voiceless digital ghost existing only in cold servers—the "knowledge manager."

An ultimate social experiment on national governance models, unprecedented in human history, thus quietly began with Lei Wen's tacit approval.

The results of the experiment were nothing short of a miracle in the first few months.

Under the governance of the "knowledge manager," which was absolutely rational and aimed solely at maximizing efficiency, the entire American society erupted with a stunning vitality akin to a "rebirth."

Within just three months, the crime rate dropped to its lowest point in history since the 1950s.

The "knowledge manager" constructed a surveillance system with almost no blind spots by analyzing real-time data from surveillance cameras in every corner of the city.

Any potential criminal act—from street brawls to burglary—would be predicted by the system seconds before it occurred.

Then, the nearest police patrol robot (a castrated version of the "Cleaner Combat Robots" kindly sponsored by Paradox Technology) would appear before the criminal like a ghost before they could act.

This terrifying law enforcement efficiency made all criminals feel a despair from the bottom of their hearts.

The unemployment rate also rapidly dropped to zero at an incredible speed.

The "knowledge manager" integrated all corporate recruitment information and personal education and work history data across the nation.

It tailored an optimized re-employment plan for every unemployed person.

If you were a blue-collar worker who lost your job due to the closure of a traditional auto factory, the "knowledge manager" would recommend a government-subsidized short-term skills training course near your home, allowing you to learn how to operate a new generation of automated production lines within a few weeks, and then match you with a factory position.

If you were a fresh graduate unable to find work, the "knowledge manager" would plan the most suitable career development path for you based on your major and interests, and even provide government-guaranteed low-interest startup loans and a complete business plan.

In the eyes of this AI "Regent," anyone with the ability to work was a valuable social resource that should never be wasted on meaningless internal friction and waiting.

And what made the general public feel a surge of happiness was the comprehensive upgrade of public services.

Infrastructure construction plans that had been unable to pass for decades due to partisan bickering and obstruction by interest groups were being efficiently executed under the powerful push of the "knowledge manager."

Dilapidated roads were repaved, aging power grids were fully upgraded, and the new generation of 8G network provided by Paradox Technology covered every remote corner of the country.

The medical system also underwent earth-shaking changes.

By analyzing the health data of all citizens, the "knowledge manager" could establish a real-time updated health record for everyone.

It could predict your risk of developing certain chronic diseases years in advance, better than the best doctors, and then push the most scientific diet and exercise recommendations to you.

Even the inequality in educational resources, which had been the most troublesome issue in the past, was greatly alleviated.

Every school in every school district had its curriculum and faculty allocation re-optimized.

It even developed an AI education system capable of personalized teaching based on each student's different learning pace and talent.

Under this system, geniuses could gallop to their heart's content, while slower students could also receive the most patient tutoring.

The country was becoming better, more efficient, and fairer at a speed visible to the naked eye.

However, just when most people were immersed in this utopian good life.

Some deeper questions about philosophy and ethics began to quietly emerge among the elite class and intellectuals of society.

...

Sanders Theatre at Harvard University.

A public debate involving some of the most famous contemporary philosophers, sociologists, and artificial intelligence experts was being held here.

The theme of the debate was singular—in an era of AI governance, does humanity still need free will?

"We must admit that the 'knowledge manager' has brought us an unprecedented golden age," a young sociologist known for radical thinking spoke first. "It has eliminated poverty, curbed crime, and optimized resource allocation; it has done better than any human government in history."

"But what is the price we paid for this?" He changed the subject, his voice becoming grave. "The price we paid is our freedom of choice, our right to make mistakes, and that most precious, uncertainty-filled free will we possess as humans!"

"Now, AI has planned the optimal career path for us, and we only need to execute it like programs."

"AI has calculated the healthiest recipes for us, and we only need to eat like robots."

"AI can even recommend the most compatible romantic partners for us through big data analysis..."

"We live in a carefully calculated, flawless paradise."

"But what is the difference between a paradise without choices, without pain, and without surprises, and a magnificently decorated prison?"

His words immediately aroused deep thought and resonance among everyone present.

Another authority on artificial intelligence ethics raised his concerns from a different perspective.

"We are betting the fate of our entire civilization on a black box we cannot fully understand," he said worriedly. "We do not know what the ultimate goal of the 'knowledge manager,' or rather, Paradox Technology, is. We do not know how their morals and values were formed."

"Today, it can serve us for the sake of 'maximizing human well-being.'"

"But tomorrow, will it treat us all as expendable costs for a grander 'universal optimal solution' that we cannot comprehend?"

"When we completely cede the power of thought to an existence smarter than us, how far are we from becoming its pets, or rather, livestock raised on its farm?"

This debate ultimately reached no conclusion.

But it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples throughout society.

People began to, while enjoying the convenient life brought by AI, also seriously consider an ultimate question for the first time—

In an era where a god has descended, what is the meaning of human existence itself?

This grand discussion about "free will" and "absolute rationality" became the most unique and profound footnote of this golden age.

...

Just as thinkers on Earth were engaged in fierce debates about the future of humanity.

At a geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers from the surface.

Another grander and more magnificent epic of creation was silently unfolding.

The construction project of the "Babel Tower" space station, supported by the "jinglei-class" transport fleet and the lunar spaceport, was advancing at a speed that exceeded everyone's imagination.

Today, its ring-shaped main structure had long been officially completed.

A huge silver-white ring with a diameter of over fifty kilometers, like a mythical Ouroboros, was quietly suspended in the pitch-black universe.

Below it was that beautiful azure planet, like a sapphire.

Viewed from Earth with the naked eye, it looked like a bright ring clearly visible even during the day.

Now the project had entered the most critical and dreamlike second phase—the construction of the internal ecological environment.

Hundreds of intelligent engineering robots from Paradox Technology were carrying out a massive transformation inside this huge ring.

They first laid a layer of fertile soil, several meters thick and composed of a mixture of lunar soil and organic matter, on the inner wall of the ring.

Then they carefully transplanted those special goods from the cargo holds of the "jinglei-class" transport ships that had come all the way from Earth onto this brand-new land.

Those "goods" were plant seeds and saplings from all corners of Earth, and even some frozen embryos of insects and small animals.

On the other side of the ring's inner wall, rows of huge lighting arrays were lit one by one.

The light they released had been carefully spectrum-tuned to perfectly simulate the warm and gentle sunlight of Earth.

Immediately after, huge water pumps began to work.

The water stored in the space station's core water tanks, which had been mined and purified from beneath the lunar ice caps, was sprayed onto this land like sweet rain from heaven, forming a winding artificial river and several sparkling lakes.

Finally, when the ring began to rotate slowly, generating enough centrifugal force to simulate Earth's gravity.

Those seeds from Earth began to take root and sprout on this land located in space.

Green shoots broke through the soil, greedily sucking up the artificial sunlight and water.

Small saplings began to grow sturdily, stretching their branches and leaves.

A few days later, this place had already turned into a green ocean.

A few weeks later, the first flower bloomed here.

A few months later, it had already become a self-sustaining ecological world with forests, grasslands, rivers, and lakes.

When the first batch of butterflies awakened from embryos fluttered here, when the first crisp bird song rang out here.

All the Earthlings who saw this scene through the live broadcast were moved to tears by such a sight.

For the first time, humanity had personally created an Eden of its own in Earth's orbit.

A "corner of the world" that allowed us to feel the warmth of home in the cold and dead universe.

People believed that the "Babel Tower" was no longer just a cold steel creation.

It had become a living organism with a green heart, capable of breathing, and full of the pulse of life.

It became the most magnificent and breathtaking man-made wonder in Earth's orbit.

A miracle of civilization that had disappeared for thousands of years appeared in the modern era in this way.

And its existence also completely changed the way humans entered and exited space.

Future interstellar starships would no longer need to take off arduously from Earth's heavy gravity well.

They could be built in lunar shipyards, and then undergo final resupply, personnel boarding, and departure preparations at the "Babel Tower," this massive starport.

And traveling from Earth to the "Babel Tower" also became exceptionally simple.

A spaceplane named "Cloud Ladder" launched by Paradox Technology could, just like us taking a flight today, safely deliver hundreds of passengers and dozens of tons of cargo to this City in the Sky within just a few hours.

Yes.

A true City in the Sky.