Chapter 533: Logic's Last Words_1

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The so-called "Machine Life Evolution Theory" first referred to the evolutionary theory of natural life.

Take humanity as an example, somatic cells have a variety of functions and are a combination of a cell and bacteria.

This huge combination evolved step by step; long, long ago, cells linked together to act in unison to enhance competitiveness.

Thus, multicellular organisms appeared, and as cells stacked upon one another, a diversity of specialized functions among the cells emerged.

Some were responsible for hunting other unicellular organisms, others for digesting prey.

Then, as survival demanded, cells developed increasingly diverse functions, eventually forming the complex machine that is the human body.

Modern civilization seems to be reenacting this process.

The scholar who proposed the "Machine Life Evolution Theory" conducted a thought experiment.

Using a large spacecraft as an example, suppose this spacecraft is highly intelligent and is set for a long-duration space flight with no contact with the outside world for an extended period.

In such an environment, the passengers' routine maintenance of the spacecraft is akin to cells repairing the body.

On the other hand, for the spaceship to have a long lifespan, it strives to provide passengers with a stable and harmonious living environment, allowing them to procreate and have their offspring continue the maintenance of the ship.

What if we look at this spacecraft thousands of years later?

The passengers become more and more accustomed to a comfortable environment, handing over more decisions to the ship's artificial intelligence; after several generations, they might forget the original purpose of the ship's journey.

By this time, the ship has taken control of its course—how to fly and where to fly are decided by it.

And the passengers have become like the somatic cells in the body, only possessing the single function of maintenance.

The passengers have become somewhat like somatic cells, their demands being a stable and comfortable living environment, just as somatic cells, after expending their energy, make requests to the nervous system, resulting in feelings of tiredness or hunger in the body.

But somatic cells already have no way of influencing a person's subjective thoughts; at most, they can affect a person's emotions.

As time goes on, the spacecraft needs more energy, and it needs to gather resources and replace its own parts.

So, to collect these resources and energy, the ship might modify itself to autonomously gather energy and resources.

Can the change in the passengers' role be seen as the beginning of a division of cellular labor?

Is the spaceship's self-modification to better adapt to its current environment a form of evolution?

At this point, should we consider the spaceship as a machine life form?

Jiang Yu also glanced outside the porthole and considered the idea interesting, but for now, it could only be regarded as a thought experiment.

He remembered that when he was young, some people compared a city or a nation to a living organism.

However, what Jiang Yu had learned during his time at university gave him some insight.

Such comparisons are inappropriate, as human society's genesis is closely related to nature, yet it is increasingly removing itself from nature, currently racing down a dark road that no one can see clearly.

Having finished reading the two reports, the rest of the journey became quite mundane for Jiang Yu.

Fortunately, the trip was short, lasting only 2 days and 22 hours.

Jiang Yu and his companions rested thoroughly and proceeded with the plan to disengage from faster-than-light travel.

Over forty years had already passed outside the curvature flight.

Last time, when Jiang Yu disengaged from faster-than-light travel, he was left with a psychological shadow, so this time, during the disengagement, he stayed in the central control room throughout.

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Fortunately, this time, the light-speed flight went smoothly. The Starship Earth's planetary system was exactly where it had been calculated to be over forty years ago, with no sudden attacks encountered.

Jiang Yu let out a slight sigh of relief, ready to contact Blue Maiden Star when Number Three sent a video call request first.

As soon as the call connected, the perennially unchanged Number Three said with some urgency, "I will report the progress of these years to you later, Teacher Luo Ji is critically ill, and he is waiting to have his last conversation with you."

Jiang Yu's heart tightened, but upon reflection, he realized that Luo Ji was already over two hundred years old that year. He was a Common Era person who had only undergone simple Genetic Modification, living to such an age was already a miracle.

He said, "Quick, connect me to Teacher Luo Ji!"

The screen shifted, and Jiang Yu saw Luo Ji, now gaunt and unrecognizable, and Zhuang Yue, whose face bore wrinkles, sitting in front of the sickbed with a look of sorrow.

Luo Ji lay on the bed with his eyes tightly closed, and because his heart and lung functions had long since failed, no sign of breathing was apparent.

Now, an artificial heart and artificial lungs were being used to maintain Luo Ji's vital signs.

As soon as the call connected, Jiang Yu heard Luo Ji's voice, "Finally, I've finally waited for you!"

Lying on the sickbed, Luo Ji did not open his mouth; it was his consciousness that was communicating with Jiang Yu.

Although his body had aged disastrously, his consciousness had steadfastly held on, waiting for Jiang Yu.

Upon hearing Luo Ji's voice, Jiang Yu's vision immediately blurred a little, "Teacher Luo Ji, I've kept you waiting."

"Interests, I need to tell you, interests, a very important thing..."

Luo Ji's speech was somewhat disordered, his consciousness also somewhat confused at this point.

Jiang Yu listened intently as he continued, "I seem to have found the key, I've discovered that, interests, that is the key!"

Since Luo Ji was using his consciousness to communicate, he sounded quite vigorous, but his words were becoming more jumbled, "Remember, interests are key!"

For a moment, Jiang Yu didn't know what to associate with this, "I will keep it in mind, do you have any other instructions?"

"Bury me, bury me on the surface, best in Teacher Ye's cemetery, so that one day when Earth is again bathed in sunlight, I can enjoy basking in the sun."

Jiang Yu nodded, "Alright."

"Ah, you must be tired too, but humanity must, must be strong..."

"Don't worry, one day humanity will dominate the entire universe!"

"I seem to see a light," Luo Ji's speech suddenly became clear, "My wife has come to fetch me."

Zhuang Yan had already passed away over twenty years ago.

Luo Ji's voice faded, and the instruments showed that Luo Ji's consciousness was no longer detectable.

Jiang Yu stood in the control room, silent for a long time before he finally found a seat to sit down.

Memories began to emerge in Jiang Yu's mind, of a sunny afternoon.

Luo Ji, then in his late twenties, or one could say bursting with youth, stood in front: "Sorry, I have class in the afternoon, I don't have time to tutor you, nor to answer your questions. If you have doubts, you should read more in the library."

Back then, Luo Ji was full of vitality, yet there was a numbness and disillusionment in his eyes.

There was also the time in the United Nations Hall when Secretary-General Sayi declared, "The fifth Wallfacer, Luo Ji."

Luo Ji walked onto the stage looking like a puppet, somewhat dazed.

After sitting for a long while, the sadness in Jiang Yu eased a bit, and he said, "Teacher Luo Ji was originally an ordinary person; it was all of humanity that forced him into the limelight. We owe him a life of his own!"