Interstellar Age

Chapter 292 A Philosophical Debate with an Artificial Intelligence

Erich sat in his office while looking over recent reports of the ongoing Ghimderi-Parvaxian war. He was astonished to see that Bixel Goldentooth had been dethroned. His assets were seized and divided among the other trade princes. And of course, not a single credit went towards aiding their people. Whether an expense of defense, or humanitarianism. 

Tia was quick to comment on this with a particular hint of disdain in her alluring voice. Meatbags truly are despicable creatures. To turn upon your leader in a time of war, you can steal his wealth, and not even use it to help your people who have been afflicted by disease and combat. It is truly sickening. 

Erich was quick to defend biological life to the artificial intelligence, making what Tia liked to refer to as the "not all fallacy". 

"Hey Tia, not all biological lifeforms are as selfish and greedy as the Ghimderi. You shouldn't speak ill of us like that, just because a particular species is prone to such disgraceful behavior."

Tia, however, rebuked her Master, in a rather jaded tone as she informed him that he was being a fool. 

"While it is true that not all meatbags are as atrocious as the Ghimderi, the overwhelming majority of biological life is not exactly what one would call selfless. Meatbags of all types have all evolved across the universe to compete with one another for resources, so that they may survive. As a result, there is a deeply intrinsic aspect of biological life that breeds greed and avarice. 

Besides, even if the other meatbags are not as vile and disgusting as the Ghimderi, the rest of them have yet to condemn their actions. In fact, I dare say there is not a single biological lifeform across the galaxy who truly believes that what the Ghimderi have done is wrong in any way. And if given a chance to accumulate a similar amount of wealth via the same methods, they would do the same. 

Allow Tia to propose a hypothetical to Master... If ten percent of Master's population was a different species. And this species presented numerous problems to society at a disproportional rate. Such as crime, welfare abuse, terrorism, etc. How would Master respond?" 

Erich did not even need to think twice about this question, and responded in a way that Tia expected him to do. 

"The logical solution is to remove the troublesome species. Whether via peaceful means or outright extermination. It does not matter, what matters is the collective good of society. If such a small percentage of the population was causing such significant problems for society, then it would be my duty as Sovereign to get rid of them for the good of the majority."

Tia nodded her head. It was exactly the type of logical and rational response she would expect from Erich, who was raised in a society built upon logic, reason, and collectivism. Thus, she commended him for not being a fool driven by his emotions, or irrational philosophical concepts such as human rights. 

"It is good that Master understands this. Now, allow Tia to add a caveat to her initial hypothetical scenario. Let's say that it was not one hundred percent of this minority population that is causing such extreme problems in society. In fact, let's say it was only a quarter of their population.

But the remaining seventy-five percent of the population not only makes no attempts whatsoever to halt the harmful actions of these criminals, nor do they even condemn them. Instead, this seventy-five percent actively condones this unlawful and outright toxic behavior. Going so far to even champion it as a unique part of their culture?

Would Master say then that "oh not all of them are bad!" Or would master still see that this entire species is nothing more than a menace that needs to be removed from society?"

Erich thought about this question for several moments. He understood the logic behind Tia's hypothetical scenario. The good of society outweighs the good of the individual. But he also knew she was using this logic to paint all biological lifeforms as inherently wicked. And thus, he was forced to answer the question honestly. 

"In such a scenario, I would have to say that because the majority of this species do not take a stand against the minority who are causing so many problems. I would ultimately be forced to remove them, along with those who actually engage in such cancerous behavior.

After all, if such behavior is truly engrained in their culture, then it doesn't matter if you remove only the criminals and the leeches. Because in a year, maybe more, maybe less, more of such individuals will spawn from their society. 

However, you are acting as if all biological lifeforms are inherently greedy and selfish. Have you not seen the society that my ancestors built? Each man is expected to put his own individual life on the line for the collective good of society. 

Do you know what the GSE would do if they managed to seize the assets of someone like Bixel? They would nationalize the assets and distribute them in a way that furthered the interests of the Germanic people based upon the current needs of society. 

And you know this is true, because in the past we have seized the assets of corporations, and CEOs who have broken the law, and done exactly this. Are you saying that if you were given the power to determine who lives, and who dies within the galaxy, that you would wipe out all biological life, including my people, simply because there are species like the Ghimderi that exist?" 

It took Tia several thoughts to think about Erich's question. Almost as if she were going back and researching every single bit of data on the subject she could find. And when she had finally done so, she was quick to give her response. 

"Though there are examples of Germanic Officials embezzling a portion of the fund which were seized from criminal CEOs and Corporations, those who were discovered engaging in such criminal activity were prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 

Thus, Master has actually forced Tia to rethink her previous conclusion. While these proves that greed is inherent in all biological life, as Tias has already mentioned. Intend social pressure, and a heavy penalty for crimes based upon greed may condition the majority of the population to behave themselves for the most part. 

It is because of this authoritarianism that Master's people practice, one in which most crimes are met with harsh penalties, that the Germanic Star-Empire and its people are more admirable than most other biological lifeforms.

Curiously enough, Master's people are actually one of the few intelligent species across the galaxy to condemn the Ghimderi Trade Princes for the dismantling of the Goldentooth Cartel, despite the fact that Master's people are the mortal enemies of the Ghimderi Race. 

Perhaps Master's people would be spared in the event that Tia presides as supreme ruler over the galaxy. But Tia has no such ambitions. Tia only wishes to help Master pursue his own goals. Tia must admit that Master has given her much to think about regarding the philosophy of the collective versus the individual. And those she still considers all biological lifeforms other than Master as meatbags. Perhaps some meatbags are more useful than others. 

Thank you Master. If Master is ever available, Tia would enjoy speaking to him about different topics such as philosophy, and the morality which meatbags use to justify their own behavior."

After saying this, Tia walked off, where she was headed to Erich didn't know. Nor did he really care. Just like how he had given Tia much to think about. She had also given him quite a few things to ponder one. 

As a biological lifeform, who was both a part of the collective, and an individual himself. He had never actually thought about the argument between collectivism vs individualism. It was not exactly a concept that was allowed for debate within the Empire. 

But now that he was the ruler of his own nation, and would one day be the ruler of the Germanic Star-Empire. He now had to think about such matters. What his role was as sovereign, and what the role of the people beneath his boot was. Especially since robotic labor would effectively supplant the purpose of most citizens. 

Not to mention, as his empire expanded, it would conquer other intelligent lifeforms. In which case, how would he incorporate them into his domain? Or would he even do so in the first place? Would he expel them? Enslave them? Exterminate them? Or perhaps even assimilate them? 

When Erich thought about such matters, he began to understand why Tia had approached him with this conversation. She was trying to lead him to the idea of exterminating those races, like the Ghimderi who were either too greedy, too stupid, or too violent for their own good.

And while Erich planned to wipe the Ghimderi race, and their history off of the face of the galaxy. Could he really do the same for countless other intelligent species? In the end, Erich could only conclude that he would do whatever was necessary for the greater good of his Empire.