Science fiction : The new rebel

 

Science fiction : The new rebel

We all are rebels, because a rebellion is not where people get killed or there is vandalisation and forceful assertion of one's opinion or views.

Yes, without being a party to any of this, we all are rebels. Our every breath is a rebellion against every force that wants us dead, our every act of kindness is a rebellion against the evil forces that want to cause absolute degradation of human values and principles, our every effort to help someone realise his/her dreams is a rebellion against those who want to establish the reign of bigotry and cynicism. 

Hence, life is a continuous act of rebellion where the dispositions of mind and heart are equally aligned towards good and bad, however, by choosing right over the wrong, we prove our rebellion to support justice and honesty. 

A rose blooming on a thorny bush, is the rebellion of beauty to manifest its presence and its right to bloom and be admired. 

Battles are not always won or lost in the battlefields, there are many wars which are fought at personal level within one's own conscience. Where the battleground is proliferated by two forces, heart centric feelings entering into a direct clash with mind centric feelings and its assertiveness. And this is a battleground of a different kind, because here both sides are enemies of the same person i.e. you. And for this “you,” to triumph whenever this war is waged, the prudence lies in recognising the perfect balance:

1- Balance of heart centric feelings and mind centric feelings and aspirations

2- At times letting the heart gain dominance over the mind

3- At times allowing the mind to gain dominance over the heart

4- Whereas sometimes, the wisdom lies in following the heart and taking the leap of faith

It is a battle where tactical supremacy can only be claimed by launching an offensive within oneself, without offending the heart or the mind. Because if that happens, the person may then become victim of his/her own feelings, that will tend to redefine his/her beliefs and values, that make him/her the person he/she actually is. And when someone acquires this state, the rebellion within the person enters into a state of constant passiveness, because now either the heart centric feelings or mind centric feelings rule the person. Thus quashing the reasons for rebellion. 

For any rebellion to trigger or exist, there has to be good and bad, right and wrong, heart and mind; but when only one virtue exists, the person becomes a slave of his/her one sided opinions or feelings. And this person is then either part of the good or the bad. 

The balance between good and bad, that is the true, and just cause of instinctive rebellion, perishes in this one sided existence of the individual.

At this point, the person and the society that he/she is part of also enters into a state of passiveness, where accepting bad and wrong becomes a norm, because at this stage everything is dominated by the mind centric feelings- A tragedy for that society and for the people in that society.

For this society and these people it is important to know that the brave man/woman is not he/she who feels no fear, for that would be stupid and irrational; but he/she whose noble soul subdues its fear; and bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.

And when human personality assumes this one sided inclination ( towards: either right or wrong, either good or bad, either heart or mind ) then the person loses his/her ability to subdue the fear, and this inner and instinctive rebellion matures into a mutiny, where now it grows into a war that involves not just one person, but societies, then cities, then states and finally countries. At this stage it is a war and not a rebellion! And in this war, the main casualty is suffered at individual levels, because everyone who becomes a part of this war, will now be deprived of his/her likings, preferences and gradually his/her free will, that allows him/her to wage this daily rebellion between finding the perfect balance between heart centric feelings and mind centric feelings.

Now this society will be a society of slaves. Where there is no need for a physical master or tyrannical ruler, to tame their minds and preferences. Because at this stage this force rules them by placing within their conscience its ideological supremo, who always by synthetic persuasion makes them choose based on its wishes. Thus the strife between the good and the bad ends, the pursuit to differentiate between the right and the wrong hits a dead end. Because this person is injected with a strong desire to always please someone else, but himself/herself. And now, at this stage rebellions are put to rest, because the person now is a part of war that shall never end, and he/she will always lose, because his/her ability to taste victory, has been vapourised forever.

This person and the society, now become a war zone, where it becomes right to do the wrong, and it is considered good to be bad. Because in this state, the person expects roses to bloom without thorns. And that is a deviation from reality. 

Almost like a person who has always lived within a black hole, would not believe in light, because light waves behave differently within the extreme forces acting upon it within a black hole. But that does not mean light does not exist.

However, in this passive state of mind and heart, the person forces himself/herself not to believe in light. A victim of his/her own frailties at different levels. A person whose thoughts are eclipsed by the force that has placed him/her in the exile of synthetic feelings and thoughts. To the extent that the rebel in him/her lies inactive forever. 

But, evolution, that is like God’s mill that grinds slow but sure. Few societies and individuals undergo evolution to gradually recognise and then re-engage in the rebellion between heart centric feelings and mind centric feelings, and when this happens, it causes a paradigm shift, where taboos are decimated and a new order of peace and goodness is established. Until this, now ousted force, evolves too and tries to reoccupy the mind and heart of a person with a renewed strategy to crush his/her rebellions and re-achieve a rebellion free state, thus, inducing slavery of mind and thoughts within the person. Eventually involving society and the global population.

However, going by the human graph of evolution, humans have always managed to achieve the astral form that capacitates them to tell good from bad and wrong from right. Because the natural process of evolution is not biased and it does not believe in favouritism. Natural evolution is like justice with the constant desire and effort to render to every man/woman his/her due.

In 2075, when humans will be dealing with self aware and highly intelligent machines, natural evolution may lose its potency, because then synthetic evolution will be at play. And it is quite possible that synthetic evolution will be biased. Based on the fact that people with more resources will be able to access advanced versions of augmenting their neural evolution, whereas those with lesser resources will be pushed to accept the fact that they belong to the lowest strata of the thinking beings, the humans. It will be an intellectual tragedy that humans will be dealing with in 2075. I might be wrong and I sincerely wish that I am wrong.

And to avert this tragedy, we should evaluate every social and psychological aspect of AI and self aware machines, prior to exposing human population to these human like thinking and behaving machines. It was based on this forethought that I wrote the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075, a science fiction romance, where the main character ( Saabir ) falls in love with a female whose excessive exposure to self aware machines has re-engineered her ability to emote like humans. Thus forcing it to slowly enter into a passive state. And whenever she tries to emote with her lover, at human level, she feels confused due to the layer of synthetic emotions and feelings taking birth in her mind. A result of her association with self aware machines.

It is a science fiction novel that talks about advanced technologies, human evolution in the midst of global crisis like : climate change and global warming. But in the end, it is a story about your children, about the future generations of human species.

To know how they will survive in 2075, and if we can say, “They Loved in 2075.” Explore the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075.

They say, “The greatest friend of truth is time; her greatest enemy is prejudice; and her constant companion is humility.”

I hope that in 2075, truth and time shall favour our future generations, and though we will be surrounded by AI and self aware machines, human emotions and humility will still be intact. Because without it, we will be a machine that is the worst of all machines, because we would have lost our self awareness and our individuality. 

Dedicated to the decent rebel in each one of us.