“Really?”
“Yeah. We figure, why make the creatures think about the billions of things that will be going on to keep them alive. We want to free them up to think about their lives, do things they actually want to do, and, my favorite subject, think about and discover the given.”
“The given?”
“What the universe is made of, how it works, etc.”
“Now, of course, you’re referring to the creatures who become scientists?”
“Yeah. They’re going to have a great time, trying to figure out all we put into this thing.”
“What else are the creatures going to think about?”
“I think we have to deal with the hard question.”
“Which is?”
“Well, the smartest creatures are going to realize they don’t last forever. How is that going to affect them?”
“Hmm, good question.”
“I think they should just do what my grandmother always told me and that’s to count their blessings.”
“Yeah, but that only goes so far. Put yourself in their position. You love another creature. Then the creature you love – “
“– careful now. Do not use the word I disapprove of, whatever you do.”
“Yes, sir. The other creature completes his or her life. What do you think? Happy, sad?”
“I’m surprised you’d ask. No way we want to invent creatures who would be happy at a time like that. How insensitive would that be? I would want creatures who would feel sad.”
“Me, too. But not forever.”
“Fine. But now let’s face up to the question in a general sense. How do they deal with the realization that none of them is going to live forever.”
“Well, let’s talk about that. Seems to me if they’re smart enough to consider such a question, they’re also smart enough to figure out the choices we had to make.”
“In what sense?”
“If every creature lived forever, how long would it take for the planet to fill up? After all, there’s only so much space.”
“Right. So pretty soon there wouldn’t be any room for new creatures.”
“Exactly. So I think realizing that should help them understand the overall idea we’re going with.”
“Which is?”
“Lifespans – for creatures, planets, whatever.”
“You mean, everything gets a certain share of the whole life of the universe?”
“Right. And if you value it – “
“– Hey, right. That’s it!”
“What?”
“The way they’ll finally be able to think.”
“Go on.”
“If they value life enough, they’ll know what a great thing it is to be part of, even if just for part of the whole thing.”
“Sounds like a reasonable conclusion to me.”
“Right. They’d realize some life is better than none. In fact, that it’s pretty fantastic, even if it can’t last forever.”
“Makes a tremendous amount of sense to me. How much of a share do you think each creature should have? Want to set an amount?”
“Seems kind of stiff and unnatural to me. What do you say we just go with our variety principle?”
“I don’t know about letting that go too far. What about the creatures whose lives happen to ‘end’ very early?”
“Sounds like a sad event, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does. But if the creatures realize, as I do, that even a moment of life is better than none at all, they should finally be able to make peace with such a sad loss.”
“OK, let’s say they learn to do that. The question I have is, what will they think of us?”
“That’s a very consequential question.”
“I think that, after all is said and done, we can only hope they realize we made what we think are the right decisions.”
“Yes, I think that’s right. Let me wax poetic here for a moment.”
“Go ahead. We could use some poetry about now.”
“Let’s say one evening there’s this intelligent creature, who happens to walk down to a lake that doesn’t have ice on it, because the weather is warm. He or she looks up and sees the blue sky with some white clouds in it. The sun is just going down on one crinkle of land or mountain, and it’s sending this rosy afterglow into the sky. Maybe there are some sky creatures that happen to fly overhead. On the other side of the lake, he or she sees a big piece of leftover material, which right now we’re calling a moon, that has already made its appearance, because it’s where it can reflect some of the sunlight. Now, he or she notices that the whole picture in the sky is reflected in the water.”
“The person sees the sky looking up and looking down?”
“Yeah. Remember, we said that’s what water would do – reflect things that are above it. Anyway, he or she or both of them, if they happen to be a couple, stand there and realize that because of what we did, they can experience such a beautiful sight. What do you think will go on in their minds?”
“I think they’d say, 'Wow, magnificent! I don’t know who invented it, but they sure did a great job.'”
“I hope so.”
“I have one more very interesting question.”
“What?”
“When one of the smart creatures ‘completes’ his or her life, or when these creatures just think about that happening, how much should they know?”
“Can you please clarify the question?”
“Well, should they know if something else does or doesn’t come after the lives they’re living?”
“That is a very interesting question.”
“Yes, it is. Why don’t we look at it from both sides?”
“Go on.”
“What if they know for sure there’s something afterward. What happens?”
“How much are they going to appreciate what they have?”
“Right. And what are we doing here, going to all this trouble to invent something wonderful if it’s just a stopover on the way to a better place?”
“Makes sense. Now, let’s suppose they know for sure there’s nothing after it. What now?”
“Hmm, any thoughts on that?”
“Well, it seems to me that the more they appreciate their lives, the more they’ll be able to come to terms with such a thought."
“It would seem that way. But what happens if we just leave the question open?”
“Can we do that?”
“I don’t see why not. We’re talking about what creatures know in the universe we’re inventing, not what they know about what might or might not be outside of it.”
“You’ve got a very convincing point there. They should be able to know everything that’s in what we’re inventing but what’s outside of it – “
"– should, at least, not be their primary concern.”
“Well, I think it only would be if they didn’t see much in what we’ve done.”
“So what if we just leave the question unanswered and let them make up their own minds?”
“Like it. Sounds perfectly appropriate to me.”
“And it goes with – “
“– I know, I know, our variety principle.”
“I thought the variety thing was quite evident. I wasn’t going to say that.”
“Oh, sorry. What were you going to say?”
“That it goes with the idea that we said they should be free to make up their own minds.”
“Yes, it does. So let me recap. The smarter creatures can learn everything about what’s inside the universe we’re inventing and they can ask questions about what might or might not be outside of it.”
“I can’t imagine a better arrangement.”
“Neither can I. So that does it. My only hope is that these smart creatures appreciate what we invented enough to love whatever they want to think may or may not have invented it.”
“Hey, that brings up a really interesting question.”
“What?”
“Should there be a way for them to know about us?”
“What? They can’t realize we did things like make the place they get to live in magnificent – that blue sky, gold sun, the green plants, all the other creatures?”
“I guess if they’re as smart as we hope they are they’d be able to read a lot about us from that.”
“Right. They read backward from what we invented. It’s good, we’re good.”
“You mean, good overall? I mean, this freedom thing is going to allow for some really sorrowful events.”
“You want to abridge it?”
“No, not within the world they inhabit.”
“Right. Once it’s there, we butt out. How could they plan anything or feel any freedom and dignity if we were always stepping in and changing the rules?”
“I’ll go along with that. But let’s just suppose they want to express some appreciation for what we’ve done? What can they do?”
“What do you think?”
“I’ll tell you what. The first thing they can do is take good care of what we invented. I mean, show some respect for their lives and do the best they can with them.”
“Yeah, some respect for the entire invention.”
“If the smart creatures can’t figure out something that basic, I’m going to be one disappointed dude. And it’s back to the lab for you.”
“They’ll be fine. They may need some time to catch on, but, I can assure you, they’ve got what it takes.”
“You made sure of that?”
“We did our best. The rest if up to them. More would start to impinge on their freedom.”
“You’re right. Let’s go with that. They can show their appreciation by taking care of what they can experience. Anything else is an optional extra.”
“Agreed. We don’t need empty praise while they take their eyes off the ball. We’re above that, right?”
“We certainly are. However, I’m not too against empty praise as long as they do keep their eyes on the ball.”
“Whatever suits them.”
“Wisely said. I think we’ve got wrap.”
“Can I just ask one thing, boss?”
“Sure.”
“I brought the subject up before, but I can’t resist one more try. I think it might really be helpful if the planets that have life on them that’s smart enough to read come with an instruction manual. I mean, even the simple things they learn to make, like radios and TV’s, will come with instruction manuals. And there they are, looking at this big complex thing called the universe, and there’s no instruction manual.”
“OK. Let’s say for a moment we gave them one, and it had all the answers in it, including how to make everything they would ever discover how to make. Wouldn’t that be kind of an insult to their intelligence?”
“Interesting point. I mean, if we’re giving them brains that are appropriate to their needs, why would we take away the chance to use them?”
“Besides, where are you going to put this instruction manual? On a rock, where they’ll see it one day? It all sounds kind of unnatural to me.”
“I agree. It’s just another way of saying we don’t trust what we invented to function on its own. Besides, I like giving them challenges that make them use their brains right down to the last brain cell – or why did we put that last brain cell there?”
“I completely agree. So that does it. Can the instruction manual.”
“But, boss. Let’s go beyond the basics for a moment to spiritual stuff. If we don’t give them an instruction manual, they won’t know what to believe. They’ll develop all kinds of different beliefs, and that could cause problems.”
“Seems like a natural development to me. But I think you’re talking about the early days. Do we or do we not expect these creatures to last for millions of years?”
“At least, where they behave as intelligently as they’ve been given the ability to.”
“So in time they should figure out that the world they behold is one truth and that, if their beliefs grow out of it, they should pretty much agree on a set of beliefs. You care about the gizmo, you have all the beliefs you need, including how to make us happy.”
“And, hopefully, you can see that we believe in them enough to give them the freedom to learn things on their own, so they should read that as it’s right to give other creatures the freedom to believe whatever they want to.”
“As long, course, if they don’t hurt anybody.”
“I don’t know. This all sounds a little optimistic to me.”
“Sorry, we absolutely must trust what we invented. So forget the manual.”
“OK, OK. You win. No instruction manual. They have to figure out everything for themselves. Hey, how about if we compromise?”
“What do you mean?”
“My notes. Can I at least share them with the creatures who can read?”
“The meeting notes?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know about that. Won’t it tell them too much about what’s outside of what we’re inventing?”
“Hmm, I tell you what. I’ll think about it and let you know.”
“Thanks, boss. I can’t ask for more than that.”
“OK, then. Just let us know when you’re ready to launch the universe. I’d like to be there.”
“Will do.”
“Got a timeframe for the big birth?”
“We should be ready for a go in about a week.”
“All right! Looking forward to it!”
“I think we all are. See you then.”
So our final meeting came to an end. We had now invented the universe. Soon, we would be ready to rev it up and send it for a spin. And just think! If this universe worked well, who knows? We could decide to go into mass production. I was especially glad that the big boss might give me the go-ahead to release my meeting notes. And guess what? He finally came around. But, of course, now you know that, because you just read them. Enjoy the universe. We sure enjoyed making it. And remember, happy times or sad, we did our very best.
About The Author
Tom Attea, humorist and creator of http://NewsLaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway. Critics have called his writing "delightfully funny," "witty," with "good, genuine laughs" and "great humor and ebullience."
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