Episode 17

The Unfiltered Logician

Kes Sennec the Logician spoke in even and uninflected tones. “Peer Vafnirs’s comment, spoken just now, calling all of our actions ‘ignoble’ and ‘self-centered’ contains inaccuracies and semantic nonentities. Assuming that I do not presently misunderstand his intent, I presently disagree, on the grounds that the statement is overbroad, stereotypical, and inaccurate.”

Kes Sennec was also actually present, a bald, large-headed man in a gray single-suit. A row of control points ran along the left closure of the tunic; he wore no other ornamentation. His skin color was gray, adjusted to local light-radiant levels, as were his eyes. His body shape was unremarkably standardized, with special organs and adaptations for zerogravity environment, and his nervous system was highly modified with monitors, correctives, and gland overrides to ensure emotional stability and sanity.

“If a critical number of the individuals in society cooperate in actions which lead, deliberately or as a side effect, to conditions which, to an effective number of individuals, appear to favor the use of aggression and deception (as opposed to peaceful strategies of social cooperation) for the achievement of what they at that time perceive to be their goals, then every necessary and sufficient condition for the breakdown of the social order is present, and the pressure favoring the breakdown grows in rough proportion as the effective number of individuals grows. By ‘breakdown’ I mean both that individuals resort to violence and that they believe they must do so for fear that other individuals will do so.

“Logically, to avoid this, a sufficient uniformity of operative decision-making mores and values above a threshold level of participants must obtain; these decision values must include, at least, a priority placed on the preservation of the peaceful resolution of perceived and real conflicts. The term ‘conformity’ is not necessarily inappropriate to depict this uniform decision structure.”

Kes Sennec was of the Invariant neuroform, a highly integrated unicameral nervous system. His brain had accessible subroutines, habits, and reflexes, but no subconsciousness properly so called. The Invariant neuroform was the second least popular among the Golden Oecumene, since all people with such uniform brains tended to think and act with startling uniformity. The Invariants had no emotional difficulties or internal conflicts.

(Kes Sennec’s view of the room was entirely stark and real, with no filter, no editing. He saw Helion’s body as a humanoid mannequin; he saw the tiny dull-colored plugs and antennae along Gannis’s neck that connected with the Gannis Over-mind; he saw the electronic activity surrounding all Wheel-of-Life’s pets and pseudo-plants. He could see the wires and nodes swirling among Vafnir’s column of flame, and the mechanism producing the field effects where Vafnir’s consciousness was actually stored. To Kes Sennec, Orpheus was merely a remote on treads, skeletal, equipped with waldo-hands, lenses, and speakers. It all was unappealing, plain, colorless.

(Also, the outside noise, distant music, yells, and odors coming in through the window, were part of Kes Sennec’s all-embracing attention. Once again, Helion could not tolerate the other’s scene. Helion’s brain structure required him to rate sense impressions by priority, and to ignore sensations of low importance. Kes Sennec’s Invariant brain saw everything, paid attention to everything, judged everything with inhuman, unemotional precision.)

Kes Sennec concluded: “Those who act to prevent war and violence from occurring cannot properly be called ‘selfish’ and ‘ignoble’ even if they act in a way which benefits their self-interest.”

Ao Aoen said, “As always, Peer Kes Sennec’s comments daze me with their precision, and I cannot follow them. Unselfish? Why have none of us said aloud what secretly motivated Peer Helion’s proposal? Is it a dream we seek to kill, perhaps the greatest of dreams ever? What is this dream? Can any tell me? Do any outside this chamber yet recall?”

No one answered him. There was silence.