Part 7 (1/2)

Desh's eyes widened. Once again, Kira Miller had surprised him. She had made such an effort to convince him she wasn't a sociopath, chipping away at his resolve with worrisome effectiveness, only to make a statement like this.

”That's convenient,” said Desh. ”You're a model citizen. It's this procedure of yours that somehow brings out the psycho in you. Is that it?” he demanded, annoyed that he had let himself be taken in by her for even a moment.

”Look, David, I didn't have to share this with you. But the only way you'll ever trust me is if I tell you the absolute truth about everything. And no, I still didn't do any of what Connelly says I did. These were thoughts only. I didn't act on them,” she insisted. ”They were simply strong predispositions, and they went away when my brain architecture returned to normal.”

”So tell me about this state of sociopathy,” said Desh.

Kira frowned. ”Just so I'm clear,” she said, ”sociopathy isn't the exact right word for it either. Neither is *psychopath' or *megalomaniac', although they come almost as close. Basically, it's pure selfishness with a complete and utter lack of conscience. Whatever you choose to call it. A ruthless selfishness, so to speak.”

”As opposed to what?”

”As opposed to this same condition with a s.a.d.i.s.tic element attached.”

Desh considered. ”I see,” he said. ”So you don't get your jollies by torturing others, but if you had to do so to achieve an end it wouldn't trouble you in the slightest. Is that about right?”

Kira nodded reluctantly.

”That's comforting,” said Desh with a look of disgust. He paused in thought. ”This something-like-sociopathy of yours seems like an unlikely side effect of your treatment,” he said suspiciously.

Kira frowned. ”I thought so too before the experiments. Now I realize it's more of a natural outgrowth of enhanced intelligence than a side effect of the re-wiring.”

”How so?”

”The concepts are quite complicated. To be honest, when my intelligence is at normal levels, they're beyond me. But I'll do my best to give you the gist of it.” She gathered her thoughts and exhaled loudly. ”Let me start at the very beginning. When our ancient relatives first arrived on the scene, they weren't the king of the hill. Far from it. They barely managed to stay on the hill. Pre-humans were just one of thousands and thousands of species battling for a tiny niche on a planet teaming with life. If you were a betting man, we were a million-to-one underdog to survive, let alone climb to the top of the food chain. No armor. No speed. No physical weapons.”

”But then intelligence came along,” said Desh.

”That's right. The polar bear could survive just fine without it. But we desperately needed it. Intelligence was the only way out for our ancestors, and they achieved it just in time.” She paused and eyed Desh meaningfully. ”And intelligence in survival terms means cunning, utter ruthlessness, and utter selfishness.” She raised her eyebrows. ”What you might consider sociopathic behavior in its primal form.”

Desh reflected on what he had seen of the underbelly of human behavior during his time with Delta Force. He had seen things that would make a veteran pathologist vomit. Decapitations and other unspeakable torturesa”displays of cruelty that defied the imagination. Without question, violence and brutalitya”and bloodl.u.s.ta”were intrinsic to human nature. Scratch any century throughout recorded history and staggering displays of cruelty came gus.h.i.+ng out: the slaughter of helpless innocents on a ma.s.sive scale, brutal wars, enslavements, tortures, ma.s.s rapes and murders, and other atrocities far too numerous to ignore. Hitler was just one example in a seemingly endless parade. Humanity could wrap itself in the cloak of civilization and pretend this side of its nature didn't exist, but the hostility and savagery that drove the most dangerous predator on the planet to the top of the food chain was always seething, just below the surface.

”To survive,” continued Kira, ”h.o.m.o sapiens evolved intelligence, and a ruthlessness and selfishness hardwired into our genes. That's one side of the equation.” She paused. ”But a cunning and ruthless intelligence alone wasn't enough. Along with intelligence we had to use teamwork to bring down the mastodon. And our brains were so complex they still needed to develop long after birth. Human infants were helpless for far longer than any other animal on Earth. So our selfishness had to be tempered. We had to evolve some sense of teamwork and fair play. We had to sacrifice for our children and put the clan's survival above our own.”

Desh was totally drawn into the conversation intellectually now, temporarily forgetting to remain suspicious of Kira's every word and action.

”So those who were only selfish,” she continued, ”died out in the long run. Those who were wired to be totally ruthless, but could also cooperate and work in a pack, survived to have offspring. To this day, a delicate balance of pure selfishness in some respects and pure selflessness in others is hardwired into our genes. For the sake of discussion, let's use extremes. Call this selfishness sociopathy. Call this selflessness altruism.”

”So you believe there is such a thing as altruism? That Abraham Lincoln got it wrong?”

Kira Miller t.i.tled her head, intrigued, and gazed at Desh approvingly, impressed that he was familiar with the apocryphal story attributed to Abraham Lincoln.

In the story, Lincoln was traveling on a train and discussing human nature with a fellow pa.s.senger. The pa.s.senger insisted that such a thing as altruism existed, whereas Lincoln maintained with great vigor that all human acts were purely selfish. During the discussion, Lincoln noticed a baby goat lying across the tracks far ahead. He immediately called for the train to stop, got out, and gently lifted the goat off the tracks. The train started up again and the pa.s.senger said, ”Why Abe, you just proved my point. You just committed a totally selfless act.” To which Abe replied, ”Quite the contrary. I just proved my point. The act was totally selfish.” The pa.s.senger was confused. ”How so?” he asked. To which Lincoln replied, ”If I would have done nothing to save that poor animal, I would have felt just awful.”

Kira's eyes sparkled as she considered her response. ”Insightful question,” she said. ”For what it's worth, I actually think Lincoln was right. But for the sake of this discussion, this is more semantics than anything. Altruistic behavior exists and is hardwired into our genes. Whether it is merely another facet of selfishness isn't germane to my point.”

Desh raised his eyebrows. ”Which is?”

”Which is that this delicate balance between the competing poles of sociopathy and altruism can be s.h.i.+fted in one direction or another very readily. Granted, some people are born with a strong genetic predisposition one way or the other, but most of us are balanced on a razor's edge. An average man who is the recipient of acts of caring and kindness will often perform charitable acts in return. This same man, given a slight push the other way, will pursue his self-interests even at the expense of othersa”even at the suffering of his own friends and family. In order to ensure that civilization can exist, that the scales are slightly tipped toward altruism, human intelligence had to invent religion.”

Desh frowned. ”Invent religion?”

”That's right. There have been thousands of different religions through time. And the followers of each of these religions believe that their founders received the divine answer, and that the religious mythology of all other religions is delusional. Almost everyone agrees that all the other religions were invented by man, just not the particular one into which they were born.”

Desh decided not to argue the point. ”Go on,” he said.

”Most religions subscribe to the belief that there is something bigger than us out there,” continued Kira. ”That there is some purpose to human suffering. That there is a form of continued existence after death. All of this helps to bolster the altruistic side of the human equation. Why not be totally selfish?a”especially now that we don't really need clans to survive: we can take down the mastodon alone. The answer: because there will be a reward or punishment in the next life.” She paused and shook her head. ”But what if you knew with absolute certainty that when you died, that was it? There was no afterlife of any kind. Why not be totally selfish? With no G.o.d, what is the point to anything? There is no right and wrong: there is only doing what will make you happy. You have a short time to be alivea”why not maximize the experience? To h.e.l.l with anyone else.”

Desh looked thoughtful. ”Because even if you believed there was no afterlife, altruism is still wired in. That was Lincoln's point: altruism provides its own reward. Being good makes people feel good.”

”Excellent,” she said. ”This is true. So a certainty that there is no afterlife doesn't necessarily imply that pure sociopathy reigns. It isn't perfectly straightforward. But it's definitely a step down that path.” She paused. ”And our society does have laws. So even if you reasoned that nothing really mattered, that good and evil were relative, and were determined to be completely selfish, you would have to perform a risk-reward a.n.a.lysis. Why not steal that luxury car that you love? One reason is that if you get caught, you'll go to jail. There are risks that your selfish act would lead to a worse existence rather than a better one.”

Desh's eyes narrowed. ”Unless you had absolute power,” he noted.

Kira nodded. ”Exactly. I won't resort to the overused cliche, but if you didn't believe in the afterlife and could get away with doing anything you wanted, sociopathic behavior would become more and more likely.”

”So that's the connection,” guessed Desh. ”In your enhanced state you feel that you can do whatever you want.”

”Exactly. With intelligence this great, you can't help but feel superior and almost invincible. And you really could get away with almost anything. At the same time, you clearly see the stark reality. There is no G.o.d. There is no afterlife.”

Desh bristled at this p.r.o.nouncement. ”Why would increased intelligence necessarily make you an atheist?” he challenged.

”The change in brain architecture transforms you into a purely intellectual creature. There is no longer room for faith, something you have to have to sustain a belief in G.o.d and the afterlife.”

”So how does your enhanced intellect grapple with the question of how the universe came to be? It surely must have been created, which implies a creator.”

”I can't come close to understanding my thinking on this subject while in the transformed state. What I do know is that when I'm enhanced, I'm absolutely convinced that G.o.d does not exist.” She paused. ”You asked me who created the universe. Let me ask you this: who created G.o.d?”

Desh frowned. ”G.o.d is eternal. He didn't need a creator.”

”Really?” said Kira. ”Then why does the universe need one? If G.o.d can exist without a creator, why can't the universe? No matter how you slice it, at some point you get to something that existed without being created. Which is impossible for even an enhanced mind to fully comprehend. Conjuring up a G.o.d to explain creation is just a convenient cheat unless you're prepared to explain how G.o.d originated.” She paused. ”And even if you accepted G.o.d for the sake of argument, why would an omniscient, omnipotent being waste his time creating humanity? The more intellect you bring to bear on the question, with faith out of the picture, the more certain you become that G.o.d is just a construct of the human mind, nothing more.”

Desh shook his head in irritation and disagreement but didn't argue further. ”So enhanced intelligence alters the balance of power in the altruism versus sociopathy war.”

Kira nodded. ”It takes very little reasoning in this state to justify any selfish act I can contemplate. If someone is in my waya”killing them makes perfect intellectual sense. What does it matter if they die now or in thirty years? Either way, existence is meaningless. G.o.d is dead. Why shouldn't I do what is needed to achieve my potential?” She raised her eyebrows. ”Remind you of anything?” she asked pointedly.

Desh had minored in philosophy in college, as Kira was no doubt aware from her study of him. He looked troubled. ”Friedrich Nietzsche's will to power,” said Desh unhappily. Nietzsche had glorified the concept of a superman. Not the Clark Kent variety, but a man whose sense of good and evil was based solely on what would help him succeed or fail. Good was anything that would help him achieve his potential. Evil was anything that would hamper him. What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? All that is born of weakness.

Kira frowned. ”I'm afraid so,” she confirmed. ”In the enhanced state, as soon as you contemplate any of the eternal questions, you quickly reinvent this school of philosophy before taking it to a level of sophistication that the world's greatest philosophers couldn't possibly comprehend.”

There was a long silence in the room.

”But you said you haven't acted on any of these sociopathic tendencies,” said Desh finally. ”Is that right?”