{"id":3872,"date":"2015-02-11T14:08:58","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T14:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/?p=3872"},"modified":"2015-02-11T14:10:16","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T14:10:16","slug":"what-did-not-have-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/blog\/2015\/02\/what-did-not-have-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"What Did Not Have to Be – Short Story by G. Stolyarov II"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/div>\n
G. Stolyarov II
\n<\/big><\/big><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
February 11, 2015<\/span>
\n<\/big><\/div>\n
******************************<\/div>\n
\n

This short story was the winning entry in Transhumanity.net\u2019s 2033 Immortality Fiction Contest in January 2013.
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

I visited the Neo-Luddite village on January 13, 2033, to deliver\u00a0the weekly shipment of microchips. The Neo-Luddites are particular. They refuse\u00a0any chip made after 2005, so obtaining components fitting their specifications\u00a0becomes harder every year.<\/p>\n

My parents tell me that, when they were my age, everyone lived\u00a0like the Neo-Luddites do today. I downloaded plenty of history about this\u00a0period, but I could not comprehend how anyone could live that way. I wanted to\u00a0see it myself. This interested me in the work-study program at my ecollege. The\u00a0ecollege AI maintains a sophisticated registry of supply and demand, connecting\u00a0goods to customers. Even the Neo-Luddites participate: their Head Elder emails\u00a0the AI a list of desired goods. The AI obliges them by locating items meeting\u00a0their restrictions.<\/p>\n

I pick up the goods discovered by the AI and fly them to the\u00a0Neo-Luddites. Then I spend a few hours in the Neo-Luddite village, setting up\u00a0their computers in their \u201ctraditional\u201d schools and hospitals: quaint rooms with\u00a0row after row of austere chair-desks and bunk beds.<\/p>\n

I landed my hovercar in the parking lot outside the Neo-Luddite\u00a0territory and waited for Joshua\u2019s ground-car to arrive. The Neo-Luddites shun\u00a0flying or self-driving vehicles. Within their boundaries, all transportation\u00a0must be manually operated.<\/p>\n

Joshua is my age. He is nearing his eighteenth birthday, when\u00a0Neo-Luddite adulthood begins. Every Neo-Luddite, upon reaching that age, may\u00a0choose to remain in the Neo-Luddite community or join the broader technological\u00a0world. \u00a0During my past several visits, I have sensed both increasing\u00a0nervousness and curiosity from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, Prometheus,\u201d said Joshua once I was seated, \u201cyou wanted to\u00a0see more of Neo-Luddite life. There\u2019s one place I want to show you. I usually\u00a0don\u2019t go there, but it needs cleaning. Head Elder Timothy asked me to wash the\u00a0gravestones. You can help, if you like. The cemetery is on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

I agreed, and Joshua turned onto a side road. The cemetery soon\u00a0stretched before us, triangular, with the point closest to us. Joshua parked\u00a0the ground-car, then handed me some rags and old-fashioned cleaning supplies.\u00a0The rows of graves widened as we proceeded. I realized that the Neo-Luddites\u00a0arranged their graves in reverse-chronological order. The gravestones really\u00a0did need cleaning \u2013 particularly the back rows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t many of us anymore to maintain the cemetery,\u201d Joshua\u00a0explained. \u201cMost of the original community founders have died. Timothy is the\u00a0only founding elder alive today. My grandfather used to be Head Elder, but he\u00a0died last year. Brain cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBrain cancer was cured back in 2025!\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cHis death was\u00a0preventable!\u201d But then, all death is preventable now. It is harder to treat the\u00a0already-senesced \u2013 and the Neo-Luddites oppose rejuvenation \u2013 but even Joshua\u2019s\u00a0grandfather could have been saved.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was 93,\u201d Joshua said. \u201cOur doctors tried their best, but he\u00a0lived a long and fruitful life. There were other patients of higher priority to\u00a0treat.\u201d I know 93-year-olds who would disagree \u2013 who are still in ecollege\u00a0studying one discipline or another, and who outran me at our weekly\u00a0ultramarathons.<\/p>\n

I was curious: \u201cAren\u2019t large families a major goal in your\u00a0community? You compensate for your individual mortality by having lots of\u00a0children to perpetuate your genetic heritage and community traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue,\u201d replied Joshua. \u201cBut your world\u2019s enticements are strong.\u00a0Many leave upon turning eighteen. Even some older members have left. My\u00a0great-uncle Robert looked my age when he visited my grandfather on his\u00a0deathbed. They were alone for a while; then Robert came out shaking his head.\u00a0\u2018He wouldn\u2019t let me save him,\u2019 was all I heard before he left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you considering leaving?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve thought about it,\u201d replied Joshua. \u201cBut our community\u00a0teachings all oppose it. Eternal boredom, overpopulation, loss of essential\u00a0humanity \u2013 we Neo-Luddites resist this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut none of these have occurred!\u201d I was surprised to hear him\u00a0seriously articulate such old anti-longevity superstitions. \u201cDo I look any less\u00a0human to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, not superficially, but you have nanobots in your\u00a0bloodstream, and your bones are unlike our bones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBut does that make me less human, or does it amplify my humanity?\u00a0We are, after all, communicating as two intelligent beings, two friends \u2013\u00a0perhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n

He paused to think. \u201cYou\u2019re unusual for your kind. You willingly\u00a0try to understand us. But I know you live differently in your world. You\u00a0download information instead of reading it; you have computer memory in your\u00a0head. You believe you can learn anything and do anything. We have time for only\u00a0a single vocation, which defines our identities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before I could respond, we noticed a hooded figure, crouching at a\u00a0gravestone several rows ahead. I magnified my vision to catch the inscription:\u00a0\u201cAnna Blomgren: 1955-2015\u201d. This person died the year I was born, and she was\u00a0only sixty!<\/p>\n

The figure noticed us and turned around. I saw the deeply wrinkled\u00a0face of a senesced man in his eighties. His eyes shimmered, not just with life\u00a0and intelligence, but with tears. He spoke: \u201cJoshua, come closer. See what\u00a0grief looks life. Anna died because our era\u2019s medicine could not save her. In\u00a0my despair, I had to find meaning in her death. I told myself that death was\u00a0natural and good, part of the life cycle. How else could such a wonderful,\u00a0loving person be taken so early?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHead Elder, I had no idea\u2026\u201d Joshua began.<\/p>\n

The elder\u2019s piercing stare encompassed us both. \u201cLook at me,\u00a0Joshua, and see your future \u2013 if you stay. You, too, will know grief and loss.\u00a0I asked you to come here for a reason. This is a test: do you accept our way of\u00a0life, with all its concomitant suffering? If you stay and raise a Neo-Luddite\u00a0family, then one day, you, too, will be here, weeping over a grave. If you do\u00a0not want this, go back with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut don\u2019t you want<\/i> me to stay?\u201d Joshua asked, incredulous.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou<\/i> must decide,\u201d Timothy replied. \u201cMy time is almost\u00a0done; humanity\u2019s time will be forever. I had my reasons; I resisted the future\u00a0\u2013 but soon I will be no more, and the future is already here.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was puzzled. \u201cYou just need to visit any clinic for rejuvenation\u00a0therapy. You can be young again, and have indefinite life. Why not, if you are\u00a0dissatisfied now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hardest to face what did not have to be. I lost Anna\u00a0because I couldn\u2019t save her, but in my grief I convinced others to die\u00a0unnecessarily. I cannot undermine their sacrifice by avoiding myself the end I\u00a0led them to. But you can escape. You have your whole life ahead of you. Go!\u201d<\/p>\n

We left Timothy to grieve in the graveyard. Joshua flew to the\u00a0city with me. I messaged a nearby clinic that a senesced man might request\u00a0assistance soon. He needed only to express the desire in earnest, and a\u00a0hovercraft would transport him there in minutes. Two weeks later, the clinic\u00a0still has received no request.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

G. Stolyarov II February 11, 2015 ****************************** This short story was the winning entry in Transhumanity.net\u2019s 2033 Immortality Fiction Contest in January 2013. I visited the Neo-Luddite village on January 13, 2033, to deliver\u00a0the weekly shipment of microchips. The Neo-Luddites are particular. They refuse\u00a0any chip made after 2005, so obtaining components fitting their specifications\u00a0becomes harder every year. My parents tell me that, when they were my age, everyone lived\u00a0like the Neo-Luddites do today. I downloaded plenty of history about this\u00a0period,…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,104],"tags":[270,271,106,314,315,40,112,103,521,308,310,95,1661,313],"class_list":["post-3872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-transhumanism","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-death","tag-future","tag-futurism","tag-g-stolyarov-ii","tag-indefinite-life-extension","tag-life","tag-life-extension","tag-longevity","tag-medicine","tag-progress","tag-science-fiction","tag-senescence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3872"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3875,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3872\/revisions\/3875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}