‘In 2039, definitive experiments carried out in France established that there is a CPS, a clear physical signal, emanating from conscious entities alone, and not from non-conscious entities like our present-day quantputers.’
Thorgeson paused to let this sink in before adding, with some emphasis, ‘We have to improve the quantputer. When we have all the physical parameters – which the smudge should supply – then we shall be able to construct a quantputer that will actually emit a CPS. In other words, it will have consciousness.’
The audience remained unsettled, with voices still calling that Mars was not a laboratory.
John Homer Bateson rose from his seat and spoke, arms folded protectively across his chest. ‘Professor Thorgeson, I am embarrassed to admit that I lost the thread of your involved argument when you began talking about mind. Whatever mind is. Have you not strayed from your proper subject? And is this not the way of physicists – to usurp ground properly the territory of philosophers?’
‘I have not moved from my original topic,’ Thorgeson said quietly. But another quiet voice in the audience, that of Crispin Barcunda, said, ‘At least on Mars we have escaped the powers of the GenEng Institute, busy sculpting Megarich personalities and dupes and living rump steaks. While you guys here stay away from the biological sciences and stick to physics—’
‘What’s your question, Crispin?’ I asked, insulted by his connecting dupes with living rump steaks.
‘Is not the most pressing matter that now confronts us the possible connection between mind and your proposed smudge ring?’
‘That’s what we hope to find out,’ Thorgeson said.
Other voices started calling. I told them to be silent and allow the lecture to continue.
At this point, Ben Borrow stood up, raising his hand to be seen. ‘As a philosopher, I must ask what is to be gained by this search for the Omega Smudge? Is it not that which, by your own admission, has brought us to this wretched planet and caused the complete disruption of our lives?’
I answered before Thorgeson could.
‘Why should you talk about the disruption of our lives? Why not the extension of our lives? Aren’t we privileged to be here? Can’t we by will power adapt our attitudes to enjoy our unique position?’
He looked startled by my attack, but rallied smartly, saying, ‘We are of the Earth and belong there. It’s the breast and source of our life and our happiness, Cang Hai.’
‘Happiness? Is happiness all you want? What a pathetic thing! Hasn’t the cult of the quest for happiness been a major cause of misery in the Western world for almost two centuries?’
‘I didn’t say—’
But I would not let him continue. ‘The quest for scientific truth – is that not a far nobler thing than mere self-gratification? Please sit down and allow the lecture to continue.’
Thorgeson shot me a grateful look – although he was soon to teach me a horrid lesson in self-gratification. He came boldly to the front of the dais, to stand with hands on hips, confronting his hecklers.
‘Look, everything in the universe depends on the fundamental laws that govern particles. All of chemistry, all of biology, all of engineering, every human – and inhuman – action – all of them ultimately depend on the laws of particle physics. Can’t you understand that?’
The audience continued to be noisy. Thorgeson pressed on.
‘Most of those laws are already known. The one major thing we do not yet know is where mass comes from. Once we know the Omega Smudge parameters – which will be fixed as soon as we have sufficient HIGMO data, then we will basically know everything – at least in principle. Isn’t that important enough to put a bit of money into, just in itself? It’s philistinism to ask for further justification.’
‘Not if you’re stuck here for years,’ called someone from the audience, provoking laughter. Thorgeson spoke determinedly over it.
‘It happens that some people in the early days of setting up the Mars experiment thought there was another justification for it. These people believed that there has to be more to the human mind than what they refer to as “just quantputing”. They reckoned that finding HIGMOs would lead us to a “mysterious something” which would provide a better understanding of human consciousness. Maybe I should use the term “soul” again here.’ He gave a brief contemptuous laugh. ‘There are still some people -even some important people on the project, who shall be nameless – who continue to pursue this sort of notion. A load of nonsense in my opinion.’