Chapter 94 Thoughtcontrol_1

After the Netting Operation, human technology soared at an unprecedented speed, and the field of materials science also underwent a major transformation, thanks to the support of superconducting technology.

Materials in related industries also made breakthroughs one after another, which made everyone see the light of victory.

Owing to Lin Sen's contributions to other disciplines, non-von Neumann computers achieved breakthroughs earlier than originally expected. Perhaps humanity was more willing to trust in non-von Neumann computers for their safety, which was the bottom line that humans needed to defend.

At the beginning of the 13th year of the Crisis Era.

Keiko Yamasuki's non-von Neumann computer achieved a breakthrough, simulating the human brain in an almost barbaric manner.

Using a microprocessor to simulate a neuron, all microprocessors were interconnected, and they could dynamically change their connection modes, creating a hundred billion such microprocessors to simulate the human brain.

This was the highest computational power humans could achieve at the time, second only to quantum computers.

At this time, the analytical cameras that Hines had conjectured were also developed, revealing the entire network structure of all neurons in the brain. They also discovered a phenomenon:

When subjects had their brain activity analyzed, influencing the judgment nodes in their neural network could change certain beliefs the subjects held.

This was Thoughtcontrol, an incredible and significant discovery.

Human thought processes require many complex calculations, but Thoughtcontrol allowed the brain to skip all processes and deliver the result directly, even making us believe in falsehoods as if they were rock-solid truth.

With this research achievement in hand, Hines immediately announced the discovery and sought military cooperation, aiming to imprint the firm belief in victory onto the Space Force with Thoughtcontrol.

Hines approached Chang Weisi, an officer in the Space Force of Huaxia, and convinced him to imprint the belief of humanity's certain victory onto some military personnel on a voluntary basis.

When Hines proposed this strategic concept during the Wallfacer hearing, he faced unanimous opposition from the delegates, who believed that thought should be free and that any technology controlling thought was a desecration of the free world.

However, Hines's rebuttal was potent. Compared to the absolute defeat in a civilization-defining battle that jeopardized life and death, losing the right and ability to free thought was more tolerable. Cultural invasion through commercial broadcasting was also a form of thought control, and since that had been accepted, then Thoughtcontrol should be accepted too.

But if someone voluntarily accepted Thoughtcontrol, then it could not be considered thought control anymore.

In conclusion, PDC Chairman Garanin summarized that as the world economy sharply declined while transitioning, the standard of living in human society would soon regress by a century. In the near future, human society would still face a new wave of defeatism. The existence of Thoughtcontrol was indeed like a venomous snake, instilling fear and loathing.

But we needed to think about it calmly and rationally, as it was also an opportunity for choosing our future.

Ultimately, it was decided to imprint Thoughtcontrol onto the Human Space Force under the supervision of the PDC and on a voluntary basis. The Thoughtcontrol department was also given a name: the Faith Center.

On that day, Lin Sen arrived at the Faith Center.

Before coming, Lin Sen did not notify anyone. Seeing a scaled-down, accurately replicated Statue of Liberty standing in front of the entrance to the Faith Center, Lin Sen showed a trace of a smile on his face. Some things still never change.

Lin Sen entered the Faith Center. The place was deserted, with only Hines and his wife, Keiko Yamasuki, chatting. There were naturally guards present, but nearly no one would stop Lin Sen now, letting him enter directly.

"Please excuse my unannounced visit, Mr. Hines, Ms. Keiko Yamasuki," Lin Sen greeted.

"Hello, Mr. Lin Sen. This should be our second meeting. Congratulations on your remarkable success," Hines said, his respect for Lin Sen apparent as he had achieved what seemed nearly impossible.

"Thoughtcontrol is a significant achievement. I would like to learn more about it. Could you explain it to me?"

"It's my honor, Mr. Lin Sen."

"The essence of Thoughtcontrol is to exert influence over key neural network nodes in the human brain, inputting a proposition into the brain."

"When the brain considers this proposition, it will directly produce an answer to the proposition, bypassing all thought processes and leading the brain to mistakenly believe that this is a conclusion drawn by its own reasoning," Hines explained.

"The Science Advisory Board told me that thinking occurs on a quantum level, do we have the means to interfere with it?" Lin Sen asked.

"That's a misunderstanding of Thoughtcontrol. Thinking indeed occurs on a quantum level, which we are unable to interfere with, and Thoughtcontrol does not disturb the thinking process on the quantum level.

"To put it in a metaphor, thinking on the quantum level is like a process happening in a dark room that we can't enter or see inside of.

"There are two channels. I can put some raw materials through one channel, and processed goods come out of the other. What processing happens inside this dark room, we don't know. It's like the thought processing occurring on the quantum level.

"Thoughtcontrol is like bypassing this room altogether, connecting these two channels so that as soon as we throw in some raw materials, the finished product is immediately produced.

"Thoughtcontrol is not as frightening as many people imagine; it can only change some simpler propositions.

"For example, with the proposition of whether water is poisonous or not, normally the dark room would yield a verdict that the water is not poisonous, but Thoughtcontrol affects the channels so that without entering the room, it immediately gives out the judgment that the water is poisonous.

"If it were really possible to change thinking in that way, that would be great. Perhaps it could greatly evolve the human brain, and then future humans could think of ways to deal with the Trisolarans. In fact, we are not yet capable of that," Hines explained.

"I understand now, so Thoughtcontrol does not change the nature of thinking, but simply alters the thinking connection points, allowing the brain to arrive at a conclusion we set without going through the quantum level processing.

"Such Thoughtcontrol is indeed very useful as it can help us to acquire the belief that humanity will be victorious. In this era, belief in our inevitable victory may indeed be the most precious thing.

"Will you continue to help mankind acquire this belief from now on?" Lin Sen asked.

"Yes, I will keep running the Belief Center, helping humanity acquire the belief in victory," replied Hines.

"And after that?

"Would you be interested in joining the Wallfacer Brain-Machine Interface Department? Your research should be of help to him." Lin Sen suggested.

"I know Marcus. His mastery in the field of the human brain is actually no less than mine.

"Although we both study the brain, our fields are different. In reality, I can't really help him.

"Once I've handled things, I plan to hibernate with my wife and go to the future." Hines responded.

"That's a shame; Marcus respects you very much too. After your hibernation, could you hand over your Wallfacer resources and your brain science team to Logic?" Lin Sen requested.

"That's impossible; you shouldn't be consolidating all the Wallfacer resources." Hines had not expected Lin Sen to actually set his sights on him, and though Hines had considered whether, after his hibernation, he should hand over resources to Logic or Lin Sen, he realised that this was absolutely not feasible.

If he did so, it would certainly provoke the jealousy of the PDC, which is not dominated by a few individuals. The forces behind it would never allow it, and such a move might really destroy the Wallfacer Plan.

PS: Here's a clarification about the common misconception regarding Hines's Thoughtcontrol: The original proposition is not simply one of humanity being inevitably victorious or defeated, but "In the war against the Trisolaran invasion of the Solar System, humanity will be victorious, the enemies that invade the Solar System will be annihilated, and Earth civilization will be perpetuated throughout the universe for tens of thousands of generations."

Earth civilization being perpetuated throughout the universe for tens of thousands of generations is his real core of Thoughtcontrol; that's the real reason he wanted to flee.