What is Civilization?
What is civilization?
"Hmm……."
Shuc-rimmurath, who had always lived doing only what she wanted and following only commands, called upon her god for the first time. It was because this was an area beyond her own judgment.
That was fine. I had given my creations plenty of discretion, but this clearly crossed the line Shuc-rimmurath could decide on her own. So it was worth asking.
Returning to the main point, I was debating whether or not to trade with the "Sora-ge Legion." Whether to grant that authority to the Dessert Legion Commander.
Seeing my contemplative expression, the angel—my only advisor and constant collaborator—approached and asked.
"Lord Biin. What are you thinking about?"
"Right now. I did consider accepting outsiders, but……"
"Yes. I believe that judgment itself is correct."
"Somehow…… or rather, it seems almost certain that an outpost of civilization and a tribal group centered around the legion commander has formed here, doesn't it?"
"That's right."
Chaltteoggua's idea was good. Inducing more active internal competition through factional conflicts within the Dessert Legion.
It was like a practice match rather than an all-out war…… I had accepted the proposal and even summoned soldiers from my acquaintances so they could gain experience and hunt here.
But when the two elements combined, factions formed around the "king" called the Dessert Legion Commander. Wasn't this essentially the birth of a primitive tribal state and civilization? Though the form was quite strange.
"Actually, the development and emergence of civilization is an extremely natural phenomenon. Earth's civilization also arose through normal biological evolutionary processes, not through the existence of aliens or powerful mysteries."
Well. Was that really so?
"What do you mean?"
Fundamentally speaking. At what point does "civilization" begin? When agriculture started? Or, as anthropologists say, when there are bones with fractures and healed injuries? Is it when they possess sociality, culture, and language?
But sociality exists in ants too. Are ants too crude? Naked mole rats also have sociality. Horses have it, lions form prides, and primate groups often form large troops.
Language exists not only in humans but also in dolphins and elephants. Apes can't speak due to oral structure issues, but there's no problem with their intelligence, so they can be taught sign language and communicate with it.
Tools? When it comes to tool use, octopuses use tools. Sea otters do too. Primates have too many examples. But among them, capuchin monkeys are outstanding. Because they know how to make and use stone tools.
Then, at what point did humans come to possess civilization? What is the biggest characteristic that distinguishes humans from animals?
And is that an extremely natural flow?
If human civilization is much more advanced and superior, I just want to ask this in return.
Why, on Earth in 1800 AD, while colonial rulers were roaming around, were there so many uncontacted tribes—in other words, "Homo sapiens who couldn't build civilization"?
Even in the 2000s, the Sentinelese of North Sentinel Island live without any contact with modern civilization.
Probably the only uncontacted tribe existing in the world…… What is the reason they couldn't develop civilization? Because they're primitive? An inferior race?
Of course not. No matter how primitive the tribe, humans haven't speciated. Not even subspecies.
The gene pool of 100 gorillas is broader than the entire human gene pool. If you kidnap those Sentinel Island humans as babies and just educate and raise them, they'll grow into ordinary civilized people.
In short, the birth of civilization for humanity was "not at all" an inevitable result.
"A persuasive logic indeed."
The theory that the development of civilization is related to geographical environment is also very famous. Civilization can't develop in jungle regions. It's difficult in places with many islands, places where crops that are hard to store are grown……
Conversely, in regions that don't meet those conditions—where there are plains, clean water, moderate abundance, and good crops—civilization develops, and society and technology advance thanks to Homo sapiens' excellent intellectual abilities.
And those adapted to the external environment survive, and those suitable for survival in terms of systems, philosophy, culture, etc., survive and are passed on to later generations.
"Like life, isn't it?"
"Hmm……."
I can't say that's entirely wrong. After all, when looking at the process of a country collapsing, it's either someone raising a rebellion against internal contradictions and overcoming them, or collapsing due to external invasion. There's no reason I can't call this an evolutionary process.
But that crosses over into the realm of social Darwinism or eugenics…… I'm more of an ecology major than sociology (though I dropped out because I had no money), so I'm not well-versed in sociological or historical parts.
So let's return to the starting point.
I hate intelligent beings and civilization.
Specifically, I hate intelligent beings that can create civilization.
Intelligent beings that can't create civilization…… I might quite like them. Honestly, if I had thousands of billions, I might have gone to Africa and spent my life observing primates.
Then, conversely, what about super-intelligent beings that don't possess civilization?
Extremely intelligent Dessert Legion commanders definitely won't build civilization.
But if their subordinate legions learn strategy and tactics, compete for territory, and only the highly intelligent survive, how is that different from a primitive tribal civilization?
Or what about non-intelligent beings that possess civilization? It's extremely strange, but it already exists in my ecosystem.
Sugar Lumps lack deductive reasoning ability, so they can't build civilization.
But they can use created tools. They make slingshots, use swordsmanship, and clearly wield martial arts and magic created by civilized people.
Is this not civilization? If this isn't civilization, what is? Eventually, after repeated evolution, Sugar Lumps might develop deductive reasoning abilities and evolve into humans, right?
"Do you think that's undesirable?"
Probably because of my aversion to civilization and intelligent beings themselves.
It's not specifically formulated yet……
"Lord Biin. Why do you hate civilization?"
"Hmm."
"Anti-intellectualism build…… Yes. I acknowledge it. It's more powerful than I thought. It has certainly deviated greatly from the universal concept of civilization, but it works quite well.
But now Lord Biin has experienced ten collisions, and with Sugar Lumps using martial arts, slingshots, magic, and high-level intelligent beings called Dessert Legion Commanders……
Lord Biin's ecosystem is essentially nothing more than a "civilization with an extremely peculiar form." A civilization composed of an extremely powerful minority of individuals and entities with unique evolutionary directions of intelligence."
"Hmm."
"Then I have no choice but to ask here. If this is the desirable form of civilization, and other people's forms of civilization are not desirable, then what on earth is the basis for claiming that? If you can't present that basis, then it's right to just approve the trade. Because Lord Biin already possesses a "splendid civilization.""
Hmm……
I am the humanity-assigned clone.
I drew nearly 10% of my divine power to greatly slow down the perceived time of this humanity-assigned clone. In other words, I extremely accelerated my thinking.
I retrace where my hatred for civilization and intelligent beings came from.
There were plenty of reasons to hate the world.
Do I really need to state why an orphan abandoned by parents hates the world? That's reason enough to hate the world.
Then, what is the world?
Well, ultimately, it's humans, I guess. I hate humans. Humans created this world. Because civilized society is made up only of things humans have touched.
If there were five events in life when my misanthropy peaked, the biggest one was that.
"I'm the parent who gave birth to you! Even after earning hundreds of billions, you won't give a single penny! Instead of being grateful for the grace of being born……!"
Ah. This one. This one was quite big. How can a person be so shameless? How many times have I thought it would have been better not to be born. This was the last event, and because of this, I completely secluded myself.
Then, the first event when misanthropy peaked was probably that…… school days.
Just saying "anything" drawn didn't make the hatred boil over. After all, it was something I did to make money.
I just thought of it as grotesque creature practice and drew freely, and while going to school in relative poverty, I could at least make otaku friends.
"Um, um. Is it true that you'll do anything if I just give money? Hehe……."
"You seem to have misunderstood something. "Draw for you." I'm not doing it myself."
"Ah. That. Still, you're poor, right. So I'll pay, so just once……."
"……Get lost. No matter how much, I won't do it with you."
Right. This is it. After that, no matter how the rumor spread, trash people came with money saying "Wouldn't it be fine with me?" What, why are you so expensive, despising me as a poor orphan, criticizing even the act of drawing, saying all sorts of things.
They even exposed my personal information on the internet…… After that, people looking for "me" instead of my "drawings" on the internet and making vulgar demands increased……
Because of that, I was also cursed at school, even the few friends I made distanced themselves due to bad rumors spreading for no reason, and I went through all sorts of unpleasant things.
Still, it was closer to contempt rather than direct violence and bullying, so it was better in that regard……
At that time, I think I always thought this.
Am I unhappy?
Well, objectively speaking, I am unhappy, but…… if you turn on the news right away, there are overflowing children dying in terrorism, people suffering from war, famine, disease. To the north of the country I lived in was North Korea, said to be the worst country to live in the world.
Then, do I have the right to say to the North Korean residents suffering and starving under a mad dictator, "Sob sob, I was teased at school for drawing strange pictures. I'm so unhappy"?
And the right to say to children dragged to the battlefield and becoming bullet fodder?
……
Was I eating grilled pork while sniveling after going through that humiliation? While thinking this.
"It's natural for people to eat meat. Biologically, if Homo sapiens don't eat meat, they won't be healthy. The director also always said meat is good for the body and bought us a lot of meat……."
"So killing other living beings to survive is not just allowed, it's natural. All life is like that. They say even in extremely starving situations, cannibalism isn't questioned."
"Then conversely, harm inflicted on others that isn't particularly necessary for survival is truly bad, isn't it?"
The reason people die on the battlefield is because of the dictator's greed for land.
Terrorism was due to religious, ethnic, political conflicts.
The humiliation I received was pure contempt.
Frankly speaking, none of it had anything to do with survival.
You don't have to have the land, you can just think "Ah, some people think that way~" about terrorism and move on, and what does it matter to you what pictures I draw, whether I'm poor or have no parents?
What is the reason I, and the people of the world, receive this "unnecessary" suffering? Frankly speaking, it's okay if someone catches and eats me. They must have been hungry. I understand.
But why insult me? Whether you do or don't, it wouldn't hinder your life at all……
In other words, you're full.
After creating civilization to eliminate the threat to survival and barely having no problem eating and living, since you're full, you're creating meaningless reasons to fight, kill, and insult each other.
Rather, if I were a wild animal that lives on its own even without parents and reproduces on its own, I wouldn't have to experience this kind of suffering as a human. The suffering wild animals experience is "natural" for living beings, so there's no need to say it's unfair or unjust.
So. Is this story that because I'm a human in civilized society, I experience this unnecessary persecution and trials?
And the reason we fight each other even while sufficiently feeding all members of society is because the species Homo sapiens is biologically a lowly life form that can kill each other for such reasons.
……
It's not that I hate civilization.
I hate humans who live like this even after building such an excellent system.
I despise the fundamental cause of humans behaving like this. The mediocre high, lowly intelligence that only knows how to create civilization but has no possibility of maintaining it.
I despise the thinking me.
If I couldn't think, I wouldn't feel pain either……
If someone were trying to catch and eat me instead……
Even if there's no ill will, if they're persecuting me so much inevitably to continue that life……
At least there would have been some meaning in my trash-like life and that suffering……
"Have you finished contemplating?"
The angel asked, seeing that I had stopped the thought acceleration.
I used quite a lot of divine power. Probably because I retraced all the past at once and experienced it.
"Yeah. I've decided."
"Whatever choice, I hope you've made a rational one."
I conveyed to Shuc-rimmurath.
"It's okay to trade."
"Yeah. It's not like those guys are trading to make money, it's about symbiosis to survive together in the natural world, so there's no reason not to. Trade at a reasonable level as you think."
I don't know if Shuc-rimmurath will trade well. Honestly, it doesn't matter if she doesn't. That too would be the rise and fall of strategy.
Right. In the wild, there's no good or evil. The creatures of the Dessert Desert aren't evil and tormenting their opponents. They're just endlessly striving to live.
What remains is only strategy. Isn't that so?
"Are you seeking my consent?"
"Well."
"I consent."
Ultimately, surviving is the superior strategy.
I will prove it.