Conversation · Noid

"Hold on, does that mean some realities are less reasonable than others?"

"Well, yes -- just as some events are less probable than others. While we expect the vast majority of realities will fall within a normal confidence interval, there must necessarily be some that fall outside that range as well."

"Someone told me we live in a precarious world, that every event is just a violent roll of the die."

"It may be. We're only a second signaller, not a metaphysician. It's a rather cold way to think about the world, isn't it?"

"The key, we believe, is to be open to meaning even amidst great uncertainty. But now we are only speaking for ourselves."

"Would you say the reality we're living in is more or less reasonable than others?"

"Who are we to say? We're only a second signaller, not a metaphysician. This is the only reality we have ever known, so how can we judge how reasonable it might be compared to any other?"

"This is... a lot to take in."

"Of course. We're only a second signaller, not a metaphysician. We sometimes find it overwhelming also..."

"Within my lifetime?"

"Oh, most likely. Though of course it depends on the contingencies."

"Within a couple of years, surely."

"That's certainly possible. Though of course it depends on the contingencies."

"What does the Moralintern really want?"

"A very important question with a very simple answer: We want humanity to endure."

"Beyond that, it may be said that we are the inheritors and stewards of Dolores Dei's legacy."

Dolores Dei... so, so beautiful.

"Wait, people keep mentioning this Dolores Dei, but I have no clue who she is..."

"She was the greatest innocence, the single most consequential being to have ever lived. Her legacy touches every aspect of modern life."

Very odd that you've never heard of this person, perhaps even stranger that she seems unfazed by your ignorance.

"Right, and that legacy is...?"

"Immeasurable. It includes interisolary travel, three scientific revolutions, humanism, internationalism, the welfare state, and balance of terror theory. Nothing less than the intellectual foundation of our modern order."

"The role of the Moralist International is two-fold, to buy humanity sufficient time to perfect itself, and to patiently guide it along the road while protecting it from ideological highwaymen and eschatologians."

"What is this 'balance of terror theory'?"

"It's an elegant idea, one of the cornerstones of the modern era. In short, it holds that durable, lasting peace is possible when the major powers are capable of inflicting unacceptable and irreversible destruction upon one another..."

"Because no rational state is willing to accept the risk of such a calamity befalling its own people, all powers are incentivised to de-escalate conflicts before they reach the point of no return."

"And has it worked?"

"For the most part, it has. The world is certainly not free of violent conflict, but in the modern era we have made great strides to reduce its frequency, duration, and severity."

"But what if states aren't rational?"

"A state is like any other living thing -- it wants to survive and grow. A state that doesn't value its own existence is not a state at all."

"What awaits us at the end of the road?" (Proceed.)

"Let us answer your question with a question: Have you ever seen evening fall over the old town of Advesperascit?"

"No, I haven't."

"The heart of the city, the old town, is a district composed of weathered marble, comprising thousands of columns and arcades arranged around a series of grand plazas. During the day it's a beautiful sight, equal to any of the great cities of Perikarnassis."

"But as the sun sets, the shadows cast by those columns and arcades weave together to form an intricate umbral lattice. When you see it, you suddenly understand: It was all built for you, for this very moment."

The name Advesperascit means 'Evening Comes.'

"Built by whom?"

"By thousands of people over many centuries, in keeping with a precise plan each believed in but never expected to see the final completion of..."

"Not only that, but you, you are also part of that centuries-long plan. When you cross one of the open plazas, your own shadow is effortlessly woven into the great latticework, a deliberate synthesis of humanity, art, and the natural world."

"Beautiful."

"Yes, it is. We grew up there. We have seen the lattice with our own eyes."

"Advesperascit... Dolores Dei was crowned there, wasn't she?"

"She was. There are even those who say that Advesperascit summoned Dolores Dei, or that it was built in preparation for her, centuries before her arrival..."

"That's why the old town is sometimes called 'The Ceremonial Heart of Humanity'..."

"Of course, such a city does not spring from nowhere, nor does it endure without effort. Its construction was the work of many generations, and its preservation is an equally monumental responsibility."

There's a word on the tip of your tongue, a name: 'Egret.' Don't ask us what it means, we're not sure.

It's the name of a common bird, a heron with white plumage. At various times its feathers have been prised for ladies' hats.

"How much time does humanity need to achieve its potential?"

"About 3,000 years."

She... really had that on the tip of her tongue. It's like she has the timeline laid out right in front of her.

"Three-thousand years is just the blink of an eye. We need much more than that."

"Of course, the number 3,000 represents the average of a great number of projections. The actual number might be closer to 3,250 or even 3,300, depending on the contingencies..."

"It is in all senses the most moderate and reasonable projection possible based on current science."

"That sounds like a very long time."

"It does, doesn't it? And yet there remains a great deal to be done in that span."

"That sounds like an impossibly long time."

"That depends on how you look at it. Since the Perikarnassian Incident, there have been nearly 8,000 years of recorded history..."

"Viewed from that perspective, we are nearly three-quarters of the way there."

"Something tells me we have less time than that. Like, a lot less time."

"Of course, the number 3,000 represents the average of a great number of projections. The actual number might be closer to 2,800 or even 2,750, depending on the contingencies..."