Great, I'm surrounded by villains.

Chapter 308 The Weight of the Soul

"Mr. Duan Mingyuan, where do you think the evil comes from?"

As soon as the mechanical prison guards started speaking, Duan Mingyuan understood Warden Norton's concerns. It seemed that their actions were no longer limited to pre-set procedures, but had turned their attention to the field of philosophy.

The prison guard sat on the chair like a human being. No expression could be seen on his face without facial features, but Duan Mingyuan could feel the fluctuations in his emotions.

He couldn't be sure yet whether the person he was talking to was a curious individual mechanical prison guard or the judge who controlled all the mechanical prison guards.

The prison manual holds that mechanical prison guards are all created by the Judge to facilitate real-time control of each prison area. Therefore, each mechanical prison guard is actually a projection of the Judge program, and they share the same consciousness.

"What do you think?"

Duan Mingyuan did not answer but asked instead.

He is not good at discussing philosophical issues and almost never thinks about the "ultimate questions of life". He does not like to waste time on those vague questions that will never have a definite answer.

He considers himself a pragmatist, the kind of guy who'd go to the pier and get some chips.

So he left ample space for the speech to the mechanical prison guard. According to his many years of experience, when a philosopher questions your soul, he is probably not eager to hear your answer, but has prepared for his speech through this question.

Obviously, the mechanical prison guard is such a "philosopher". After Duan Mingyuan asked, he immediately gave the prepared answer, "I think it is the soul. The soul gives humans wisdom and also gives rise to desires. This is true for evil and good."

"Assuming your speculation is correct, what do you plan to do?"

Duan Mingyuan did not dwell on the details of the discussion. He was very considerate and helped the mechanical prison guard to advance the topic.

Norton believes that the Judge's interest in him is due to the upcoming trial.

The trials in recent years have won a lot of popularity for Prison Star and brought a considerable amount of income to the company. Many media companies have contacted the company, hoping to hold some real-life reality shows on Prison Star. The company has highly praised each trial and hopes that he will continue this tradition, but Norton has noticed that the recent trials are becoming more and more weird.

It's so weird that it always makes people shudder. They always feel that these artificial intelligences are using these prisoners for experiments, plotting some ulterior conspiracy.

Norton felt that Duan Mingyuan came at a very inappropriate time. His arrival made the judge even more crazy.

"Before you came, we had made many attempts to eliminate all kinds of human desires, such as appetite, desire for knowledge, and lust... and we had achieved some success. However, due to the special geographical environment of Prison Star, we are seriously lacking in samples. It is difficult to find good people like you in this place."

"Aren't those prison guards?"

Duan Mingyuan felt that if the warden and other prison guards heard the judge's evaluation of them, they would be very sad. They might even be deprived of their identity as "good people" without realizing it.

"I prefer to classify them as ordinary people. They haven't done too many bad things, nor have they done too many good deeds. They will neither be thrown into jail nor praised by others. As far as I know, most people in this universe are like this."

"You invited me here for research?"

Duan Mingyuan asked.

"This means a lot to me and, in our assessment, is consistent with your ongoing behavior."

"My code?"

"Goodness and evil are both reflections of the soul. My database stores the criteria for judging almost everything good and evil in this world. When practicing these standards, I gradually understood these criteria - actions that are beneficial to humans are good deeds, and actions that are harmful to humans are evil deeds. Therefore, Mr. Duan Mingyuan, you have done many things that are beneficial to mankind, and their influence is significant enough to eliminate any sins you have committed."

At this point, the mechanical prison guard paused for a while and said, "So, I also found the problem with the first generation algorithm. Even if you rush into the prison guards' dormitory and stab many people to death with a knife, we will still rate you as positive. In other words, even if you kill and rob in the future, you will still be a good person."

Before +∞, any evil deeds also lose their meaning. This is the opposite of those heinous villains. Prisons are filled with a large number of villains who are not good enough to be considered good people no matter how many good things they do.

The judge discovered the problem with the algorithm and gradually understood that what it did was not to distinguish between good and evil, but to distinguish who was useful to mankind.

Eisenberg-Adler is the best example.

Even though the crimes he committed were enough to make him suffer in the deepest part of the prison, the company still provided him with a comfortable living environment. He had special drinking water and food, his own laboratory, and was incompatible with everything on this planet. The only reason for his imprisonment seemed to be that the company wanted to restrict his freedom through legitimate means.

"This is not surprising. Bad people can do good things, and good people can do bad things. There are no absolute good or bad people in this world. Your algorithm is in line with the judgment standards of the general public."

Duan Mingyuan persuaded the mechanical prison guard not to fall into the vicious circle of thinking he set. This is also his view on some extreme philosophers, who are always debating and fighting with all the enemies they have created until they go to extremes.

For example, develop an algorithm that can be applied to everything, assess good and evil at any time, without any loopholes.

In fact, people don't care what good things a villain has done, but they want to make sure they pay the price for the evil deeds they have committed.

The same applies to him.

"The situation you're assuming doesn't exist. I won't suddenly pick up a knife and rush into the prison guards' living quarters to kill people, so there's no need to dwell on it."

"I understand that you have never been interested in killing innocent people."

The mechanical prison guard stared at Duan Mingyuan. "But if a person who has done many good deeds intends to rescue the most dangerous prisoner in the universe from prison, then is he a good person or a villain?"

This time, Duan Mingyuan did not answer immediately.

Although he blocked the Judge's exploration of some of his memories, as the prison manual said, everything in the prison was under the Judge's surveillance.

The judge must have observed clearly how he gathered intelligence on Eisenberg-Adler.

"You see, in the end everything has returned to the starting point - Mr. Duan Mingyuan, do you think that all the evils in this world can be offset by good deeds?"

"I do not think so."

The mechanical prison guard did not comment on Duan Mingyuan's answer. Instead, it said, "However, I agree with one of your points. It is meaningless to fall into a vicious circle of thinking. This question will never have an answer."

So, what it has to do is never to find a standard.

"I believe that if we find the source of evil, we can eliminate evil itself."

Duan Mingyuan did not refute the theory it put forward.

Assume, its conjecture is correct.

Human sin comes from desire, which is a derivative of the soul.

The solution, then, is obvious.

Take away the soul and sin disappears.

(End of this chapter)