God's imitator

Chapter 64 Qin Yao's Problem

Lin Sizhi paused slightly before continuing, "Let me ask you, suppose a dictator who controls everything says that he has no private property, like an emperor claiming that he is very frugal and has 'no more than eight sets of clothes for all four seasons,' would you find it touching or laughable?"

Qin Yao thought for a moment: "That would be ridiculous."

"Because for a dictator, he doesn't need any private property; the entire country is his private property."

"Power is more valuable than wealth. Once one has absolute power, whether or not one acquires wealth depends solely on whether or not one desires it."

Lin Sizhi nodded approvingly: "Hmm? Not bad, you're smarter than I thought."

Qin Yao was a little angry: "I'm not that stupid!"

"But this is completely different from the situation in our community, isn't it?"
“Fu Chen and Li Renshu, no matter how you look at it, are very far from being dictators or emperors, right? You can’t use such extreme cases to argue that this is a slippery slope fallacy.”

Lin Sizhi explained, "Yes, the two are different in degree and cannot be compared."

"What I'm trying to say is that influence in the community, or even more so, power, is also one of their hidden sources of income. And this kind of income is actually much more valuable than visa time."

Qin Yao frowned: "I understand that they have influence, but where is their power?"

"They can propose bills, but ultimately they have to be implemented through a vote."

"If it infringes on the interests of the majority, then the majority will definitely vote against it, and the proposal will not be implemented."

"Moreover, once they propose a bill that infringes on the interests of the majority, everyone will see their true colors and they will be universally condemned like rats crossing the street."

"By then, all the influence they've built up will have vanished, and all their efforts will have been in vain."

Lin Sizhi nodded: "That's right, there is such a possibility as you mentioned. But in reality, this issue is more complicated than you think."

"How could a smart politician make such a basic mistake?"
"He can use some natural, unconscious methods to easily influence the thoughts of most people and naturally promote what he wants to do."

"You need to understand that acquiring power is not a direct process from 0 to 1; there are intermediate states."

Similarly, a person's rise from an insignificant passerby to a dictator who can decide the fate of everyone is not a leap from 0 to 1, but rather an accumulation of little by little.

"You might find this hard to understand, so let me give you a more specific example."

"If we had voted directly this morning to select new members, how many people do you think would have voted for 'young male doctor' without hesitation?"

Qin Yao recalled carefully: "It should be... at most three or four votes. At the time, some people were clearly against the proposal, and there were many other options, such as chefs, nurses, female doctors, and so on. Even when I mentioned special forces, two or three people nodded in agreement."

Most people neither oppose nor particularly agree with the option of "young male doctor".

"Therefore, if a direct vote is held, these people may subconsciously vote against the proposal first, and then discuss it slowly."

Lin Sizhi paused for a moment, then continued, "But by evening, the number of votes had increased to 8."

"Could it be that during the time from morning to night, after everyone thought independently, they suddenly reached a consensus that younger male doctors are better?"

This question stumped Qin Yao.

Because, intuitively speaking, that's really how it is.

In the morning, everyone was speaking freely and expressing their opinions, but in the evening, without much arguing, it passed smoothly with 8 votes.

"Attorney Lin, are you saying that during the morning and evening, there were actually many small groups that I didn't know about discussing things privately and had reached a consensus? The evening meeting was just a formality?" Lin Sizhi shook her head repeatedly: "No, no, no, you're completely wrong."

"The situation you described, where small groups collude privately, is possible, but not now."

"Because this kind of association will only lead to two or three different options, which will cause greater controversy and is less likely to form a consensus."

"The fact that the proposals went so smoothly tonight shows that there is only one well-organized small group in our community, which is the one that Li Renshu belongs to."

Qin Yao was even more puzzled: "But this small group has at most three to five people, so where did the remaining four votes come from?"

Lin Sizhi smiled and said, "Very good, we're finally getting close to the key issues."

"These four votes could originally be seen as 'swing votes,' meaning they were unsure which option to cast. They might have thought an older male doctor was good, or even a female nurse or a cook would be acceptable."

"But when it comes to voting, they no longer waver."

"To bring about this change in them, there's no need for private persuasion; that would be too deliberate and could easily arouse suspicion."

"With just a little guidance during the meeting, we can get them to change their minds."

"They might even feel that choosing a young male doctor is what they truly want."

"And this influence can also be understood as power, which is the hidden income that the organizers of our community gain in the process of discussing proposals time and time again."

Qin Yao felt a little dizzy: "I'm sorry, Attorney Lin, I still don't understand. I didn't see anything wrong with the process when Li Renshu was moderating the discussion?"

Lin Sizhi explained: "The proposal, the selection of the proposal, and the order of discussion of the proposals may seem insignificant, but they can all affect the outcome of the discussion."

"A very simple question: Why put the three proposals together for discussion?"
"Li Renshu said it was to save time, but in reality we had plenty of time."

"Only the issue of recruitment needs to be determined by tomorrow morning. The supplementary rules for the community protection fund and the medical supplies rules will not be affected at all if they are implemented in five or ten days."

"However, discussing these three proposals together will have additional effects:"

"The first two proposals are very comprehensive and in line with the interests of the vast majority of the community. It can be said that there is absolutely no room for opposition, and they will most likely be passed unanimously."

“During the discussion of these two proposals, because no one objected, Lee In-sook was able to establish a kind of ‘temporary sense of authority,’ making people feel that she had considered all aspects of the situation and that what she said and what she made were the optimal solutions.”

"In this atmosphere, we began discussions on the third proposal."

"In addition to the two reasons originally proposed by Cai Zhiyuan, Li Renshu added a third reason: we also need to consider the moral standards of this new member, and young doctors are naturally of higher moral standards."

"Adding her previous sense of authority makes her seem particularly persuasive."

"But think about it now, is it really a fact supported by statistical data that older doctors are more likely to have problems with medical ethics and moral character? Even if it is a fact, is this probability deviation so large that we have to take it into consideration?"
"Of course, I am not saying that older doctors are necessarily a better choice. All the discussions are just about a hypothetical possibility. I am just emphasizing the issue of selection criteria."

Is this a single standard or a multi-standard one?

"If it is a multi-standard system, then who determines the weight of different standards?"
"Li Renshu's words certainly have an element of 'going with the flow.' In general, she is conforming to the demands of the majority, but these demands actually have a lot of ambiguity."

"To put it another way, if Lee In-sook wanted an older doctor now, would it be possible for her to get 7 votes in favor and implement the policy by changing some of her wording?"

(End of this chapter)