The Mechanic

While he was moving, Zhang Xun said, "The security consultant will bring someone to give you a psychological evaluation next week."

Adam asked, "Does the psychological assessment refer to character and mental tests?"

"Yes, and no." Zhang Xun paused, "You should be familiar with empathy simulators, right? As far as I know, this kind of thing has been widely used in psychotherapy and the judicial system outside."

Adam snorted, not very surprised. The so-called empathy simulator is a product that only began to appear in the past fifty years. By briefly stimulating several brain regions including the hippocampus, the subject loses the memory of the subject being tested, and then passes Injecting carefully measured drugs makes the subjects enter a half-dream and half-awake state, hypnotizes the subjects with an empathy simulator, and makes the subjects think that they are in another completely different situation, thereby Observe the subjects' reactions and actions.

Some are like a very real dream.

Often the results produced by these simulators are jaw-dropping, and many people do things they thought they would never do under certain environmental conditions. Some people use deadly electric current to shock strangers under the instruction of virtual "superior". Some people don't hesitate to abandon their lovers and run for their lives when their lives are in danger. When they were trapped on a deserted island, they first began to eat human flesh. Some activists who were passionate about charity and fighting for human rights became murderers after gaining political power...

At present, the judicial systems of many countries in the world are adhering to the principle of the innocence of human nature: that is, if a person commits a criminal act that more than 60% of people would do under similar circumstances, then this act cannot be regarded as criminal. Guilty, that's just human nature. And human nature should not be punished. Therefore, in the judicial system, when a criminal commits a criminal act under certain pressure, such as intentionally killing others in order to save his own life, or becoming an accomplice in robbery under group or community pressure, etc. An empathy simulator can be applied upon request. The court will randomly select ten citizens to enter the simulator anonymously, and as long as six people make the same choice as the defendant, the defendant can be acquitted.

"It turns out that Paradise Lost also has an empathy simulator." Adam said, "Does your court follow the principle of the innocence of humanity?"

"No...they use that thing to test who is a loyal fighter and who might be a spy and a traitor..." Zhang Xun's tone was disgusted, as if he hated that kind of thing very much.

"You don't like empathy simulators?" Adam asked.

Zhang Xun thought for a moment and replied, "It's not that I don't like it. In some ways, it helps humans understand themselves and others... But I don't like people's abuse of it. Humans are not perfect, so We only use morality and law to constrain our behavior, so we want to believe that we are good people. This machine is like tearing off that layer of already fragile fig leaf, so that people can see their ugliest side. This It is not beneficial to human beings at all. I know that after entering that machine, many people have a strong sense of guilt for things they have never really done, and even suffer from depression and anxiety...and..." Zhang Xun paused, and continued, "Sometimes I worry that we are in the empathy simulator now, and you are just an illusion they implanted in my brain..."

"The brain in the bottle conjectures. A brain filled with all kinds of false information in the bottle has no way of knowing that it is in the bottle." Adam nodded conclusively, "There is really no way to prove it."

"What are you two muttering about?" Diego finished smoking, came over and took out a bottle of cold beer from the incubator, and muttered while pulling it away, "Every time you two talk to each other, it's like listening to the outside world. Stars talk to each other, and I can’t even understand the fart.”

Both decided to ignore him at the same time.

Adam continued to ask Zhang Xun, "Will you also be connected to the simulator?"

"No, my level of authority is relatively high. They will only connect me to a lie detector and conduct general psychological tests on me." Zhang Xun paused, repeating the news that James quietly obtained from his father for him, "As for you, according to the test process report they submitted to the headquarters and the round table, they will retain all your memories of being a human being for this month, but temporarily erase the memory of being tested and two days in advance, and replace it with three days simulated memory, and then test your choices and reactions. I guess, they want to know if you'll run away if you get the chance, or pass on information about Paradise Lost to Eden, or use some other means to destroy Paradise lost."

Adam nodded, "I see."

"In this machine, you can't lie. So..." Zhang Xun stared at Adam, "Do you think you can pass?"

Adam shrugged. "I guess I have a pass rate of about sixty-three percent."

"...How did you come up with such a specific number?" Diego complained from the side.

"I'm currently studying how to quantify and calculate my various emotional indicators, and then cooperate with my rational thinking..."

"Stop, stop, stop, I don't want to know anymore..." Diego raised his hand as if defeated, and quickly left the arbor and walked back to his own room to watch the video.