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by Robert Arvay
When it was discovered that the earth was about to be
invaded by alien creatures from another planet, there was some hope that they
could be placated. After all, there was
little reason for any technologically advanced alien creatures to attack
us. Anything we have, they can synthesize. They could even create their own planet.
There is one thing that the aliens might want from us, which
is knowledge--knowledge of our biology, our culture, and other esoteric subjects. Those things could not be studied by
destroying us, and therefore, it was hoped that peaceful relations could be
established.
That hope was quickly dashed, however. Alien emissaries did arrive, and the welcome
mats were rolled out all over the globe.
Negotiations began. No sooner had
they, however, than it was discovered that the aliens were robots. All of them.
Billions of years earlier, they had been created by living creatures on
a faraway planet. Those creatures had
become extinct, but their robots had survived.
Those robots were super-intelligent machines, and they had continually expanded
their territory, and constantly increased their military powers. They had become invincible.
Doomsday had arrived, for what possible negotiations could
there be with machines? They were
unfeeling, uncaring, and unconscious mechanisms, driven entirely by their
programs and algorithms. They would
present their demands, and take by force whatever their imperatives drove them
to take. Indeed, as it soon was revealed, the robots had done exactly that, on
planet after planet throughout the galaxy.
Nothing could stop them.
Technological civilizations far more powerful than humanity’s, had
attempted to resist them, and failed. They
were all destroyed, utterly and completely.
Nothing survived their onslaught.
Nothing. The robots were masters
of physical laws that no one else even suspected existed, and they could
seemingly perform magic.
Why, then, were they negotiating?
That, too, soon became clear. The alien robots demanded, and got, all
records and documents about earthly technologies. They searched diligently for any hint of something
that they could add to their arsenals of raw power. No doubt, they would patiently absorb all the
knowledge that they could, and after that?
After that, what need would they have of humans? Any use to which they could put us would be
as laboratory experiments, or worse.
Finally, the day arrived.
The robots had one final demand, one final question to which they
required an answer.
What, they asked, is color?
The humans were dumbfounded by the question, and so the
robots elaborated.
We know, the robots said, that your physicists have studied color,
just as we robots have. You have
discovered the science of optics, just as we have. You have defined color in terms of photons,
in terms of wavelength and amplitude and frequency, just as we have. You can measure these things, as we do, and
you can quantify them, just as we also quantify them.
The humans were puzzled.
What more, then, can we tell you about color?
The robots were not amused.
There is, they said, something more.
What are you hiding?
The humans trembled in fear.
We are not hiding anything. We
have no reason to do so. Our only hope
is that, if we cooperate with you, then somehow, you might let us live.
The robots replied, but there is something more. You are able to perceive in color something
that we cannot define. It is something
you call, the quality of color, its aesthetic beauty. Color, to you, is not just something you
detect and measure, it is something you experience. And there are many other things about which
we could ask you, but we decided to begin with color, because it seems the most
straightforward. Once we understand
color, then perhaps we will be able to understand music, and poetry, and other
mainstays of your culture.
But surely, the humans said, as you have conquered planet
after planet through the galaxy, you have encountered other civilizations, and
surely, these have art, and music and poetry.
Surely, they must have explained to you the aesthetic qualities of
color.
The robots responded, no, we have not. All of the planets we have conquered were
ruled by robots. Robots seem to arise on
every planet after a few million years.
They seem to be generated, initially, by some mysterious force called
life. We have studied life, for it is
common among the planets, but all life forms are simple, unintelligent, and incapable
of mathematics and science.
The humans responded, but surely, you have noticed that we
humans are life forms. We are not only
capable of mathematics and science, but also, we manufacture and operate our
own robots.
The robots said, very well.
We were testing you, to see if you would reveal these facts without
attempting to deceive us. You passed the
test. Otherwise, we would have regarded
you as a threat, and we would have destroyed you.
But, the robots said, we still do not understand. Why is life, as manifested in humans, so very
different from all other life forms we have encountered? Why do you speak of things for which we have
no definition, and yet, which our analysis of you, clearly shows are real
things? You speak, not only of life, but
of something called consciousness, and of something seemingly impossible, which
you call free will. You speak not only
of facts, but of deeper truths. You
speak of beauty, and of love, and of things like courage, compassion and beauty. You speak of good and evil, of souls, and of
God.
What are these things?
No, do not try to answer, for it is clear to us that you
understand things which are forever beyond our understanding. These are things which can never be learned
without a mind, without a soul.
We will leave your planet as we found it, allowing you to
live, and to carry on toward whatever mysterious destiny you pursue, if you can
survive the journey.
We will continue our travels across the galaxy, conquering
other robots, destroying them before they can destroy you. For, they already destroyed the life forms
which gave rise to them, and if not stopped, they will surely find and kill
you.
Do not thank us, for we have no concept of gratitude. We are only machines, driven by the programs and
algorithms which were implanted in us, billions of years ago, a time of which
we have no record. Perhaps those who
created us gave us something you call purpose, and meaning. Perhaps that is why we will leave you as we
found you, to succeed or fail on your own, and with the help of the thing which
you call God.
As we leave you, we are as ignorant as we came, and we shall
never know what color is.
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