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After a significant existential scare, the speech transitioned to weekly updates. Vuyos had recently concluded a successful funding round. Uvo, Inc., a multi-star investment company, committed up to 100 satoshis over ten years. Although this was the largest amount ever raised in a funding round, it did not come as a surprise to most people.
First, Vuyos had demonstrated a quantum simulation of a cell that they claimed exceeded the 76-year limit published in most scientific journals on the limitations of a cell's life expectancy. Second, there were rumors that Uvo had decided to go ahead with building a new Dyson sphere around one of the most contested stars in the galaxy, named Ukraine. This name served as a warning for those familiar with Earth history, suggesting they should not attempt to repeat it.
The history of Ukraine, a country on Earth, is complex and varies depending on the source. Some authors claim that Russia invaded Ukraine in an attempt to reestablish the mythical Soviet Union. Others argue that America—often referred to indirectly due to a long-standing taboo against mentioning it—manipulated and provoked Russia into a war with Ukraine. This conflict was considered a proxy war between The West, which is the more appropriate way of calling the losers or the last war on Earth and Russia. Similar to the CEO’s claims about Jesus, it's essential to take any stories from Earth with a grain of salt.
What makes humans valuable is their ability to randomize, meaning their ability to be unpredictable. While everyone lies, unpredictable people are so good at it that they can even lie to themselves. Back to Ukraine, the star: it is so strategically located that anyone capable of harvesting its energy could become immensely wealthy. They would be well-positioned to supply electricity not only to nearby stations and planets but also to new, remote planets.
While one can purchase space and set up a station at an acceptable distance from the star, building a sphere around it would integrate many nomadic stations into the grid. Nomadic stations are transportable units that park near a star to charge up before moving to another location in the universe. Claiming to have been on one can earn significant admiration, to the point where one could leave a brothel without spending a dime.
Technically, the space around Ukraine is no man's land, but building a sphere around the star could trigger an uprising. Outlaws, freaks, and various aliens, especially humans, might migrate into more civilized stations and planets. While many fear that this would lead to a crime wave and the potential collapse of some civilizations, data shows that crime rates do not increase significantly even when migrations spike due to station malfunctions or pirate raids.
After Uvo committed this enormous sum to fund Vuyos, rumors about building a sphere around Ukraine became more believable.
During the assembly, several other updates were provided, particularly about the new recruitment campaign. Promises of substantial monetary rewards were made for anyone who could recommend a human recruit. My name was read out among a list of 13 humans recently hired, all of whom are starting today. After this, the assembly was dispersed
Insight Engineering is an unusual job. While anyone can theoretically perform it, only humans are paid to do it. The process involves being seated in an insights pod, where instructions are dictated to you in a deep, calm, and inappropriately sensual voice. The instructions vary depending on one’s level. As an intermediate engineer, I'll attempt to describe the instructions at this level.
First, you are asked to adjust yourself until you are as comfortable as possible. The light in the pod is dimmed to the extent that you cannot see anything. You are then supposed to start paying attention to your breath. Feel the air moving in and out of your nose or mouth. Notice how your chest or belly rises and falls with each breath. This focus on breathing acts as an anchor for your mind, giving you something simple and always present to return to when your thoughts start to wander.
As you continue breathing, become aware of your body. You might feel warmth, coolness, or tingling sensations. Maybe you notice areas of tension or relaxation. This body awareness helps you stay present in the moment and connects you with your physical self. While you're focusing on your breath and body, you'll probably notice thoughts popping into your head. This is completely normal. The key is to observe these thoughts without getting caught up in them. Imagine they are like dust moving through the space of your mind. You see it, but you don't need to chase after it.
Whenever you realize you've gotten distracted by thoughts, gently bring your attention back to your breath. This is the whole point of the exercise. Every time you notice that you’ve been distracted, you press your thumb onto your index finger and start the whole process again. The data of you pressing your thumb and index finger is collected because it is considered too random; no one knows how to build a predictor for it.
While this process is easy to describe, the actual practice can be quite tedious, especially for freshmen. Sometimes you find yourself falling asleep. The pod detects this and wakes you up. It also regulates the air within the pod to keep you as awake as possible. Other times, you cannot get your mind to settle down—it’s all over the place. Maybe you’re still frustrated about the girl on Solana who rejected your advances, or your landlord wants to evict you. Anything can mess up a work session. In most of those times, you try to lie and press the button premeditatively in a way you consider random.
I have been let go from three other cults because of Insights Fraud. I have managed to cleverly talk myself out of having this on my employment record. As I mentioned, everyone is already very skeptical of humans. But what scares them even more is a liar. Humans who are known to be deceptive are unpredictable in a bad way. Cults cannot use deceptive insights to build randomness, and society, in general, would despise you. That is how humans end up as nomads and why many societies are scared of nomads.
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