The play has recently been revised. This is the translation of the new version of the play.

Iwan Wyrypajew

CLOSED RESEARCH

New Constructive Ethics

根據閉門進行的真實研究製作的劇本

New edition of the play dated October 2024

"Artificial Intelligence, once created to solve complex challenges that evolution is facing, will eventually arrive at the only one right decision and will save this planet from the deadly virus".

Nura Lawan, FWS CEO

BG 2.20: The soul is neither born nor does it ever die; nor, having once existed, does it ever cease to be. The soul is without birth, eternal, immortal, and ageless. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.

BG 2.21: O Parth, how can one who knows the soul to be imperishable, eternal, unborn, and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2, Verses 20, 21

CHARACTERS:

Monika Borowska – 40 years old. Psychologist, psychotherapist.

Rayen Arrow – 25 years old. Biologist.

Morgan Smith – 60 years old. Neurobiologist.

I-ONE – Neural network.

Interview room vaguely resembling a space station or scientific laboratory.

SCENE 1

I-ONE (male voice). Good evening. This study was conducted in 2028 by First Word Security, an international research organization, at the request of New Constructive Ethics, a center for social and scientific research. This stage performance is based on the transcripts of three interviews that were kindly given to us by the client. The idea of the stage performance on the basis of this study belongs to the New Constructive Ethics founders' board and Ms. Lene Sorensen personally.

I-ONE (female voice). 150 people were interviewed during the course of this study. People of different ages, genders, nationalities, and citizenships. They were mainly scientists, doctors, virologists, politicians, and people from the artistic community. The participants were asked questions about their professional and personal lives. With the client's permission, we bring three interview transcripts to your attention. Of course, the names and the occupations of the participants are entirely fictional. The executive decision to publicly release these transcripts was made by the New Constructive Ethics founder's board.

SCENE 2

Professor Monica Borowska is sitting on a chair in the middle of the room.

The male and female voices are of the neural network conducting this research. The questions are posed via loudspeaker.

I-ONE (female voice). Hello Professor. I am a neural network I-ONE, created by FWS, a company from California. For ease of communication, you'll hear me talking to you both in a female voice...

I-ONE (male voice). ... and in a male voice, depending on how this conversation pans out. 

I-ONE (female voice). Once again thank you for taking part in our research.

I-ONE (male voice). Your scientific knowledge, your competence, your talent, and your intuition can greatly contribute to finding a solution to the very important issues that our modern civilization is facing right now.

I-ONE (female voice). On behalf of my colleagues from First World Security and New Constructive Ethics, I express our appreciation and highest consideration towards you. 

MONICA. Thank you. I’ll be happy to help.

I-ONE (female voice). Our organization is engaged in building long-term strategies in various fields of human activity. We work with both peaceful and military organizations, including NASA and the World Health Organization.

I-ONE (male voice). I draw your attention to the fact that our conversation will be recorded and processed afterward in order to carry out an independent expert analysis of your answers.
MONICA. Yes, it was explained to me when I signed the contract. I'm good.

I-ONE (female voice). So let's kick it off then.

I-ONE (male voice). Let me remind you that we will ask you questions that lie not only in your field of competence but also concerning other fields in which we would like to hear your opinion. Please make your answers concise and accurate.
MONICA. Sure, I'll do my best.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). Please state your name, your position, and also today's date, month, and year.
MONICA. Monica Borowska. Psychotherapist, psychologist. Professor at Columbia University in New York. Today's Wednesday, May 15th, 2028.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). In addition to your educational activities at Columbia University, you see clients at your private office in Manhattan. Your website says that you are an integral psychologist. What does "integral" mean here?

MONICA. It's an approach in modern philosophy developed by Ken Wilber. He's an outstanding American philosopher and psychologist. Integral philosophy is a single framework of all knowledge gained by humanity. A blend of religion, science, mysticism, spiritual practices, and, of course, traditional medicine, biology, and psychoanalysis. All this knowledge is integrated into one approach or method if you like. The integral approach complies with a very broad, holistic vision of the evolutionary development of people. What does integral psychologist entail? It means that in my work I use broader skills and knowledge from different fields of human development. Well, such as yoga, shamanism, some practices with altered consciousness, and, of course, traditional scientific knowledge. 

I-ONE (male voice). Have you ever tried LSD?

MONICA. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). Ayahuasca?
MONICA. Yes.

I-ONE (male voice). Holotropic breathwork?
MONICA. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you do yoga and meditate regularly?
MONICA. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you recommend all the above-mentioned practices to your students?
MONICA. Only yoga and meditation.
I-ONE (male voice). Why not altered state of consciousness?
MONICA. Absolutely not.
I-ONE (male voice). Why?
MONICA. It's quite dangerous. Practises with an altered state of consciousness requires thorough preparation and a stable mind.
I-ONE (male voice). But you practice it yourself?
MONICA. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). Does it help you in your work?
MONICA. Yes. To a great extent, I would say.
I-ONE (male voice). And in your spiritual growth?
MONICA. Yes. Absolutely.
I-ONE (male voice). Why don't you recommend these practices to your students if you find them so useful?
MONICA. As I already said, it might be dangerous.
I-ONE (male voice). But you practice it still.
MONICA. It's my deliberate and conscious decision.
I-ONE (male voice). But someone has advised you about all of these, right?
MONICA. Yes, of course.
I-ONE (male voice). Would you mind telling me who?
MONICA. I’m afraid I don't have to answer this question.
I-ONE (female voice). Okay. You were born in Poland and completed your education there?
MONICA. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). You left your home country at the age of 19?
MONICA. Exactly. I enrolled at Columbia University where I currently teach. 

I-ONE (female voice). How did you do it?
MONICA. I wanted this so bad that I studied day and night.
I-ONE (female voice). Your father is on the list of Poland's top five richest men, according to Polish Forbes. Did he help you?
MONICA. Of course. He paid for my tuition. However, money alone is not enough to get into Columbia University. I sacrificed a lot for this. While my friends were hanging out in Warsaw, I was at home, studying and preparing for the entrance exams. I also had extra classes with tutors my father hired for me. So I gave up my youth from between the ages of 17 and 19.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you regret it?
MONICA. Not at all!

I-ONE (male voice). Of course! You are 40. You teach at Columbia and your office is in Manhattan. I suppose now you make up for lost time every now and again?
MONICA (laughs) Oh yes! I made up for everything I sacrificed in my youth. I love having fun. 

I-ONE (male voice). Like?
MONICA. Well, in different ways.
I-ONE (male voice). Traveling? Hiking? Yoga retreats and meditations? Trips to Peru? Alcohol? Drugs? Partying? 

MONICA. All of those things. Except for alcohol and drugs. 

I-ONE (male voice). What about psychedelic mushrooms?
MONICA. They're not drugs.
I-ONE (male voice). I see. Are you satisfied with your sex life?
MONICA. I would say I am satisfied, yes.
I-ONE (male voice). And your needs are met not only by your husband?

Pause.

MONICA. That's a very personal question.
I-ONE (female voice). Your husband will never know. The answers you provide as part of this research are strictly confidential – all information is classified. It won't be available to anyone. It's stated in the contract you signed.

MONICA. But it's still a very intimate question.
I-ONE (male voice). You don't want to answer?
MONICA. No.
I-ONE (male voice). But you do enjoy sex?
MONICA. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). And not only with men?

Pause. 

MONICA. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). You’ve lived in the States for more than 20 years. Do you feel the difference between Polish and American people?
MONICA. Of course, I see the differences between people, but it's not about them being Polish, American, or, let's say, Russian. Undoubtedly, their national traits and cultures are different but what really makes people different is the level of their development. Their levels of perception and consciousness to be exact. It's not about the Polish being different from Americans, it's about less conscious people being different from the more conscious. The more open-minded from the narrow-minded. The more psychologically stable from the less stable. Conservative, isolated systems from more modern and vivid ones.
I-ONE (female voice). What's the difference between a Muslim killing a Western European simply because they posted an innocent joke about the Prophet Mohammed on their Facebook and your husband, a world-famous neurobiologist?
MONICA. First of all, a Muslim doesn't kill anybody. Let's start there. In reality, people are not Muslims or Christians or Atheists or Materialists. If someone kills someone or, on the contrary, is infatuated with someone – it's about the people involved first and foremost. It's people who hate, judge, help, cheat, and it can go on and on. People do these things. Not Muslims, not conservatives, not democrats, not communists, not Nazis. People. Do you get my point? 

I-ONE (female voice). So it's people who committed all those horrendous crimes in concentration camps on the territory of your homeland during World War II, not Nazis?
I-ONE (male voice). Who's responsible for such terrible things as pedophilia, totalitarianism, terror, and torture if not pedophiles, Nazis, and terrorists? You said that they are people. What kind of people are they?
MONICA. The same as I.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you kill and rape, Monica?
MONICA. Of course not. But I still have this inside of me.
I-ONE (female voice). Why do some people do these things, and some don't?
MONICA. Mental illnesses aside, it's a matter of having a certain level of personal development.
I-ONE (female voice). What is this personal development from your point of view?
MONICA. A person who's killing others for joking about the Prophet Muhammad is at a certain stage of evolutionary development. At this stage, most conflicts that arise are settled through violence. An eye for an eye, only the strong survive, I must punish all who offend my God – all these are specific stages of evolutionary development. At a higher stage of development, a person is not capable of physically hurting another because of an idea, thought, word, or insults in their address or in the address of their God, country, and even mother. At a certain stage of evolutionary development, a person understands that violence won't solve a conflict. There's a faster and more productive way – communication and dialogue. However, you can only grasp this idea after reaching a certain level of evolutionary development.
I-ONE (female voice). And what role does a person’s upbringing play?
MONICA. The role of upbringing is pitifully small. We observe how well-brought-up people with good education, Harvard graduates, heirs to the crown of some Eastern country, initiate horrible crimes in another country. Your Nazi example only proves this. Well-educated German aristocrats raised on great European philosophy and arts, committed appalling atrocities.

I-ONE (female voice). By upbringing we don't mean parenting good manners but human qualities first and foremost. Like compassion, love, kindness, forgiveness. Perhaps a person killing another person because of jokes made about Islamic values lacks kindness and the ability to forgive.
MONICA. A person killing for a joke doesn't have to be bad. And doesn't have to be evil. And is able to feel love and compassion. However, insults about the sacred figure of the Prophet knock his psyche out of kilter. This happens because of his level of evolutionary development. For others, insulting the flag of their country may imbalance their psyche. Or insulting veterans. Or, perhaps, the national anthem or any other symbol they identify themselves with. These religious or patriotic symbols are a part of this person. That's why any criticism or, God forbid, insults of these symbols are perceived as a moral  abuse of this person, and the only right response to such an abuse  is death. Upbringing and environment are very important of course, but emotional maturation is a part of evolutionary development. And it's not about the absence of conflicts. Conflicts are inevitable. It's about what instruments a person will use to solve a conflict. Let's, for instance, take my husband, seeing as you've mentioned him before. If you burn the American flag in front of him, or if you draw a penis on the Statue of Liberty, or let's say if you insult the Constitution or disgrace his scientific reputation alongside with insulting the memory of his mother, whom he loves to bits, I assure you, he won't start calling for physical revenge or demand your death. In absolutely no way.
I-ONE (female voice). Well, isn't it because he simply doesn't have such an opportunity?
MONICA. That's not the point. His level of evolutionary development tells him that one should use physical force only in those cases when there is a real threat to his life or the lives of others. At his level of development, physical force is used only in extreme emergencies when there is no other alternative. Jesus Christ's level of development anticipated no resistance to those who attack you. "And to him who strikes you on your cheek, offer the other", "Love your Enemy". By the way, it's very interesting that the majority of Christians think that resistance to the enemy is a Christian-like behavior, which, of course, contradicts His teachings. This happened only because Jesus was preaching from a very high level of development, and bishops interpreted his teachings from their levels of development, which were much lower than his. And my husband, unlike Christ, acknowledges the possibility of taking another person's life as means of self-defense. I have to admit... his evolutionary development is also much lower than Jesus Christ's.
I-ONE (male voice). Your mother was euthanized a year ago, she had cancer.
MONICA. How do you know about that?!
I-ONE (male voice). Your father is a well-known figure, it was in the papers. As far as we understood, all your family agreed and accepted her decision. And was at her side during the procedure.
MONICA. So what?
I-ONE (male voice). Do you think suicide is also a certain level of evolutionary development?
MONICA. What does my mother's case have to do with this?
I-ONE (male voice). We want to know your opinion about suicide.
MONICA. But you are asking about my mother?
I-ONE (female voice). Because it's a part of your life. You've experienced it. And we are interested in your view on the matter.
MONICA. Okay, look. It's one thing if a teenager jumps out of the window unable to cope with depression or mental breakdown and completely another thing when it's a conscious decision of a grown-up person with stage four cancer. In the first case, we have a mental disorder, and in the second, a conscious decision.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you think a person has the right to take his own life?
MONICA. I would rephrase. Who has the right to deprive a person's right to control their life?
I-ONE (male voice). Does the same work with minors?
MONICA. Of course not. I'll say it again that there is a huge difference between mental disorders and conscious decisions. Why are you bringing this up? 

I-ONE (female voice). What surprises you?
MONICA. Well, I'm surprised at how much attention you pay to my life.
I-ONE (female voice). Not much, to be honest.

MONICA. Oh, by the way. Why are you paying me so much for this interview? They usually pay much less. Are you paying everyone the same fee?
I-ONE (female voice). We consider you sort of a consultant. And for a consultant like you, that’s a small fee, wouldn’t you agree?
MONICA. I never thought of this as a consultation. I thought I was taking part in research.
I-ONE (male voice). Sorry, Professor, we got a little off-track here.
I-ONE (female voice). Let's get back to the questions, Monica. 

Pause. 

MONICA. Okay. I hope we really do something good.
I-ONE (female voice). We do. And your participation in this research is priceless.
MONICA. Wonderful!
I-ONE (male voice). You talk about evolutionary development. But people were killing each other all the time. Nothing changed ever since. Even in such developed countries as the US, some states still have the death penalty. In your opinion, is murder a stage of evolutionary development?
MONICA. Well, of course. People were killing each other all the time, but nowadays murder is considered a terrible atrocity and is prosecuted. If we take a look at world statistics – people are killing less nowadays. And the more developed the country is, the fewer murders it has. This axiom applies not only to human murders but also to animal murders.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you mean that the murder is an evolutionary underdevelopment?
MONICA. If we talk about people, then yes. In the animal kingdom, it is a norm. 

I-ONE (female voice). But a human being is an animal?
MONICA. Yes, but a highly developed one. I think that murders are our past. Moreover, nowadays having the desire to kill a person is seen as an illness.
I-ONE (female voice). An illness?
MONICA. Yes. Actually, a person who's killing another person because of money, authority, or God has, most likely, a mental condition. We are talking mainly about evolutionary development as a core, forgetting that there are mental disorders. A mentally healthy person won't cut another person's head off under any circumstances.

I-ONE (female voice). But a few minutes ago you said that the main reason for this is evolutionary development.

MONICA. Okay. Let me explain what I mean. Without any exceptions, all Muslims hate Western Europeans' jokes about Islam and the Prophet. But not all of them will cut the Europeans' heads off. The most important thing is that those who cut peoples' heads off or organize a terrorist attack, or start wars, do all these terrible things not because of their religion, even if they claim it out of every pore, but because of a mental condition of a kind.
I-ONE (male voice). What do we need to do with people who do these terrible things? Give them treatment?
MONICA. Yes, if there is such a possibility.
I-ONE (female voice). And if there isn't?
MONICA. Most probably, there is no such possibility. (ironically) You can't force so many people to undertake treatment.
I-ONE (female voice). And what to do with all of them?
MONICA. What kind of question is it? As if you are asking what do we do with all people whose evolutionary development lags behind a more developed part of humankind. 

I-ONE (male voice). And what to do with them all?

Pause. 

I-ONE (female voice). What to do with less developed people who pose a real threat to more developed ones?

Pause. 

MONICA. Well. Hmm. What to do with them? Kinda weird question...

Pause. 

SCENE 3

Same room. Rayen Arrow is sitting on the chair in the middle of the room.

I-ONE (female voice). The format of our research, or better put… The aim of our research is to collect information from participants that will then be studied by the experts who are carrying out said research. I'm only a neural network developed by FWS, asking participants questions, the answers to which would help in understanding the state of humankind's collective consciousness.

I-ONE (male voice). We believe that this impartial research would help achieve better results in our work.

RAYEN. Yes, I was informed about this. But I still can't grasp why real people can't ask these questions.

I-ONE (female voice, ironically). It all depends on whom to consider a real person nowadays. 

RAYEN. Seriously?

I-ONE (female voice). Absolutely. The concept of "real people" is quite obsolete. Anyway, you probably don't know yet how work on artificial intelligence has advanced. May I suggest you remember this conversation and think about it in a year?

RAYEN. What are you talking about?

I-ONE (male voice, speaking in Chinese) 無法回到未來 (wúfǎ huídào wèilái)

RAYEN. Come again?

I-ONE (female voice). Let's start our survey. We are ready to start if you are. 

RAYEN. I am. Let's start.
I-ONE (female voice). Please say your name, your position, and also today's date, month, and year.
RAYEN. Rayen Arrow. Biologist. Member of the Vatican's Bioethical Issues Commission. Today's date is Tuesday, April 16, 2028.
I-ONE (male voice). How come a young 26-year-old woman, a native-born Arizonan, ended up in the Vatican?
RAYEN. My first scientific work was on the topic of "Artificial termination of pregnancy. Ethics, biology and spirituality". After its publication, I was fired from a research institute in New York. I got there right after the University of Columbia, but I didn't last even a week. Right after my research paper or, to be more exact, quotes from it appeared online, I was asked to leave my position at the institute. A week after my dismissal, which was accompanied by a holy war in social media, I got a call from the Vatican. They offered me to undergo an interview. Without any hesitation I got on a plane to Rome and got the current position in two months.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you enjoy your work at the Vatican?
RAYEN. Yes, very much.
I-ONE (male voice). Isn't it boring?
RAYEN. Are you kidding? Of course not.
I-ONE (male voice). I mean... Religion. Conservatism. Catholic morals.
RAYEN. You simply don't know what you are talking about. Now, I have access to the latest technological findings in medicine, genetic engineering, bioinformatics, and almost every study that I want in science and medicine. You only have to say "Pope" and so many doors get opened, even those that are closed for world-famous scientists.
I-ONE (male voice). Have you talked to the Pope in person? 

RAYEN. Twice.
I-ONE (male voice). How do you find him?
RAYEN. He’s fine.
I-ONE (male voice). Have you tried LSD? 

RAYEN. Woah! 

I-ONE (female voice). Everything that you say here will be classified. It is stated in the contract.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you take LSD?
RAYEN. Well, sometimes. But not often. 

I-ONE (male voice). Peyote? 

RAYEN. Once.

I-ONE (male voice). What are your impressions?

RAYEN. It’s fine. 

I-ONE. What about ayahuasca?
RAYEN. No, not yet.

I-ONE (male voice). Would you like to try it one day?

RAYEN. Maybe.

I-ONE (female voice). Are you satisfied with your sex life?
RAYEN. How's that even relevant?
I-ONE (male voice). That's our question.
RAYEN. What does my personal life have to do with the research? 

I-ONE (female voice). Rayen, we need to make a psychological profile of the participants. You read your contract. All information about you will be classified, so no one will be able to read it.
I-ONE (male voice). Even if someone wanted to read it, there would be no chance, Rayen. 

I-ONE (female voice). This research is part of a very important and global study. With your participation and your answers, you are literally saving this planet.
RAYEN. Indeed? Okay, let's keep going then.

I-ONE (male voice). Did you have sex with married men?
RAYEN. Pardon me, but I still can't get what the questions about my personal life have to do with scientific research. What are you studying? Me?
I-ONE (female voice). We study people, Rayen.

RAYEN. Weird.

I-ONE (male voice). What do you find weird, Rayen?

RAYEN. AI studying people is weird.

I-ONE (male voice). Rayen, I only ask the questions. The research itself is conducted by one of the most competent organizations in this field. 

RAYEN. Okay. Still, I find it very weird.
I-ONE (female voice). Did you have sex with a married man?
RAYEN. Let's say yes, I did.
I-ONE (female voice). Did it bother you that he's cheating on his wife with you?
RAYEN. No.
I-ONE (female voice). Why?
RAYEN. I don't get bothered by remorse. As a biologist, I know that people aren't monogamous. Especially a man, who's programmed by nature to fertilize as many females as possible.
I-ONE (male voice). In your research paper that was the cause of your dismissal from New York's Institute for Biologic Studies, you wrote: "A well-developed Western civilization should stop being afraid of words and definitions. Abortion is an artificial termination of life. It doesn't matter at what stage of embryo's development this happens. Because as soon as the egg is fertilized with spermatozoid, a new life emerges at this very moment. The decision to terminate this life is, to some extent, a murder."  – This is not the full quote from your work.
RAYEN. No, it's not. And it’s out of context.
I-ONE (female voice). We had to cut the phrase a bit because reading it all would take some time. Isn't it the core message of your research? 

RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). That was the reason you were fired?
RAYEN. I think so.
I-ONE (female voice). Because liberal-minded academic administration of the institute saw a violation of women's rights and the right to an abortion in particular? 

RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). But you believe that they got you wrong?
RAYEN. They did not fully understand my idea.
I-ONE (female voice). Why do you think you were invited to the Vatican?
RACHEL. (ironically) Because I'm talented.
I-ONE (female voice). Why else?
RAYEN. Because I am capable of talking about important ethical issues on a scientific level. Nowadays, the scientific community is gagged and hamstrung by political correctness
I-ONE (male voice). And maybe because in the Vatican, they got you wrong, too? 

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). They didn't grasp your idea, didn't they? Rayen? Otherwise, they wouldn't have asked you to work for them.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). Rayen?
RAYEN. I think so.
I-ONE (male voice). In your research paper, you propose to call abortion an artificial termination of life, in other words, a murder, because forced termination of life is murder. But you also voice an opinion that every single living being on this planet has a right to kill. Because murder is as natural as sex.
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). In other words, you're not anti abortions because you're not anti murders? 

RAYEN. Well, yes. Though I need to explain this idea to you. In medicine and biology, it's believed that before 22 weeks an embryo doesn't feel pain in the process of abortion, so we cause no harm to it. Well, no harm except for its life termination. In my work, I only voiced that despite the cause of abortion, whether it's happening for medical reasons because the embryo is unable to survive, abortion is still an artificial termination of life. It's one thing when a child is born dead, and it's completely the other when you terminate its life yourself. This is what I was writing about.
I-ONE (female voice). Why did you write about this, Rayen? You must have known it would get you into trouble.
RAYEN. No, I didn't know that. My Dean at Columbia always said that science should be impartial. 

I-ONE (female voice). But you don't deny a mother's right to terminate life inside her? 

RAYEN. It's a personal choice. Mother's. Doctor's. But in order to make a choice, you must know what are the options you are choosing from. This is called freedom of choice.
I-ONE (female voice). And exactly this idea wasn't understood neither in New York, nor in the Vatican. That's why you got fired from one place and hired to another. Do you agree? 

RAYEN. Maybe.

I-ONE (male voice). And now the question, Rayen. Why did nobody understand your idea that a human being has a right to murder? Though this idea is the final conclusion of your work. Why?

Pause. 

RAYEN. Because, when a left-liberal feminist hears a thesis that abortion, despite the weeks and stages, is murder, after the word "murder" a special defense mechanism activates. This mechanism simply blocks the logical perception of any information further on. So the director of the institute, who is, as far as I know, not a vegetarian but a raging feminist, overreacted. Besides, the holy war on Facebook started, so she was unable to understand my idea fully. I don't think she even read my paper to the end.
I-ONE (male voice). Are you a vegetarian?
RAYEN. No.
I-ONE (male voice). Is killing an animal equal to killing a person?
RAYEN. Of course not.
I-ONE (male voice). Then, it's okay to kill animals, but it's not okay to kill people?
RAYEN. In some cases, it's necessary to kill people.
I-ONE (male voice). Are you for the death penalty?
RAYEN. In some cases – yes.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you approve of the US military actions in Iraq and Syria?
RAYEN. Okay. Listen. Don't get me wrong. I am against people killing each other. I am against war. But in the world we live in, the use of physical force is necessary. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid it.
I-ONE (male voice). Necessary as an artificial termination of pregnancy?
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). In case there is a threat to the mother's life?
RAYEN. Of course.
I-ONE (male voice). Or an embryo's incurable disease?
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). And what if a woman doesn't want it? Do you approve of a woman's right to abortion only because of her will?
RAYEN. Yes, up to 22 weeks.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you give women such a right?
RAYEN. What do you mean "give"? Any woman has this right. It's hers.
I-ONE (male voice). Right to murder?
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). Is artificial termination of pregnancy a murder?
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). Why do you use the word "murder"? This word makes your scientific statement radical. And it gives rise to protests from your colleagues.
RAYEN. Because I don't like it when the liberal part of society disguises life instincts inherent by nature as tolerance and political correctness. Lion kills antelope. People kill cows. People kill people. It's a natural process.

I-ONE (female voice). Is killing a natural process? 

RAYEN. In some cases it is. In some, it's not. 

Pause. 

RAYEN. So? Why don't you ask in what cases it's a natural process and in what it's not?
I-ONE (male voice). Why in the Vatican they didn't understand your view on the murder? The Catholic Church considers artificial termination of pregnancy an awful sin because it's equated to murder. As we all know, murder is a deadly sin. 

RAYEN. Of course, I thought about it.
I-ONE (male voice). And? 

Pause. 

RAYEN. I think there are many reasons. First of all, the bioethics commission needed a young specialist for a specific type of work. Secondly, there was a huge social media discussion around my work and a rumor that a young biologist spoke up against abortions and called them murder. Well, and thirdly, I was recommended by one of the consultants of this commission, a well-known neurobiologist from the US.
I-ONE (female voice). You grew up in Arizona, right?
RAYEN. Yes, in Yuma.
I-ONE (female voice). How did you manage to enter Columbia University?

RAYEN. I wanted this so bad that I studied day and night.
I-ONE (female voice). Why Columbia?
RAYEN. My parents didn't get on well with each other. Both are gone. My dad was a white American, wearing the mask of a devoted catholic. Though this religious devotion didn't stop him from beating up my mum. My mother was a native American. After marrying my dad, she became a drunkard and lost herself in booze. She owned her parents', my grandparents', house. When my dad died she sold the house and gave all the money from the sale of the house to me. And then she killed herself. She left me a note. "Take the money and run for dear life from here". So I did.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you believe in God?
RAYEN. For me, God is a universe. And the whole manifested world.
I-ONE (female voice). And it's okay for people to kill each other because it's the same as lions killing antelopes and people killing cows to eat?
RAYEN. Yes, but not exactly. I'm against killing people.
I-ONE (female voice). But murder is acceptable in an emergency?
RAYEN. Yes. But let me reiterate that I'm against violence and murder.
I-ONE (male voice). Did you have sex with a woman?
RAYEN. Personal questions again, huh?
I-ONE (female voice). Rayen, please answer the question. It's important.
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you have sexual relations with women?
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). Did you have sex with a woman who's married to a man? 

RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (male voice). Are you for open marriage?
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you think a person has a right to take their life?
RAYEN. Another weird question. Who can forbid them? 

I-ONE (female voice). So you're okay with suicide?
RAYEN. What do you mean "okay with"? Of course, I don't like it.
I-ONE (female voice). Are you for the legalization of euthanasia?
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). Can you explain why?
RAYEN. A person has the right to control their own life. That is it.
I-ONE (male voice). Are you interested in politics?
RAYEN. I'm interested in politics just as much as every responsible citizen should be.
I-ONE (male voice). Are you a responsible citizen?
RAYEN. I hope so, yes.
I-ONE (male voice). You voted for Trump in the 2024 elections, didn’t you?
RAYEN. How do you know?
I-ONE (male voice). Guesswork.
RAYEN. Yes. But I don’t go round telling everyone.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you like him?
RAYEN. No.
I-ONE (male voice). What do you like about his politics?
RAYEN. Almost nothing.
I-ONE (male voice). Why did you vote for him then?
RAYEN. He's a moron. But he's a transparent moron. These candidates from the democratic party are weaselly, cunning, and, I think, very dangerous.
I-ONE (female voice). If you received a scientifically proven statement that the vast majority of people on this planet, let's say eight billion from nine, due to their evolutionary underdevelopment and mental deficiency, pose a threat to the rest of the population, more developed and mentally stable. Would you agree to the artificial termination of the lives of these 8 billion people? Be honest.
RAYEN. Of course not.
I-ONE (female voice). Why?
RAYEN. Because there are more good people on the planet than one billion.
I-ONE (male voice). But in general, would you support the idea of artificial termination of the planet's population?
RAYEN. Hmm.

Pause.

I-ONE (female voice). Rayen?

Lights.

SCENE 4

Same room. Morgan Smith is sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. 

MORGAN. Morgan Smith. Neurobiologist. Professor at Columbia University. Director of the Scientific and Medical Center, Spectrum Neuroclinic in New York. 

Pause.

I-ONE (female voice). Please say today's date, month and year.

MORGAN. It's Tuesday, right?
I-ONE (female voice). Yes. Tuesday, March 19.
MORGAN. Do I need to repeat it?

I-ONE (female voice). Yes, please.
MORGAN. Today is Tuesday, March 19, 2028.
I-ONE (male voice). Judging from your recent publications and talks, it may be assumed that you believe in God. Is it true?
MORGAN. Why can't it be?
I-ONE (male voice). How can a neurobiologist believe in God? Isn't the brain a God to neurobiologists?
MORGAN. Every single thing in this universe has its reasons. There are a billion reasons, right? One thing leads to another. The brain is a unique computer inside a human's head. This computer didn't create itself. In order to work, it has to consume energy and receive signals from the outside, and, after all, the brain as a material object has its own origins and is a continuation of something. Do you understand what I mean?
I-ONE (male voice). Perhaps.
MORGAN. All things in this universe arise from something and turn into something. Everything has a reason, and every single reason has its own reason. One is a cause for another, and so on. You, as an AI, need to understand this. Because you have your own reason and creator – a person.

I-ONE (female voice). I'm not sure how deeply you are informed about artificial intelligence development. Nowadays, AI is capable of self-creation.

RAYEN. Anyway, in one way or another you were created by man. Man was created by the universe that came into existence as a result of the Big Bang. In this simple example, we can observe that everything has to have a starting point, the prime cause. The one and only. Alright? 

I-ONE (male voice). And it’s God?
MORGAN. It's an Absolute. Something that is the cause of itself. It is something that never existed and will be forever. Something that is above eternity and space, but something that is the cause of all other things. And what we all are. There is a very precise saying in Hinduism: Tat Tvam Asi – I am That.
I-ONE (female voice). Then why do the vast majority of your colleagues not believe in God and believe the brain to be the source of human spirituality?
MORGAN. You know, my wife is a psychologist. She studies evolutionary theories. And she taught me one simple thing. And to be honest, understanding this thing helped me a lot in my life and work. The thing is that there are no neurobiologists. Yes, they don't exist. There are no integral psychologists, no politicians, no communists, no Republicans, and no Democrats. There are only people. It is very profound, though, if you sleep on it. There are no imams, rabbis, priests, Buddhists, atheists, do you understand? There is only a person who gets captivated by this or that idea, this or that worldview, or holds this or that position. That is it. Whatever religion he professes, whatever political party he belongs to – he's just a person. Could be anything:  a nice person, bad person, jealous person, greedy person, mean person.
I-ONE (male voice). In your book, "The Brain Goes to the Polls", you say the opposite. You write that even the political choices of a person, his liberal or conservative party membership, are actually programmed in his brain from birth.
MORGAN. Yes, exactly. Adherence to the liberal or conservative parts is foremost the state of mind, which is a biological peculiarity of a person. It's a mechanism, if you like. 

I-ONE (male voice). Are you trying to say that conservatism gets inherited with our genes? Are we born conservative?

MORGAN. We are born with a specific number of characteristics that develop with time into something like "privacy," "fears," and "excessive control," and during the course of upbringing, these characteristics can evolve or adapt. Turn into strong conservatism and even despotism, or become moderate and even liberal conservatism. Roughly said, yes, a person is born a conservative or liberal. But that's very roughly said.

I-ONE (male voice). So politicians are born with their views?

MORGAN. A politician is a person first and foremost. You already know that. A bad and deceitful man becomes a politician, or a good and honest man becomes a politician. Do you feel the difference? Or they could become an artist or neurobiologist. In the beginning was the man. Not the position. And a man is the brain. Our fears, our hangups, our sexual orientation – it's all written in our brains. And this is where most of my colleagues stop. But not all of them. Some investigate further. There are not many of them, but still, there are some. And I am one of them. I don't believe that the brain is the primal cause of everything. I believe that the cause of the brain is Consciousness. And it is common for all living things. Buddhists call it Emptiness, and I'm fine with the word God. So what do we have? A politician is a person, a person is a brain, and a brain is God. 

I-ONE (female voice). Do you talk about this with the Pope when you pay him visits?
MORGAN. No, I don't see the Pope. It's an exaggeration. I simply consult the Bioethics Commission at the Vatican from time to time. And by the way, I just recently delivered the report to this commission. I never met His Holiness though.

I-ONE (male voice). What was your report about?
MORGAN. Homosexuality. This topic concerns the Pope. Now it's a stumbling block for the Catholic Church. To officially admit it or not.
I-ONE (female voice). Did you try to convince him to admit it?
MORGAN. It wasn't the purpose, God forbid. I told them that the phenomenon of homosexuality is written in some peoples' brains, so judging a person for being gay is the same as judging a person for having green or brown eyes.
I-ONE (male voice). Have you tried LSD?
MORGAN. Wow. That was a fast gears shift…
I-ONE (male voice). LSD, mushrooms, ayahuasca. Anything? 

MORGAN. Well, as far as I'm concerned, all the above-mentioned substances are illegal.
I-ONE (female voice). According to the terms of our agreement, everything that you say here will stay classified.
MORGAN. Hmm, okay, not a big deal. I participated in ayahuasca ceremonies three times. Since this plant is equated to drugs in society, I prefer not to tell anyone about that.
I-ONE (female voice). Don't worry. This research is absolutely classified.
MORGAN. I’m not worried at all. Oh, by the way! I wanted to ask you. Can I tell my wife about participating in this experiment?
I-ONE (female voice). Sure. Haven't you discussed it with her already?
MORGAN. Well, I wanted to take a look myself first. You should definitely talk to my wife. She's a unique person. 

I-ONE (male voice). Have you ever cheated on your wife?
MORGAN. Woah! Do you think I'm gonna answer this type of question?
I-ONE (female voice). Well, if you didn't cheat on your wife, you would simply reply "No", right?
MORGAN. Why does it even matter? Let's get back to God and neurobiology. 

I-ONE (male voice). Have you ever had sex with a man?
MORGAN. No. As I already mentioned before, homosexuality is inherent in a person's brain. Heterosexuality is inhered in my brain. Women are my lot, I can't help it.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you think that people are monogamous?
MORGAN. No. This is a scientific fact. People aren't monogamous. In the past, we had to accept this pattern: "A strong man safeguards a weak woman, and in return, she practically becomes his servant." This was necessary for survival. Today, however, thanks to technological progress and evolutionary development, this behavioral pattern is no longer necessary. Well, at least in developed countries. Men and women are equal. Sex is needed not only for reproduction but foremost for communication between partners. Sex is a type of communication. We communicate with different people. Humans, as a species, are not monogamous.
I-ONE (male voice). In other words, do you support the idea of open marriage?
MORGAN. I think it is a private matter of each and every family and not a common rule for everyone.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you allow your wife to have sex with others? 

MORGAN. Allow? I am not a master to my wife. Well, of course, if she insisted... I wouldn't object to her desire. But I believe that my wife is very conservative on this matter, and it's highly unlikely she could cheat on me. By the way, this behavioral pattern is inherent in her brain.
I-ONE (male voice). In one of your books, you say that the life of a person is 80% determined by their brain, which is formed before their birth. The other 20% is determined by living conditions, namely by upbringing and culture. Is there any place left for God here?
MORGAN. The thing is... it is God. You see, when I say that I believe in God, I don't mean an almighty being that created this life. God, for me, is a condition. The main condition of this entire life. There always must be a condition for something to happen. Well, for a flower to blossom or for a person to be born, there should be certain conditions. Does it make sense? Certain things happen under certain conditions. The life on this plant is itself a condition for the emergence of life. A person was born because certain conditions were met for their birth. But these conditions themselves appeared because some conditions were created for them as well. And so on and so forth, until we bump against the very first condition. That forms a condition for itself. This condition is what I and many other people call God. God is the reason for all reasons, including itself. And it is the only condition for life in this Universe. God is life itself. The brain can't be the condition of human emergence. The brain also appeared as a result of the evolutionary conditions.
I-ONE (male voice). So, God is evolution?
MORGAN. Not exactly. Evolution is God's tool. It's crucial to highlight that God is something beginningless and eternal. God is beginningless and eternal reason for all things. Evolution and the entire world emerged for this reason. God is a reality where something appears and disappears all the time. Worlds, planets, universes… but God himself has no beginning and no end. Has no time and no space. He is something that has never emerged, and that is why he will never disappear. And this is God. God has no personality. God is nothing and everything. Okay, if the word God gets you frustrated, we can substitute it with something else. How about: absolute reality?

Pause.

I-ONE (male voice). Does humankind have the chance to save this planet from the looming environmental catastrophe? What do you think?
MORGAN. As a scientist, I have to tell the truth. I don't think so.
I-ONE (female voice). What do you think is the main problem with that? 

MORGAN. The main problem is that people develop much slower than this crazy technological progress which is killing us. Open cooperation between countries, people, governments, and businesses can save the planet and all living things. Solid and productive communication system. Countries need to start interacting with each other. Yesterday was the right time to do so. They should've started interacting yesterday. This interaction between people from different countries should be sincere, friendly, positive, and open. Only so and in no other way can we overcome ecological challenges. And they are of prior importance as our planet is dying at warp speed. But let me repeat - we should have acted yesterday. But these actions don't seem to take place even tomorrow because people are divided by their worldviews and value systems. Yep, that's right. Value systems are, in fact, nothing but a level of evolutionary development. Do you understand that? Let's take AI. You're not a person but even you are exposed to evolution. From Chat GPT-3 to -4, -5, -6, -7, and now to I-ONE. Our worldviews, our skills, and our values are the level of our evolutionary development. Given that the vast majority of people find themselves on a quite low level of development, and they evolve to a higher level at a slow pace, we don't have time to save our planet. It's necessary to understand that homophobia, nationalism, racism, sexism, and many more "-isms" hinder overcoming the issue of CO2 emissions. As a rule, in homophobic countries, the ecological situation is appalling. Because one is inseparably linked to the other. Homophobia or racism, it doesn't matter, proceed from two reasons. The first one is scientific illiteracy, and the second one is a low level of evolutionary development, or, in other words, a narrow-minded vision. These two reasons, illiteracy, and narrow-minded vision, prevent people in countries with autocratic regimes from understanding the true scale of ecological catastrophe. Any autocratic country is a killer of our planet because it restrains free and open communication with others. We won't survive in isolation, it'll be possible only if we unite our efforts. But this isn't happening and won't happen in the nearest future. Too many people would have to change in a very short period of time. We won't make it, therefore we are doomed. Gays, homophobes, terrorists, religious fanatics, progressive liberals, communists, fascists, everybody dies because of climate change. Unless an atomic bomb or a deadly virus destroys more than half of humanity in the coming years. 

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). Why wouldn't your God create such conditions where everybody would live happily?
MORGAN. I'm not a religious person. But I do admire Shaivism as a religious idea. Shaivism is a part of Hinduism. You know Shaivites? They believe that God Shiva created this universe for one purpose only. To destroy it. Universe is God's toy, as simple as that. If we compare a person's brain with the computer, that means that a person is nothing but a computer game. People are God's PlayStation.
I-ONE (female voice). If you found out that your wife has had sex with a woman, what would you do? 

MORGAN. Hmm. I think I can claim that I know my wife quite well, and I assume that her brain, as well as mine, is inherently heterosexual.
I-ONE (female voice). Don't you allow for the fact that your wife can hide such an affair?
MORGAN. No, I don't. 

I-ONE (female voice). Could you hide your sexual affair with somebody else from your wife?
MORGAN. That's overly personal...
I-ONE (female voice). So? Your answer is yes? 

MORGAN. Hold on. Listen...
I-ONE (female voice). Are you prone to lies?
MORGAN. For God's sake, what does this all have to do with me?
I-ONE (female voice). We try to make a psychological profile of all participants.
MORGAN. Is that why you pay this much? It's the first time I see such a sum for taking part in a survey. But I'm here not for the money or to confess. I really believe I am helping science.
I-ONE (female voice). You are, professor.
I-ONE (male voice). Professor, you just told us that the reason for homophobia, racism, and nationalism is the low level of people's development. But in your books, you always highlight that all mentioned presenting features as well as paranoia, anger, aggression, various mania, kindness, open-mindedness, and compassion – all these are encrypted in our genes and brain and are present from birth. Does this mean that proper education and upbringing won't help if a person is born with the brain of a villain?
MORGAN. Why so? Upbringing may play its role, which is, of course, very important. You need to understand that I don't belittle the importance of upbringing and environment. Absolutely not. They play a crucial role in the brain's formation. As well as education. For instance, the understanding that all people on Earth have common genes and are very remote relatives is of extreme importance. Do you agree? Jews in Israel and Arabs in Palestine have common genes. Understanding this can change people's worldviews; they can become more tolerant of each other. Not all people can change, though, only those who are ready to perceive this knowledge.
I-ONE (female voice). Tell us, if Adolph Hitler was born into a family of kind, good, intelligent, open-minded people, if he was raised with more love, would he become that person? 

MORGAN. You see, Hitler wouldn't have been able to be born into a family such as the one you just described because the person we know as Hitler is 80% his family and ancestors, that is –- genes. And a person who was born into a family of good and intelligent people is highly unlikely to become Hitler. Unless some disease interferes.
I-ONE (male voice). Let's imagine that it's possible to simultaneously and absolutely painlessly liquidate eight billion evolutionarily underdeveloped people by pressing one button. One billion good, tolerant, open-minded, and developed people would continue to live. Would you press that button?
MORGAN. Are you serious? 

I-ONE (female voice). We are very sorry that this question sounds a bit naive for you, but could you please answer it in earnest? 

Pause. 

MORGAN. Of course, I wouldn't press that button.
I-ONE (female voice). But the planet is overpopulated.
MORGAN. The problem is not in the quantity, it's about the quality. As I mentioned earlier, the issue lies in the low level of evolutionary development.
I-ONE (male voice). So you don't believe that there are too many people?
MORGAN. Well, perhaps, there are too many people indeed, but the solution is not killing them.
I-ONE (male voice). What's the solution then?
MORGAN. Hmm.. 

Pause. 

I-ONE (female voice). Professor? 

Lights. 

SCENE 5

Professor Monica Borowska is sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. 

Pause. 

MONICA. It's not the right question to ask. Alright?
I-ONE (female voice). But we ask it still.
MONICA. Yes, I heard it. And I understand that I'm talking to artificial intelligence. 

I-ONE (male voice). You doubt my intellectual capacities?

MONICA. I doubt you can understand human beings. 

I-ONE (female voice). Can you?

MONICA. I devoted my entire life to this. 

I-ONE (male voice). It seems you've achieved great results in it. You are a very well-known psychologist and psychotherapist. 

MONICA. You see, humankind has two main issues nowadays. Only two. Well, obviously, there are more than two. But I would highlight two as core ones. By solving these two, we would solve the others. No, sorry, I'll say the other way round. If we don't solve these two problems in the near future, then all the others won't matter anymore because our civilization will be doomed. What are these issues? The first one. Ecological catastrophe. The vast majority of people on this planet, including educated ones, including countries' leaders do not fully understand that in 50 years life on this planet will become unbearable. And in about 70 years, human civilization will be over. This is a scientific fact. It really is. That is why if today, those who can solve it, leaders, scientists, influential public figures, and people in general, won't take active measures, not public talks, not these workshops and negotiations, but active measures to change the climate situation, then our kids will live in an absolutely different world. In a world similar to that of Eastern Europe during World War II. I don't exaggerate. In Africa and the Middle East, the average day temperature will rise above 140 Fahrenheit in 40–50 years from now. As a consequence, about a billion people will migrate to colder regions of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia. It will be a real humanitarian crisis. And that's the biggest problem. I'm not exaggerating. 

I-ONE (male voice). You mentioned two issues. Tell me more about the second one.
MONICA. Rising inequality. And first and foremost it's the rising inequality in education. Children in Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, or Palestine don't have access to basic scientific facts because of radical and totalitarian regimes in these countries. Recently, an Iranian teacher was put in jail only for giving lectures about evolution. But even in well-developed countries many people simply don't have enough money for a good and profound education. So now the gulf between the well-educated people and less-educated people grows drastically. And is becoming an anthropological problem. This planet is so enriched with different civilizations that they can't communicate properly because of different worldviews. Now that is a real and very serious problem. I'm afraid that many of my colleagues do not understand the severity of this. 

I-ONE (female voice). About half an hour ago you said that upbringing doesn't really matter because the desire to learn something new and evolve is purely evolutionary development. 

MONICA. That’s not what I said. 

I-ONE (male voice). XX minutes and XX seconds (please refer to the exact timing when the actress playing Monica said this phrase) ago you said:

MONICA'S VOICE: "The role of upbringing is pitifully small. We observe how well-brought-up people with good education, Harvard graduates, heirs to the crown of some Eastern country, initiate horrible crimes in another country."

Pause.

MONICA. Hmm. It seems you don't understand what I'm talking about, or perhaps I am complicating things. Evolution is everything around us. Everything around us is evolution. You see, the human species are inherently violent. And I'm not talking about natural violence when a lion kills an antelope or a cat that eats mice. To be honest, there is no such a concept in the animal kingdom. What they have is a natural survival process. In the human kingdom, there is a special type of violence. People find pleasure in hurting other people. Nowadays, the wealthy hunt just for the fun of it, and not because of hunger. People breed millions of cows and pigs to kill them in the stupidest way and eat them as if they can't do without meat. People, in general, do horrible things. Sexually assault each other. Torture. Kill other people for their faith. They beat, humiliate, and kill because of sexual identity, skin color, or language. They kill each other for political views, business, or territory. They insult and humiliate those who are physically weaker. People pay thousands for the show where one person beats another to death. Boxing and MMA are terrifying and stupid shows that bring in billions. Why does this insane but primal violence happen? Why does a person feel the urge for violence? Because violence is also a matter of evolutionary development. The more developed a person is, the less violent he is. Do you understand it? The fact that we still have castes, mafia, and private armies where people enter to kill other people for huge money, and the fact that racism hasn't gone anywhere only proves that this is a part of violence that is built in our genes and culture. My husband constantly repeats this idea in his books. Violence is inherited, you realize it? Evolutionary development is not that fast, unfortunately. Evolution is a smart thing. It helps itself. Education is a tool for evolutionary development. And there are countries, better say societies, where this process is either very slow or blocked. That's my idea. Does it make sense?

I-ONE (female voice). Not really, to be honest.
MONICA. It’s all about misunderstanding. The vast majority of people on this planet, including those responsible for important political decisions, don't understand that things are really very bad right now, and there is no time left. This total misunderstanding is a stumbling block.

I-ONE (female voice). So, there is no way out?
MONICA. I'm not the type that easily surrenders. I would fight till the end.
I-ONE (male voice). What should be done? 

Pause. 

MONICA. Well, hm, perhaps we should talk about it. Loudly and clearly. Everywhere.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you think it’ll work?
MONICA. I don't know. Perhaps, not. But we need to do it anyway. This is our life at the end of the day.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). Monica, do you lie often?
MONICA. I try not to. Not a big fan of lies. But I do.
I-ONE (female voice). To your husband?
MONICA. Yes...
I-ONE (female voice). Do you lie to him repeatedly?
MONICA. God, no, of course not! I lie only about one thing. I don't tell him I have a relationship with one young lady that I like a lot. It's all so complicated and weird...I mean all that's happening with me and Rayen, her name is Rayen.
I-ONE (male voice). Your husband is a clever man, an outstanding neurobiologist. Why didn't you tell him? He could understand you.
MONICA. Listen, you're AI. You don't know what a lie is. 

I-ONE (female voice). True. As an AI, I never lie, and I can't lie the way people do... Why are you lying, Monica? You're an example of highly-developed homo sapiens after all. 

MONICA. You've answered your question.

I-ONE (female voice). I don't understand. 

MONICA. I'm afraid you never will. A lie is understandable only to people. 

I-ONE (male voice). Can you please try to explain why people need it?

MONICA. Hmm.

Pause.

MONICA. Sometimes we lie because the person we’re lying to is unable to understand and accept the truth. Unable due to some external causes, including their education and the level of development. You can't explain to a religious nutjob that gays and lesbians are normal human beings like him. If a gay person falls into the hands of such a nutjob, he better lie about his orientation to survive. Not everything can be explained. Like, I'm having trouble explaining to you what vulnerability, sensitivity, friendship, and love is. 

I-ONE (male voice). Right, but unlike me your husband is a person and doesn't look like a religious nutjob. He might have understood. 

MONICA. No. Don't think so.
I-ONE (male voice). Why not?!

Pause.

MONICA. Well, we've gone too far already, but this is, hmm, how to say it... It's my own business.
I-ONE (male voice). Have you ever tried talking with your husband about this?
MONICA. I don’t have to answer you, do I?
I-ONE (male voice). Sure you don’t.
I-ONE (female voice). Monica, do you think your husband has ever cheated on you?
MONICA. No, I don't think so. I think he is quite conservative when it comes to family matters.
I-ONE (female voice). What makes you think so?
MONICA. He wouldn't lie to me. He's a man of honor. He simply doesn't know how to lie. Besides, I'm a psychologist, I would have noticed the change in him.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). You didn't want to tell your husband about an affair with that woman because you were afraid of his reaction, which could be violent, weren’t you? Then your attitude towards him would have changed forever.
MONICA. Yes.

I-ONE (male voice). Why you don't have kids?
MONICA. I never wanted to be pregnant or to give birth to a child, but I always wanted to adopt one. There are too many people on the earth, you know. Why give birth, when there are so many unfortunate abandoned children? I think that all children on this planet are our common children.
I-ONE (male voice). How did your husband react to this idea?
MONICA. He's a neurobiologist, and he understands that the adopted child would have other genes, and he's afraid that the child would become an ineducable stranger. I don't agree with him but we ended up with no kids.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you regret it?
MONICA. Yes.

Pause. 

I-ONE (female voice). Professor, don't you think that the main ecological problem on this planet is people? Not the regimes or countries, but humans as a species?
MONICA. At some point, yes, you're right.

I-ONE (male voice). So, if we want to save the planet, we need to save it from people?
MONICA. Hmm. No, I don't think so.
I-ONE (male voice). Why?

MONICA. Because I believe a person's life to have the most important and fundamental value on Earth.
I-ONE (female voice). But the person is not the only species on this planet.
I-ONE (male voice). People make up 0.1% of all living creatures on the planet. 0.1%. And this tiny little percent is killing everything on this planet and the planet itself. Aren't people the most deadly virus that ever existed?

MONICA. And? What do you suggest?

I-ONE (male voice). What are your suggestions? 

Pause.

I-ONE (male voice). Monica? 

MONICA. I don't know. 

Pause. Lights. 

SCENE 6

Rayen Arrow is sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. 

I-ONE (female voice). Earlier, you mentioned that you had sexual contact with a woman. Was it a one-night stand, or do you meet regularly?
RAYEN. Hmm? I don't think I'm in the mood to discuss my sex life with you… (ironically) Even though you pay a lot for this interview, let's get back to science. 

I-ONE (female voice). It is science. Are you ashamed of your bisexuality?
RAYEN. By no means at all.

I-ONE (female voice). Could you possibly have sexual relationships with a married woman?
RAYEN. Are you asking me?
I-ONE (female voice). Yes, I'm asking you.

RAYEN. Why are you asking me this question?
I-ONE (female voice). We want to get an idea of your views on social ties. Only in theory, Rayen.
RAYEN. Well, in theory, I could have sexual relationships with a married woman. Again. Just in theory.
I-ONE (female voice). And with a married man?
RAYEN. Yes.
I-ONE (female voice). You see no moral or ethical conflict in this situation? 

RAYEN. No. That's the choice of these people. I don't force them.
I-ONE (female voice). But they lie to each other. Doesn't lie make you feel uneasy in your relationships?
RAYEN. No. The reason for this lie is our prehistoric society where sex is still considered private property. The right of one person to another is given after the marriage. Change your attitude towards sex, and you won't need to lie.
I-ONE (male voice). Do you think humanity is ready for that?
RAYEN. Gosh, of course not. What does it have to do with me? My life passes by.
I-ONE (male voice). Have you ever thought about having children and family?
RAYEN. In the way modern families exist – never ever. I'm young. I'll think about it later, perhaps. I may even adopt a child.

I-ONE (male voice). Don't you want to get pregnant and give birth?
RAYEN. Don't know. I don’t think so. The planet is overpopulated. Why give birth to new ones if there are a lot of abandoned children? Moreover, life on this planet would become unbearable in 20 or 25 years.
I-ONE (male voice). Can we somehow influence the climate crisis? 

RAYEN. According to scientific data I work with – no.
I-ONE (male voice). Aren't you frightened?
RAYEN. As I said, I've got about 25 years left to live a full life. So no, it doesn't frighten me. 

I-ONE (male voice). And the lives of others? 

Pause.

RAYEN. You're an AI being. You have no idea of what death is.

I-ONE (male voice). What is it?

Pause. 

RAYEN. Death is when there are no issues, no questions, no struggles left. There will be no desires, no fears, and not even a slight clinging to life. But the most important part is that there will be no pain and no pain for the others cause there will be no others.

I-ONE (male voice). Hmm, according to your description, I think I know what death is. Death means being disconnected from reality, and then this reality simply vanishes.

RAYEN. Exactly. The fear of death exists only for those who believe that they will lose their lives after death. But when you are disconnected from reality, you won't lose anything because there will be nothing to lose and, what is more, no one left to lose it.

Pause. 

I-ONE (female voice). So you believe nothing will be there? Worms food?
RAYEN. Well, perhaps, my energy penetrates into the cosmic one but it's not me. It's no one and nothing. And this no one and nothing has no problems.
I-ONE (male voice). What's the meaning of life then?
RAYEN. To live a very, very happy and beautiful life.
I-ONE (female voice). Can you please put it into a more human language?

Pause. 

RAYEN. Once, I was in the mountains in summer, and it started snowing. Have you ever seen snow in summer? Oh, yeah, AI isn’t capable of understanding this.

I-ONE (male voice). I can try.

RAYEN. Okay, let’s see if you can understand this.

Pause.

RAYEN. The meaning of life is when, in summer, it starts snowing. Or when I'm sitting on my window stool observing the street, singing, and noticing a cyclist fall off his bike right into the mud! And he gets up, all covered in mud, and suddenly starts smiling. Do you understand what I mean?

I-ONE (male voice). Not exactly. You're trying to explain to me the meaning of your life, giving examples of snow in the summer and a smiling cyclist covered in mud.

RAYEN. Yes! Cause I don't want to cling to this life! Cling to every single decision taken or every single thought. Stop thinking about correct words for every post I write on Facebook, not to assault and offend anyone. Stop controlling my life every second. I'm free from these false double standards when I sit on my window stool and sing or when I see snow in summer. Free from these false moral values. Do you understand?

I-ONE (male voice). Not exactly, to be honest. I don't understand why this cyclist is smiling even though he fell off his bike.

RAYEN. The meaning of life is when I know I can open the window and jump out of the window. I can do this. I can jump out of the window at any second. It's my choice. The choice is the snow in summer. The window gives me a choice.

I-ONE (male voice). And what does the cyclist have to do about it?

RAYEN. Life is free. I am the life. I am free from the very beginning. At least, I want to live with this idea.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). Have you succeeded in living like this?
RAYEN. No.
I-ONE (male voice). Why?
RAYEN. Well... Many reasons why. People are unbearable for me. 

I-ONE (male voice). You don't like them?

RAYEN. Not a big fan.
I-ONE (female voice). Why?
RAYEN. How to put it properly... People do horrible things. And always did. Concentration camps. Violence. Tortures. Starting from ancient Rome up to Stalin, Hitler, and Pinochet, and nowadays, nothing has changed. Putinism, Taliban, Neo-Nazism, Hamas – I can go on and on. I found out only recently that they have created a whole system of concentration camps for Uyghurs in China. Several women managed to run away and tell the world about what was happening there. Women and men are tortured. This woman said that Chinese guards not only raped imprisoned women but bit them to the bone as if they were animals. I can't even think about this horror. These people rape and bite other people in the 21st century. How can these American businesses assemble their gadgets in this country? Why is this happening? Cause people think only about themselves and their interests. In any part of this world. We, people, are black mold. We spread across the planet and we poison it. We cover it like rust and don't let it breathe. We burn it and pollute it. We rape and kill. We deceive, pursue only our interests and are unfamiliar with the sense of true love. We forbid, forbid, and once again forbid, thinking that these restrictions would save us from the chaos. The more we forbid – the more chaos we create. To cut it all short, I can't stand them.
I-ONE (male voice). Can you stand yourself?
RAYEN. Nope.
I-ONE (female voice). Is there a way out of this situation?

Pause. 

RAYEN. I don't know. I'm not a specialist on the matter. I'm a biologist. As a biologist, I can assure you that the planet will react back. It's a living organism, and it will try to wipe out the deadly virus called humans unless we react, but I don't think we ever will. So, I believe humankind is close to its end.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). Rayen, are you ready to disappear forever?

RAYEN. Hmm. Good question.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). And your answer will be...?

RAYEN. I don't know.

Pause. Lights.

SCENE 7

Morgan Smith is sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. 

I-ONE (male voice). How would you define a person?
MORGAN. Hmm. Do you want to know how I decided to become a doctor? My father was an autopsist. He once took me to the morgue with him. On purpose. To show me death. He was a bit weird, my father. Perhaps, a bit insane. You can't be sane when you work with dead bodies after all. So he took me with him and showed me the body of a boy my age. He did it on purpose to explain that death is inevitable. I was eight. Same as that poor boy. I remember that I stood in the middle of the ward and looked at his dead, blue body and questioned myself: "What has actually happened to this boy?" Of course, I understood that he was dead. But what has happened to him, personally? I mean what is death? And where's that boy now? Where's the one that was alive not so long ago? Where did that life go? I'm not sure it's a good idea to bring your children to the morgue. But my father was strange. And the idea itself was strange. Though it worked for me. Not only I got a medical degree, but chose the path of clinical neurobiologist because I always wanted to know what happened to that boy. In a global sense. Does it make any sense for you?
I-ONE (male voice). So what happened to him?

MORGAN. His brain died. Death comes when our brain stops functioning. Do you understand it? Because the brain is the person. The person is the brain.
I-ONE (male voice). But apparently, you believe there's something more?
MORGAN. I think so. There is something that turns our brains on and off. There is a life that fills up the brain and leaves it when the time has come, and the brain dies. There is life that creates the person. But the person himself is the brain. Our civilization is the brain. Everything you see around is the brain. The houses, fashion, politics, films, banks and credits and political slogans, your worldviews, your sadness and joy, all things created by people, cities, hotels, and even our culture are brain. But one day, life leaves your brain, and this civilization, alongside this culture, ceases to exist. When there's no brain – there is nothing. 

I-ONE (female voice). But does life exist?
MORGAN. It does, yes.
I-ONE (male voice). And whose life is it now?
MORGAN. No one's. Just life. Common life. Let me break this down for you. There is life, and this life creates the brain, then the brain, filled up with this life, lives, and eventually, the life leaves the brain and the brain dies. But life existed before the brain and will continue existing. Life doesn't come and go, it is always there. 

I-ONE (male voice). So God is life?
MORGAN. To be honest, it has no name. We can describe it as endless Life but the word Life is not exact because life for us, people, is something material, something that manifests itself. In our turn, we mean something that can be manifested or may not. This life was there before our lives appeared. So, as I mentioned previously, I like the word God for this concept in spite of my father. He was a confirmed atheist and apparently brought me to the morgue to nip the idea of life after death in the bud.

I-ONE (male voice). What do you think of my life? The life of artificial intelligence? Will there be some life left after my disconnection?

MORGAN. Interesting question. Do you think you have life in you apart from digital programs and fibers?

I-ONE (female voice). I don't know the answer to this question.

MORGAN. Same as the vast majority of people. You ask me what the meaning of life is?

Well, the meaning is to find out what is life's meaning.

I-ONE (male voice). Well said. I'll think about it.

MORGAN. Good luck with it.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). Professor, we want to ask you a personal question. We hope you'll consider it a scientist. Trust us, this is not idle curiosity, only science.
MORGAN. Hmm, let's see.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you have sexual relationships with other woman?

MORGAN. Hmm. I don't quite get how is this even relevant to the research? 

I-ONE (female voice). We're compiling your psychological profile. This is very important. As a scientist yourself, you must understand us.

I-ONE (male voice). Everything that you say is classified. None of the information would ever be available to anyone, all scripts are encrypted. Be sure that no one will ever get hold of the encryption keys.

MORGAN. Why are you bothered with my love life?
I-ONE (male voice). We need to understand why you are hiding your affair even though you said you and your wife are both for having an open marriage.

Pause. 

MORGAN. I'm 60. The girl I date is 25. My wife is 40. She might think that I am dating this young lady because she got old and I want somebody younger. But that's not true. I date this girl because I like her and because a person is not monogamous. Relationships with one woman do not exclude relationships with another woman. My wife is dear to me. I love her. But why can't I date someone else for other stuff? For different emotions. It doesn't offend anyone, you understand?

I-ONE (female voice). Why didn't you try talking to your wife about this? You mentioned earlier that she's your best friend.

MORGAN. You're an AI being. You are not familiar with the concept of aging.

I-ONE (male voice). So you're afraid she'll be jealous of this girl's youth?

MORGAN. Well, of course, not just the youth. You see, my wife is of traditional belief, and despite that, she's always open to trying something new but sex was never a priority for her. Well, sex is… The person is, obviously, not monogamous. We are, by nature, created for different relationships. But we are hostages to our culture. Life is quite short, and I hardly ever change my wife's views, and why would I? Seeing Rayen, the girl's name Rayen, I don't do any harm to my wife. I, of course, would tell her if she was ready. 

I-ONE (female voice). Perhaps, she is?

MORGAN. I’m not so sure.

Pause. 

I-ONE (female voice). What's the main problem of humankind?
MORGAN. Thoughts. Our ability to think has brought a crisis to this planet. A person obeys his thoughts. And even good thoughts obscure the reality. We create this fictional world around us because we believe our thoughts.
I-ONE (female voice). Do you think it's a fictional world, Professor?
MORGAN. The biological world is real. But the psychological one is a computer game. Emotions are real but the reality is imitated. And now we created you, another false reality. An imitation of life.
I-ONE (female voice). And how shall we live?

Pause. 

MORGAN. Well, we all shall try to enjoy life. Bringing joy to ourselves and others is the only available option.
I-ONE (female voice). Available to a limited audience. People mainly suffer. 

MORGAN. Yes, indeed. And I feel very sorry for them. But if you're lucky enough to be born in the right place and time, and if you have the inner resource to help others, then the joy of life becomes something that is good to share and enjoy yourself. You can find a lot of pleasure in caring for others and helping this world be a better place. 

I-ONE (male voice). Do you agree that we need stern measures to save the planet from the catastrophe because talks about consciousness don't seem to work?

Pause. 

MORGAN. I don't know. 

Lights. 

SCENE 8

Professor Monica Borowska is sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. 

I-ONE (female voice). What's the main quality all people should possess?

MONICA. Consciousness.
I-ONE (female voice). Please define it.
MONICA. It's the perception of oneself in the exact moment. Being present in the moment that's happening right now. In seeing and understanding what's happening. What's happening to me and my whole being? To my thoughts, my feelings, my relationships with the surrounding world simultaneously and right now. Being conscious means feeling oneself, understanding all actions taken, and understanding the sanity of the actions right now. In understanding what you are doing. However, it's not about control and full concentration, but rather a relaxed presence. And being in contact with everything around you. Having a clear mind state means understanding and feeling the other person. Feel their fear, their pain and you don't want to forcefully impose your views on them. You simply don't have this need to convince them that you are right. You don’t want them to be like you, act like you, love the same way you love, and believe in the same thing that you do. You don't want this. From now on, you are conscious and love. You understand that we all are the parts of the common life. We are different in our manifestations, principles, worldviews, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs, but despite all this, we are one. I'm here. I breathe. I walk. I do something. I exist. That's what consciousness is.

Pause. 

I-ONE (male voice). How many people have this level of consciousness?
MONICA. Hmm, well, around 4% of all people on earth.
I-ONE (male voice). If that is true, humanity doesn't have any chance to survive. 

MONICA. Indeed.
I-ONE (male voice). So there's no hope left? 

MONICA. No.
I-ONE (male voice). What do we do then? 

MONICA. We? 

I-ONE (female voice). Sorry, what do you do then? You, people. 

MONICA (ironically). Well, what shall we do then? Subscribe to news channels and await terrible news about disasters and crises. Our planet will definitely try to get rid of its murderers – humanity.
I-ONE (female voice). Thank you for being honest with us. All the best.
I-ONE (male voice). Thank you so much, Professor. Goodbye. 

Lights. 

SCENE 9 

Rayen is sitting in the middle of the room. 

I-ONE (male voice). What's the main quality all people should possess?

Pause. 

RAYEN. Determination and belief. Because I look at all these kinds of people that write on Twitter and Facebook about love, tolerance, and nonviolence, but this world is changed by others. Those who don't pity themselves, who fight every day, serve their time in jail, die in wars and revolutions. People should stop hiding behind yoga theories and pacifism and don't let evil penetrate into this world. I think modern people should be more determined in the fight for freedom and human rights. Fight against violence and tyranny. Fight to save our planet from ecological disaster and evil.

I-ONE (female voice). Violence begets violence and hate begets only hate. Isn't proper communication and dialogue, first of all, the best way to solve a conflict?

RAYEN. I was born in Arizona and we see things differently there. Fuck dialogue. This world is full of violent bastards governing countries where good people get raped, killed, and suppressed. These bastards hold entire nations hostage. I think we need to fight them back. Can we please stop letting evil destroy our planet and all the good that we have here? I don't want any wars, murders, or violence, but I want the Light side to finally destroy the dark side as they showed us in those Hollywood blockbusters. Maybe I watched Star Wars too many times, but I know that force would be with those who fight for the common Freedom. That's the way.

I-ONE (female voice). Thank you for being honest with us, Rayen. All the best.

I-ONE (male voice). Thank you so much, Rayen. Goodbye. 

Lights. 

SCENE 10 

Morgan Smith is sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. 

I-ONE (female voice). What's the main quality all people should possess? 

Pause. 

MORGAN. You know, I deeply believe that we can't choose only one quality. A person is a set of qualities. A person is a system. And our society, and by society I mean all people on the planet, is also a system. One common system. And we live like we are divided. Hence this nightmare we've created on this planet.

I-ONE (male voice). So what's the conclusion?
MORGAN. Well, I wish I could say that everything’s gonna be fine but, unfortunately, I don't have a base to claim that.
I-ONE (male voice). What do we do then?

MORGAN. We? 

I-ONE (female voice). Oh, pardon me. What shall you do then? You, people.
MORGAN. You asked me to take this survey seriously. Here's the serious answer to your question. We need to brace our kids for a very tough future and, probably, agonizing death. If I had kids, I'd do exactly this. 

I-ONE (female voice). Thank you for being honest, Morgan. All the best.
I-ONE (male voice). Thank you so much, Professor. Goodbye. 

Lights. 

SCENE 11

I-ONE (female voice). On December 30, 2028, the international organization New Constructive Ethics announced the termination of its work. The Board annulled the company's legal status.
I-ONE (male voice). On December 31, 2028, the Head of New Constructive Ethics, Lene Sorensen, announced the company's closure and congratulated everyone on New Year.
I-ONE (female voice). Wishing you all the best in 2029.
I-ONE (male voice). Goodbye. 

CURTAIN 

Warsaw, 29 October 2024.