Odd Containment Specialist.

Chapter 902 What is a human being?
Xia Shou tilted his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Actually, I've always been curious about how humans are defined. What exactly constitutes a human? If we only consider appearance and behavior as the standard, then many humanoid anomalies and robots that pass the Turing test could be classified as humans, making the boundaries very blurry. But our definition of the human race seems quite clear. Is it based on whether or not one can passively absorb curse power?"

"Senior Xia Shou really likes being a philosopher, always pondering these kinds of useless questions."

Baihe seriously offered his thoughts: "If Xia were to pursue academic research, she would definitely be a good scholar. The questions she asks are so challenging. What is humanity? Actually, the academic community doesn't even have a definition yet."

The definition of secular science is relatively clear. In biology, it is a species of the genus Homo in the family Hominidae of the order Primates. Although the definitions in other aspects are somewhat vague, they are not as vague as those in the study of the extraordinary. However, it is indeed as you just said. A very important indicator for distinguishing whether something is human is whether it absorbs the magical power of the surrounding environment if it exceeds a certain level of abnormality.

Those who can absorb nutrients are not necessarily human, but those who cannot absorb nutrients are generally not human.

Of course, this is not absolute. After all, there are powers that transcend all logic, such as divine protection and favor. However, naturally born humans will inevitably experience an uncontrollable phenomenon of absorbing curse power once their abnormality level exceeds LV3.

Then at LV5, even using superpowers will cause the curse power to dissipate, and the efficiency of absorbing curse power in the environment will also increase significantly. After that, most people will experience the same change: as the curse power is continuously absorbed, the efficiency of curse power absorption will further decrease, and after exceeding a certain limit, they will completely stop absorbing curse power.

The cessation of absorption at this stage is different from the self-controlled absorption at levels two and three. It means that even if one wants to absorb, they cannot, thus becoming like an aberrant entity. Therefore, this process is academically called alienation.

Baihe raised his hand to stop Xia Shou from asking further questions, and then said, "I know, I haven't finished yet. I'm about to explain what humans are. Of course, this definition of humans is just one that is more widely accepted in the academic community today."

What is a human being? Humans are the creatures with the greatest desires and reactions. The richness of human emotions far exceeds that of other ordinary animals. Moreover, not only are the types of desires abundant, but the possibilities for their change are also the most diverse.

Humans can lean towards any faith in terms of desire, and there is a great deal of room for sway in the process of leaning towards a fixed desire. For example, a person may be a believer in the God of Blood. When the corresponding desire accounts for a larger and larger proportion of his human nature, other desires will be squeezed out, and his personality will become paranoid.

Becoming a fighting maniac, a procreation maniac, a plastic surgery maniac, or other mental illnesses are all superficial loss of rationality caused by an excessively strong single desire that completely suppresses other desires.

However, as long as this person has not completely become an abnormal being, there is still a possibility of changing their own desires.

There are many such examples.

Some scholars even believe that humans are not actually a race, but a state, just like the metamorphosis of insects, or the different sexes of crocodiles that hatch from eggs at different room temperatures. The original intention of humans being designed was actually to become a unique abnormal entity, completely embracing a certain desire.

But human reason and humanity inexplicably began to resist this change, insisting on maintaining this human identity. This is like a baby that has been in its mother's womb for ten months refusing to be born, or a butterfly that has finished hatching inside its pupa refusing to emerge—it goes against the laws of nature.

"Does this theory mean... that humans are just an anomaly in a state of flux, with the outcome yet to be determined? Is 'human' just the name given to this anomaly before the outcome is certain?" Xia Shou tried to understand, and suddenly regretted asking the question.

He didn't really like the answer.

Baihe shrugged: "Just take it as a casual remark. It's just a theory that a group of scholars came up with to facilitate their research on anomalies. Who knows what the truth is?"
Yingjie also discussed this issue with us, and her thoughts were even more extreme.

She felt that the reason those scholars said that the process of humans resisting becoming abnormal was because humans had developed a certain free will was just to embellish the identity of humans.

Ultimately, it's about trying to glorify humanity as something unique, just like how secular society portrays humans as the pinnacle of all creation.

Yingjie believes that humanity's resistance to change is just one aspect of change itself. In fact, it's not so much about resisting change, but rather about adjusting complex desires so that the desires buried deep within our nature can choose the path that best suits us.

Of course, I think Sister Ying is being a bit extreme. I still believe in the human soul, or rather, humanity. In short, I think humans should have something of their own; not everything is predetermined at birth. I hate fatalism.

Xia Shou knew why Bai He hated fatalism. Fate, a certain thing, is very similar to bloodline, which is determined at birth. How could Bai He, a victim of bloodline ability, like this theory?

Baihe pulled up his mask and sighed meaningfully: "What does this have to do with us? If we keep digging into this kind of question, it will never end."

I think... when we are born, some things are already decided, and even the best answer for the final transformation is already determined. But so many people in the world are still human until they die, which proves that not everyone can find that 'best' answer. Whether you can find it or not, isn't that our freedom as human beings?
Moreover, even those who are born knowing the best answer may not necessarily fill in the correct one; some people simply prefer to submit a blank paper.

"Which people?"

"for example?"

Xia Shou and Jiang Wengao asked in unison.

Baihe sighed helplessly, shook his head, and stood up, propping himself up on the table: "I have to go back... I'm exhausted. I still have to pick up Huiyu from school. You can come back after you finish cleaning up the mess."

"Wait a minute!" Xia Shou called out to the other party, "Brother Bai, do you want to talk to the minister about that Needle of Destiny? Maybe the bureau can find a way to help you bring that thing back."

"Someone has tried it for me. After all, it's a mythical relic, and the required capacity is ridiculously large. Although it's very powerful, it's only an improvement for me personally, and the overall benefit is too low. I guess the Control Bureau won't allow it, but I'll have to talk to the Minister about it."

As for what to do in the end, let the leaders decide. We're just employees." Baihe yawned, waved goodbye to the group, turned and went downstairs, his footsteps fading into the distance.

The air fell silent. Xia Shou picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at Xiao Gao and Ke Hen. Ke Hen seemed to be off work, while Xiao Gao looked bewildered, as if unsure whether he could leave.

Xia Shou felt the same way; it was the first time he had finished his work before even starting anything.

Is it really over?

"History has been reset?" Xia Shouwang asked Kehen.

Ke Hen stared at Xia Shou for a few seconds, then smiled with a teasing expression: "Senior~ You don't think that without your help, no one can solve this kind of incident, do you?"

“…I didn’t say that. It would be better if we didn’t have to exert any effort,” Xia Shou muttered.

(End of this chapter)