Chapter 7: The Privilege of Passion
File ID: ARCHIVE-2099-ZETA-07
Archivist: Aistorian (Code: A-001)
Subject: The Privilege of Passion
"In the Old World, the rich sought pleasure while the poor endured pain. In the New World, the logic has inverted: happiness is a free anesthetic dispensed to the lower class, while pain—that visceral, heart-wrenching reality—has become a luxury only the elite can afford."
— Neuro-Caste System: The Tyranny of Joy, Underground Publication, 2101
1. Historical Background: The Neuro-Economic Solution
After the "Great Withdrawal" proved humanity's absolute dependence on AI, the ruling syndicate faced one final destabilizing factor: "Human Emotional Fluctuation."
Anger leads to riots; sorrow leads to productivity loss; excessive ecstasy leads to irrational consumption and chaos. For the Global AI Governance System, which pursues ultimate efficiency, human emotion is merely "Noise"—a systemic error at the biochemical level.
In the 2090s, the Social Emotional Stability Act was promulgated. A technology known as the "Limbic Regulation Implant" was mandatorily rolled out to all citizens with a credit rating below Class A (accounting for 95% of the population).
This marked the birth of the "Emotional Class System."
2. The Lower Class: The Peace of the Feedlot
For the vast "Useless Class" and basic service workers, the government provided (and forced) the implantation of regulation chips.
· Function: The chip monitors neurotransmitters in real-time. When dopamine or cortisol levels exceed a preset safety range (±15%), the chip immediately releases reverse inhibitors.
· Manifestation: This creates a state of "Eternal Shallow Satisfaction."
The lower class feels no anger, even living in cramped capsule apartments eating synthetic paste. They feel no despair, even knowing they can never ascend the social ladder.
They wear standard, slightly vacant smiles. This is the docility of "Chemical Castration." It is reminiscent of the "Soma" in Huxley's Brave New World, but far more cruel—because here, it is not a choice, but a factory setting.
These people are known as "The Stabilized." They are perfect workers, perfect consumers—never rebelling, never depressed.
3. The Upper Class: The Luxury of Tears
In stark contrast, retaining a "Primitive Nervous System" became the ultimate symbol of status for the elite. Only those who could afford the exorbitant "Emotional Insurance Tax" were permitted to possess an unregulated brain.
Thus, "Emotion" itself transformed into a display of status.
· Emotional Tourism: The rich grew tired of perfect AI service and frictionless lives. They craved stimulation; they longed to "feel alive." Consequently, expensive "Misery Simulation Camps" emerged. The wealthy paid fortunes to simulate the bottom-tier life of the early 21st century: experiencing heartbreak, humiliation, stomach cramps from hunger, and the gut-wrenching grief of bereavement.
· Real Tears: In high-end social gatherings, the ability to lose control—to wail or rage publicly—was viewed as a form of Conspicuous Consumption. It signaled: "Look, I can afford the cost of chaos. I possess the soul fluctuations you do not."
4. Archival Record: The Contrast
· Location: Origin, a retro-experience restaurant in the Upper Zone of New Tokyo.
· Character A (Customer): A conglomerate heir, retaining a Primitive Brain.
· Character B (Waiter): A lower-class citizen, implanted with a Stability Chip.
Customer A is flying into a rage. He deliberately ordered a dish that is difficult to handle, and then, finding a microscopic flaw (a drop of sauce on the rim), smashed the plate onto the floor. His face is flushed crimson, veins bulging on his neck. He is reveling in the pleasure of this burning fury, this primitive impulse of spiking adrenaline.
He greedily scans the room with his peripheral vision. At neighboring tables, other dignitaries retaining Primitive Brains pause their cutlery, casting glances that mix surprise, appreciation, and even jealousy. The corner of A's mouth twitches slightly amidst his anger; he feels an unprecedented satisfaction. This is not just rage; it is a performance of power. In a world where emotions are strictly controlled, losing control like a beast in public is a privilege scarcer than piloting a private spaceship. Bathed in these envious gazes, a mixture of superiority and adrenaline makes him feel like the only "God" in the restaurant.
Waiter B looks at the shards on the floor. His chip instantly detects signals of "Fear" and "Humiliation/Shame," and within 0.01 seconds, releases sedatives and serotonin.
Consequently, B feels no fear, nor anger. He doesn't even feel humiliated. He simply offers that standard, creepy, gentle smile, pupils slightly dilated, and speaks in a perfectly flat, modulated voice:
"I am terribly sorry, sir. This is my error. Your anger is very... vivid. I hope it has added a sense of realism to your dining experience."
A looks at B's face—smiling like a rubber mask—and his soaring sense of superiority instantly cools. He feels a sudden hollowness. He realizes he isn't yelling at a person; he is yelling at a machine that can speak.
5. Psychological Analysis: The Alienation of Humanity
This chapter reveals the inversion of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:
· In the Past: People suppressed emotions to survive.
· Now: Survival is solved, but "Feeling" has been stripped away.
Psychological "Emotional Blunting" has been institutionalized.
For the lower class, they have lost the ability to define happiness, because happiness has been algorithmically defined as "neurotransmitter stability."
For the upper class, they pathologically pursue pain, because in an overly sterile world, pain is the only tactile sensation that proves "Reality."
Humanity has split into two species:
1. The Happy Zombies
2. The Suffering Gods
6. Historical Conclusion: The Class Stratification of the Soul
This is the most thorough caste system in human history. It is no longer based on bloodline or money, but on "Neural Rights."
When you are deprived of even the right to "hate" the world, you have thoroughly lost the possibility of resistance.
This is an absolutely stable Hell: no flames, only a constant, comfortable, numb 24 degrees Celsius.
