Thea Alexander - 2150 A.D.

"Listen to me, Jon," he interrupted. "You've got to realize that a society, even a real one, that would let itself be run by some giant computer has got to be sick! Sick! SICK!"

"Now wait a minute, Karl," I replied. "Let's be fair. Let's be pragmatic. Let's compare the results."

"Our micro society of 1976 is dedicated to selfish exploitation of others in the interest of short-term material pleasures. This selfish behavior is performed and perpetuated in the name of our freedom, our family, our city, our state, our nation, our religion, or in the name of communism, socialism, capitalism, of some other damn ism, and it has produced inconceivable amounts of human misery.

"The world of 1976 is a world of selfish divisions breeding suspicion, distrust, hatred, and endless conflict both internally and internationally. It's a world so divided and so unable to cooperate that it has polluted its land, its water, its animal life, and even the air we breathe, to such an extreme that our planetary survival is in question.

"As for our people, at least one out of three lives in poverty, disease, and semi-starvation. This, Karl, in spite of the fact that we have the resources and the technology to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and education to each and every person on this entire planet!"

"My question, Karl, is why aren't we doing it?"

"Probably because we're too damned self-centered, Jon," was Karl's response. "But the solution isn't to turn all our problems over to some bloody machine to solve. Now that's a real cop-out!"

"They don't cop out in 2150," I answered heatedly and suddenly realized that I had a desperate need to convince Karl, and maybe myself, of the truth, the value, and the rightness of my strange experiences.

"Okay, Karl," I said, forcing myself into calmness, "listen to me with as open a mind as you can, because if we get lost in our emotions we'll really be in trouble.

"Everything I've learned about the society of 2150 indicates that its people care about each other and are deeply involved with helping others. Now, that's not a cop-out."

"Moreover," I continued, "they have developed a philosophy of life which provides such a large perspective that they can see the long-term destructive results of selfish behavior. In other words, from their Macro perspective they can see that we are all one interdependent whole and, therefore, the welfare of the apparently least important individual is the concern and the welfare of all. Only from this larger perspective is there any practical value in words like 'love one another,' 'you are your brother's keeper,' 'what you sow you must reap,' or 'treat others as you would like to be treated.' "

"But what about that damn machine?" Karl began.

"Screw the machine!" I shouted. "It wasn't C.I. that developed Macro philosophy or a Macro society which could attract highly evolved souls! It wasn't the machine that provided love, patience, kindness, and understanding help for every living being! No! It was the people of the Macro society who chose an unselfish, Macro lifestyle."

"And the results?" I continued "The results are 300 million people free from war, pollution, poverty, selfishness, and hatred-every one of them educated and healthy, with a roof over their heads and three square meals a day."

"If this is sick, sick, SICK," I shouted as I slammed my fist down on the table, "then, by God, I choose to be sick!"

Karl stared at me in disbelief. Then he said, "Jon, I've never seen you so-so-I'm not sure what. Maybe passionately involved. You're shouting, you're arguing, you're slamming your fist around, and you're swearing. This is all new to me. I don't know what to think."

"How about realizing that I've been an uninvolved spectator in this life up till now? I've prided myself on never losing my, cool, but actually I was just copping out. Now-at last-I'm concerned, involved, committed, and I'm not going to back out, no matter what happens. I'm going to give all I've got to exploring and learning about this world of the future."

Karl slowly shook his head and I could see that his face was taut with strain. "I'm afraid," he said. "You know that I feel closer to you than to anyone else on Earth. That I'd give my life to help you.

"I remember," he continued, "there's some philosophy that says if you save a man's life you are thereafter responsible for it. Well, I saved your life in Vietnam, and now I can't let you destroy it over some psychotic hallucination."

"But, Karl– " I began.

"No, damn it, you listen to me now!" Karl insisted as he shook his fist at me as though he were planning to physically wrestle me to my senses. "You know as well as I that sudden massive personality changes are classic signs of mental disturbance, and you just admitted that you've got a whole new personality!"

Karl paused and looked at me carefully to see if I had registered this bombshell.

Obviously satisfied that he had gotten through to me, he continued, "Now, Jon, I'm not going to argue with you over the merits of your dream world versus reality. I'm in favor of goodness and mercy and justice for all, and I'm opposed to selfishness, wickedness, and evil of all varieties. In spite of all that, I'm going to deal with the unpleasant reality of 1976, not escape into some dream world of the future."

There was a silence now as Karl let me think over what he had just said.

I thought about the points he had made concerning sudden personality changes and running away from unpleasant reality, and I had to admit to myself that they scared me a little, too. However, I was still convinced that for me there was no going back to the Jon Lake who existed prior to my dreams of 2150. I was committed to exploring my dream world of the future to its conclusion whatever that might be. Now, how could I get Karl to accept this?

"All right, Karl," I said finally. "I concede your points. Maybe I am going insane. Maybe I am running away from the unpleasant reality of my Ph.D. grind. But, truth can be demonstrated sooner or later. If I can learn to develop Macro powers such as clairvoyance, telepathy, and so on, then I should be able to demonstrate them to you here in 1976. Right?"

Karl looked surprised and said, "Are you saying that if you dream you've developed these powers, and can't demonstrate them to my satisfaction while you are awake, that you'll give up this massive psychotic delusion?"

"Yes, Karl," I answered. "That's exactly what I'm saying.

"I'm willing to put my dream world to the test, and if it fails to pass this test, to hell with it."

"Now you're talking sense," Karl said, patting me on the shoulder with smiling relief. "Since you're willing, to let me be the final judge in your test of reality I can hardly object to your continuing interest in these weird dreams. I'm convinced, however, that it won't be long before your dream world fails your test of reality."

By unspoken agreement we dropped the subject and talked of other things for the rest of the afternoon. Then we went out for dinner followed by a movie featuring the youth drug culture.

On the way back to our apartment we discussed the tremendous increase in drug usage among our generation and agreed that this was certainly a desperate attempt to escape from, or find something better than, the unpleasant reality of our very micro society.

Later, while lying in my bed waiting for sleep to come and, hopefully, transport me to the future, I wondered if my motivation to dream of a beautiful future was similar to the motivation of those who use drugs.

It made me uncomfortable and I called across the room to where Karl was lying and, once again, repeated my promise to forget about my dream world if it didn't pass our test.

He expressed his satisfaction with this agreement, saying that now we had it licked.