CHAPTER 3
Dumbing Down
"So exactly where are we going and why?" Driscal demanded, as the Humvee smoothly rolled into Manhattan Avenue traffic under computer control in response to the destination that Mary had provided it silently. No wonder the NYPD cams had been hacked, she thought; had taken her only a few seconds to hack the Humvee!
"Logic dictates that it will increase our probability of early success if we begin our search of Omega by visiting the largest groups first," said Mary. "One of the largest groupings of concerns is that which worries about the dumbing down of society. The Brooklyn College campus is the center of study for such concerns."
"The study of dumb!" said Ed. "That sounds like a nifty academic pursuit!"
"All Omega concerns are deathly serious," Mary pointed out.
"Brooklyn College in Flatbush?" protested Driscal. "That's half an hour away from the crime-scene here in northern Brooklyn! That's completely dumb in itself. Somebody near the scene had to see something of the kidnapping: this is a city of twelve million people, fifty thousand Stone-Coats, and twenty thousand jant colonies, nearly half of them rogue and many controlling zombies. We should stay in the Greenpoint neighborhood and sweat some answers out of the locals."
"The Feds, NYPD cops, and the Tribe are already doing all the standard things such as that," said Ed. "We are directly pursuing the only actual clue that we have."
"Ha!" said Driscal. "A clue deliberately given to you. It could be designed to mislead the investigation, or didn't you logical folk think of that?"
"Or designed to lead us into a trap designed to kill or capture Ed," said Mary. "Yes, I believe that I've considered all possible scenarios. But the kidnappers specifically and deliberately invited Ed to pursue this course, so pursue it we must, in order to avoid possible bad consequences for the girls if for no other reason. We would be able to do so more swiftly if your auto was a flying model."
"My jant nest in the metal box behind you weighs a couple of hundred pounds when all the climate control gear, food, and so-forth are included, and you're pretty damn heavy yourself," said Driscal. "Besides, NYPD flying police cruisers can be knocked out of the sky with a sling-shot, a couple of fat pidgins, or a kid hacker. How would I keep you VIPs safe and cozy in a piece of crap flying squad car? No thanks. We'll stay in the ground."
"Tell us more about the issues addressed by this first grouping of Omega subgroups," said Ed.
"Their over-all concern is for the dumbing down of citizens and society," said Mary, "and there are dozens of variations on that theme, including poor Internet content, Internet control, information hominization, and anti-intellectualism movements. Now of course with the advent of Stone-Coats and jants that take care of us there is likely to be even more dumbing down."
"What about crazy thinking?" asked Driscal. "That's what results in terrorism and so-forth! The dangerous dudes we want are likely nut-cases. I happen to make my living hunting down human and jant nut-cases."
"Human mental pathologies motivate another huge Omega grouping," said Mary. "We'll try to meet with them a little later today."
"This is a waste of fucking time," Driscal complained repeatedly, as the Humvee made its way south and deeper into south-central Brooklyn. But Mary began feeding police reports and videos to the Humvee speakers and dash displays that Driscal and Ed were soon attentively watching. It availed them little however, until they found themselves watching recordings provided by the big Ice Giant that first arrived at the kidnapping crime-scene in Greenpoint.
Just as the big Ice Giant had verbally described, when he arrived there was no sign of attackers; only the torn up cab and torn up Stone-Coat companion of Mouse known by humans as Stone Runner. Thousands of Stone Runner gem chunks between golf ball and football size were scattered all over the ally, many hidden by snow. Smaller Stone-Coats arrived shortly and immediately began gathering the Stone-Coat bits into a single pile. They were soon aided by at least a dozen neighborhood Mohawks who with their human senses and smaller hands also helped gather the Stone Runner pieces. A thick mat of Nano-tubing was formed over the Stone Runner bits by the Ice Giant by the time the NYPD arrived and began taking pictures of the crime scene. By then the crime scene had of course been trampled and contaminated by dozens of well-meaning Stone-Coats and humans.
"Let's see the infrared taken when the big guy first arrived on the scene," Driscal requested.
The recordings repeated but this time only infrared imaging was shown. The torn-up cab was still faintly red against a cold blue background but fading fast in the cold. The Stone-Coat bits were likewise tinged with red, indicating they were warmer than the cold snow and concrete of the alley, but they too were cooling fast. Near the cab however were distinct footprints pressed into the snow that seemed to dance around the scene. All were about the same size and shape: foot-and-a-half long footprints showing three long toes and a thicker side toe/thumb: Stone-Coat footprints, dozens of them!
"Two small Stone-Coats fighting!" exclaimed Driscal. "One was of course Stone Runner. A second smallish Stone-Coat not much larger than Stone Runner tore him up and then ran away! Look at the footprints!" He pointed to a single set of Stone-Coat-like foot prints in the snow that led from the fight scene to the cab and then down through the alley and away. The slightly warm prints faded in the cold as they watched. "No human or other prints lead away from the cab; there were only the Stone-Coat prints. The two humans must have been carried away from the cab by the Stone-Coat that had demolished Stone Runner."
"Those prints can't be Stone-Coat prints," said Mary, who watched from the back seat. "Additionally no Stone-Coat would attack another."
"I follow the evidence," said Driscal.
"I point out that hundreds of millions of years of evidence say that it wasn't a Stone-Coat that did this," said Mary. "Stone-Coats simply do not attack other Stone-Coats; that has been a solid fact since long before dinosaurs walked the Earth. It is an ancient and basic survival rule with us. In addition, the prints leading away were not flat-footed Stone-Coat prints, but were on-their-toes running prints with no thumbs showing. No Stone-Coat can move like that, the energy output and rapid transition of water states required for the hydraulics are prohibitive! The apparent evidence of an attacking Stone-Coat when it couldn't have been one must be the incongruity that the recording Ice-Giant referred to. Although it superficially appears that a Stone-Coat did all this, it couldn't have been a Stone-Coat!"
"If it wasn't a Stone-Coat what was it?" Ed asked.
"Well it sure as hell wasn't a jant-controlled human zombie," said Driscal. "For a human or zombie to demolish a two-ton rock critter and then sprint away while carrying two humans is crazy-impossible. Like I say, I follow the evidence, and so far the evidence says it was a turn-coat Stone-Coat. I'm not yet ready to say that was one for sure, but I sure as hell can't say that it wasn't."
Further conversation on the subject ceased when the Humvee automatically parked on Bedford Avenue in front of a big modern looking building in a no-parking zone that Ed pointed out. "One of the perks of driving a cop car," Driscal noted, chuckling. "I park wherever the hell I want to." The campus was established over a century and a half ago in 1930, but this particular building looked new. Ed wasn't surprised to sense Stone-Coat electronic communications. Parts of this building were Stone-Coats, and there were several mobile Stone-Coats in the vicinity.
"Welcome to the Brooklyn College campus," said the Walking Stone sized Stone-Coat that greeted the visitors after they had all exited the Humvee. "You may address me as Rockford. I am Assistant Dean of Omega Studies here. Per your request our key Omega researchers have gathered in the auditorium, though I estimate less than fifty-percent human attendance due to the unprecedented last-minute nature of this gathering Most students and faculty have already vacated the campus for the coming Christmas and new year holidays."
"And I am Professor Julie Wright, Dean of Brooklyn College Omega Studies," said the short, stocky, matronly loo
king woman in her fifties that stood next to Rockford. "Call me Julie. May I first ask why we thus gathered? Mary's request wasn't clear on that point."
Ed's jaw dropped. Christ! They didn't have a cover story! And he couldn't discuss it privately now with Mary because the discussion would be overheard!
"This is Chief Ed of the famous Giants' Rest Mohawk tribe," said Mary. "The Giant's Rest Tribe humans, Stone-Coats, and jants want to maintain an awareness of threats to Earth, humanity, and to Stone-Coats and jants. To do so they are interested in becoming remote adjunct members of the CUNY Omega Groups. Ed is in town to get a first-hand idea of the different groups. Oh, and this is NYPD Detective Frank Driscal, Ed's City escort for this visit."
"Thank you so very much for accommodating me on such short notice," said Ed, "I realize that your time is very valuable. How many people will we be meeting with?"
"Close to a hundred," said Julie. "We are of course honored by your visit, Chief Rumsfeld. The fame of your Mohawk Tribe namesake forbearers of course precedes you, and we are always glad to see Mary and even the NYPD. Now let's get the hell out of this cold!" There was only a half-inch of fresh snow on the recently cleared sidewalk, and only a few new flakes were still falling, but it was at least ten degrees below freezing and a ten-knot wind blew in steadily from the frozen North. Here so close to New England the polar vortex sometimes poked its way south to the City from December through March.
Rockford led the visitors into the nearby building, pushing Mary's wheelchair. Several students met them inside and fitted both of the Stone-Coats with standard heat reflective ponchos and helped Driscal and the other humans remove their outside layers of thermal gear. It was all done so quickly and professionally that Ed was sure that this was routine hospitality being provided by the students.
"These Omega student volunteers will follow you about carrying your outer-wear," explained Julie.
"You're that Zombie cop!" said the student that carried Driscal's gear, a cute coed. "Cool!"
"Yes, Frank Driscal, your fame also precedes you," said Julie, as she motioned the group to follow her down a hallway filled with students. "We don't see many zombies in this part of town. Not that there's anything wrong with them."
"Or Manhattan cops either, I suppose," said Driscal. "Have you folks noticed anything unusual brewing over the last few days?"
"This is a public college, Detective Driscal; we live in constant chaos and wouldn't have it any other way," Julie informed him. "But no, nothing particularly unusual comes to mind."
"Are the people gathered for this meeting all people that you know?" Driscal asked the Dean. "Any strangers in the bunch? Outsiders from off the street that are crashing for example? Or people that joined you over the last couple of weeks or so?"
"I can scan all attendees if you wish," said Rockford. "I can compare their facial and physical characteristics with the electronic ID information they carry and with College and public records. I'll let you know of any discrepancies or recent additions."
"That would be great!" said Driscol. "I've got to keep Chief Ed safe!"
"IS THIS RELATED TO THE STONE-COAT DISASSEMBLY AND HUMAN KIDNAPPINGS THIS MORNING?" Rockford asked silently.
"YES, BUT KEEP THAT SECRET PLEASE!" said Ed.
"OF COURSE," Rockford replied. "YOU GAVE A REASONABLY GOOD COVER STORY THOUGH."
"THANKS," said Mary.
"I found no identity discrepancies or recent additions," Rockford announced aloud.
Ed wasn't very encouraged by the fact that their cover story was blown even before they were meeting with their first batch of Omega folks. And Stone Coats tended to freely communicate everything they knew to other Stone-Coats. All City Stone-Coats including Omega members would probably soon know what that these college visits were somehow related to the assault and kidnapping!
They arrived at a large half-full lecture/ classroom/ small auditorium with a huge monitor and a small stage and podium at the front of it. Roughly a hundred students and faculty gathered in the stands, talking with each other and communicating using various gadgets. Some humans wore electronic visors or had brain-chip implants, but most viewed old-time tablets or other small devices. The visitors were given seats in the front row, with Mary seated in a Stone-Coat cooling station where she could comfortably maintain her below-freezing body temperature. The well-trained academic audience sat still and quieted down when Julie and Rockford moved to stand together at the podium in front of the room and faced them.
Julie announced that they were there at the request of their guests Ed and Mary. The audience all seemed to know Mary, but there were some gasps when Ed's identity was revealed. "Chief Ed looks just like his famous grandad," Ed heard someone say.
"Overviews of Omega and our Omega Group here at Brooklyn College were requested, so we'll first show brief videos on these topics," Julie continued, bringing a collective groan from the audience. Most of them had already seen these public videos many times. Sometime over the last several decades, Ed had perhaps seen them himself. There were hundreds of public videos that addressed climate change and other crisis topics.
Ed opened his mind to empathic input and sensed the usual mix of emotions from the crowd. He could to various degrees 'read' the emotions of more than two-thirds of the humans present, but was provided no overt clues. Many were bored, many were curious, but none of them emoted unusual hate or fear. None of them seemed to be telepathic enough to broadcast cognitive thoughts. In sum, if there was a kidnapper among them, it wasn't immediately obvious to his telepathic senses. Disappointed, he returned most of his attention to the videos.
In response to growing world-wide concerns about perceived growing threats, Omega was conceived as an interdisciplinary area if study and research at CUNY more than half a century ago. Similar projects were put into place world-wide at thousands of educational centers. Out of that mission grew actual Omega classes and degrees, and every CUNY student was required to take one three-credit Omega survey class that included an overview of Omega and all Omega-identified issues. Several other classes related to the focus of this particular campus were also offered. Finally, collaborative and independent research occurred at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Apparently concern over the dumbing down of society was a real thing in academia: a legitimate topic of serious social and psychological research and interest.
At last the introductory Omega videos ended and the specific concern areas studied at Brooklyn College were briefly described by the faculty members and graduate students that led each area of research. Meanwhile throughout the lectures Ed remained open and attentive to feelings of people in the crowd. If the kidnappers were here he was determined to find them somehow!
Anti-intellectualism was identified by the first speaker to be a well-established and extensively studied social phenomenon that was deeply disturbing to all the researchers that studied it. A widespread disdain for science and reason and a rise of superstition and ignorance was described, accompanied by establishment of 'ecosystems of misinformation' on the Internet that increasingly dominated the exponentially growing glut of information being collected and cultivated there.
Religious fundamentalists championed a turning away from fact-based knowledge and discovery, and from a world-view based on facts/reality. Selected findings of solid fact-based science were rejected on religious and/or political grounds. Evolution was still denied by many, and many attributed global warming to supernatural causes. Many humans even welcomed the unfolding climate-change catastrophe as a God assisted Armageddon that would lead to eternal life for 'true' believers.
As a related phenomenon some politicians even argued that facts were whatever people decided they were; there were no such things as objective 'facts' or logic-based rationality. Reality was something that people decided on and created in their minds, and that could be shaped by religion, politics, and associated leadership. The resulting might was by proclamation right, the ends were claimed to justify the
means, and lies often worked very well when repeated enough to become a new 'truth'.
Ignorance came easy and was frequently rewarded, while disconcerting facts tended to be ignored or suppressed. Stupid people and stupid things that people did were laughed at but nevertheless defiantly often gained popularity and followings. Sports figures, actors, singers, and performers of outrageous acts were rewarded with celebrity super-star status and riches, while most scientists and other society do-gooders remained relatively obscure and unrewarded.
World-wide, fact/science denying politicians including outright tyrants rose to power through misinformation-driven elections, fascism, chaos, civil wars, and other means. It made people feel good and safe to have strong leaders and to get conformation that they were in the right, regardless of the loss of long-held principles including freedom, equality, and fairness.
A deep-rooted cynicism fed the flames of disinformation. Many people lied and cheated to get what they wanted in life and they assumed that most other people did the same. For many science and technology were distrusted as much as people were. World-wide there were expanding enclaves of people that rejected most science and technology, though there were just as many progressive societies that thrived on new technology and change. In either case technology could effectively spread information and disinformation that brought discontent and strife.
On the flip side, it was also argued that the apparent dichotomy between being an anti-science, anti-technology druid longing for the good-old days, and being a scientist/engineer praising only science and technology, was false and self-defeating. The speaker argued that there was a practical and necessary common and fertile progressive ground to seek between scientists and poets, optimists and pessimists. Science wasn't the opposite of poetry but was argued to itself be a thing of great beauty.
Another speaker made a strong argument for the rationality and positive influence of religion. Though historically religion had been used to justify terrible atrocities, in general religion was a force that contributed greatly to the good morals and hope of individuals. Several philosophical arguments were made for the existence of God, including the argument that if everything had causes, an ultimate causal agent was required: an ultimate turtle to support all aspects of reality that stood upon its back. The problems with religion arose when extreme religion created a world view that denied rather than supported facts and science, and which rejected people that held 'other' beliefs.
Ed had for many decades 'talked' telepathically with turtles and rather liked the idea of God being the ultimate turtle upon which everything else stood. Besides, the turtle metaphor fit in nicely with Mohawk myth and Greek philosophy. But it didn't seem to have a damned thing to do with finding Tracy and Mouse.
Charts were displayed that quantified a growing gap between a vast scientifically and intellectually challenged majority and a shrinking scientific and educated elite. However the dumbing-down phenomenon was also even eroding the educated elite, who like the masses were becoming 'knowledge tourists' drowning in a flood of information and disinformation, with less and less development of deeper understanding.
A virtual reality including the Internet/social media was described as removing people cognitively from reality and filling their minds with drivel that included escapist fantasy and falsehoods: a Pandora's box of shallow fast-knowledge that fed and dulled the reptilian brain much like yummy fast-food destroyed physical health. Drivel was an opiate that created a sort of obesity, diabetes, and addiction of the mind. Relatively speaking, drivel was said to be replacing fact-driven information in human culture, including practical reality-based health and science information.
Yes, much good solid information was had been building on the Internet for close to a century, but those grains of truth and wisdom were buried within a mountain of murky sludge and battered senseless by an endless deluge of commercial ads that were motivated by profit rather than a quest for truth, and misinformation that was designed to win political power rather than to simply inform.
The drivel discussion reminded Ed of paper mail that used to be delivered in the old days of snail-mail, when most mail turned out to be junk-mail. But junk-electronic media BS was often tougher to identify. The fiction of virtual reality was astutely designed by the media employed phycologists to be mind-penetrating and highly influential, because that's what generated profit or political followers. Most phycologists were nowadays employed by commercial, political, and religious organizations to 'sell' their products and ideas using various modes of media. People were cleverly enticed to pay attention to fictional stories, escapism including sports, and sensationalism of cultural oddities rather than to things that mattered more from a practical perspective.
Economic and cultural globalization, though greatly slowed by the climate change driven world crisis, continued to homogenize humanity towards a Western Civilization dominated 'normal' monoculture. In the process some things that were 'bad' dissipated, but much that was creative and 'good' as developed over many centuries by many cultures was lost. Just as countless species were becoming extinct without much human fanfare, much human cultural diversity and 'wisdom of the ages' was already gone forever.
The next speaker pointed out that like deer caught in the shiny glare of headlights people were also blinded by glitzy new evolving technology. New technology acquisition was largely a matter of fashion, sex-soaked glitz, and sales hype. Having the latest tech was more status symbol- driven than driven by needs for improvements in the quality of life or knowledge. New technology didn't inherently counter dumbing down; in many respects it strengthened it. Technology advances supported a great forgetting of people-skills and learning, and a great loss of mental alertness and physical fitness.
The speakers also criticized the ineptitude of education practices. There was still too much emphasis on rote memorization, and not enough encouragement of critical independent thought. There was still too much social promotion and dumbing down of information in classrooms so that slower students could keep up but such that quicker students didn't realize their full potential. Computer aids to teaching were increasingly helpful, but despite advances and several heralded attempts, computers hadn't successfully replaced good human teachers.
One speaker likened good teachers to personal trainers and sports coaches, who coaxed the best performance possible from students despite their mighty struggle to grow up in a stress filled environment increasingly full of distracting temptations that typically led towards immediate shallow rewards but which also often led to self-destruction and mediocrity.
It was also noted that there was ultimately still no cure for stupid, though brain computer implants helped some people in specific respects. Many students and grown citizens simply lacked the mental horsepower to learn much that was expected of them in a world that faced an increasingly complex web of challenges. And yes, dumber people tended to have more children than smarter people; an unintended trend that was indirectly government-subsidized and likely leading to an 'idiocracy' that was easier to exploit by political, religious, and commercial interests. Generation after generation, the biological 'survival of the fittest' mechanism was being circumvented by well-meaning but short-sighted social altruistic forces. At what cost to human evolution?
Was humanity stuck where it was or even devolving, lost in a biological cul-de-sac of its own cultural devising? Would new survival challenges force the best from people and improve humans biologically? Or should genetic engineers step in to create super-humans to take-over from where evolution had left off? Already it was widely rumored that many rich individuals paid for illegal genetic meddling in order to enhance the intelligence of themselves and their offspring. Was that really such a bad thing?
It was all interesting stuff perhaps, under normal circumstances, but currently irrelevant to Ed, who struggled mightily to politely sit quietly and listen to all of it. He couldn't get over the fact that the kidnapers might be in this very room! He s
uppressed a growing urge to jump up and shout something like: "Where the hell are Tracy and Mouse?"
Driscal expressed similar misgivings when two hours later the trio walked to the Humvee. "That was a total fucking waste of time!" he complained. "Hours of ivy tower BS isn't going to solve this damn case!"
Ed could sense that this was a thought coming from the mind of Driscal and not so much from his logic-driven jants, which again demonstrated that Driscal was from a human perspective high functioning for a zombie.
"I think that the detective doth protest too much," said Mary. "You just received some very enlightening lectures. You sir are an anti-intellectual!"
"And damn proud of it," countered Driscal. "We might as well have spent the last two hours on a Bahamas beach sipping nice cold drinks, if it wasn't for the fact that most of the Bahamas are washed away."
"Ironically what we just got was a dumbed down overview of the dumbing down problem," admitted Mary.
"We aren't here to get educated," noted Ed, "we're here to find the kidnappers and rescue the girls."
"And we have made genuine progress," said Mary. "We have perhaps eliminated one of the larger Omega groups from our inquiry."
"Or not," countered Driscal. "There could have been a dozen sneaky kidnappers in that audience and we wouldn't even know it."
"Too true," said Ed. "They might have to contact us for us to find them. But our best course remains to check-out Omega Groups as we have started doing, as Omega is our only clue. This visit was a partial success, I suppose, especially the sandwiches and drinks they gave us for our on-the-road lunch. If anyone has a better idea, let's hear it."
"OK, so let's get ourselves ready then," said Driscal in response, as he unlocked the Humvee. "I'll get the car cleared of new snow and warmed up and we can start to eat." He divided the bag of food between himself, Ed, and the jant colony in the back of the Humvee that provided much of his brain function. Jants were omnivorous and like the humans could get by well enough on sandwiches plus the courser dried food. Meanwhile the Humvee started itself up and the windshield wipers swept the windshield free of an accumulated half-inch of snow - along with the small envelope that had been tucked under one of the wipers and was immediately spotted and retrieved by Driscal!
With gloved hands the detective carefully opened the letter and retrieved a small note that simply said:
'They remain alive, for now. Search on.'
The typed letter ended with a hand-written Greek letter 'omega'.
"What the fuck!" said Driscol, as he slid the note and envelope into a plastic evidence bag. "The kidnappers are tailing us, that's for damned sure!"
"How?" asked Ed.
"Likely electronically," said Mary. "This vehicle features identifying transponders, navigation devices, communications devices, and so-forth. These are easily detected by Stone-Coats, by the City navigation grid, and by communication infrastructures such as radio frequency broadcast towers. Unless we walk and avoid using all electronic devices we can in principle be tracked and followed by any individual or group with modest hacking skills. And were we to walk we'd be spotted by surveillance cameras that can be hacked into and identified by facial-recognition technologies."
"And I spotted several students recording the lectures we just sat through," added Driscal. "They probably streamed them out across the world, where the kidnappers could easily find them using various search and filtering techniques."
"Maybe that's a good thing," said Ed. "It's likely that rather than us finding them they'll have to contact us. To do that they have to know where we are. In any case we might as well move on to the next college."
The Humvee was soon once again steadily driving itself through snow-covered Brooklyn. Ed hoped that the big retro-auto knew where the hell it was going. Block after block of Brooklyn looked exactly the same to him, and there was no sun visible to help determine their direction. It was still snowing and after a few turns Ed had absolutely no sense of their location or heading. "Where is this car taking us?" he asked.
"North and east into Queens and to York College," said Mary. "The York College Omega Groups focus on human mental and behavioral pathologies that could doom humanity."
"Swell," said Ed. "Crazy people. And York is also where my kids Mark and Sue go to school."
"What a coincidence," said Driscal.
"I've always had an affinity for crazy people," remarked Mary. "Their thoughts and actions can be quite surprising."
Global Warming Fun 6: Ice Giants Make Manhattan Page 6
