Chapter 1156: Professor (36)

Bruce curled his lip and said, "Yeah, a 'normal person' who sees a murder case and immediately figures out the method, solving two serial killers in three days."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Bruce's expression stiffened. He realized that his current way of speaking was becoming more and more like Shiler's.

Shiler, however, spread his hands and smiled, saying, "Can't a normal person have a few special talents? But you've hit on the key point—this is the biggest optimization in this version update."

"It's not just those serial killers; you and I are the same. Because of certain naturally superior conditions, we have a barrier between us and normal people."

"Serial killers have weak emotions and cannot empathize; they cannot understand the joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness of normal people. You possess high intelligence and are extremely wealthy, destined to drift further and further away from the society of normal people. And I, born with mental illnesses, have no way to perceive this world in a normal fashion."

"We have both detached ourselves from the lives of normal people and can only speculate on how they actually live through imagination. Even if you were to abandon your status as a billionaire and delve into the bottom rungs of society, due to the differences in intelligence and brain structure, it would still be very difficult for you to view the world entirely from a normal person's perspective."

"In your view, how could anyone not understand calculus? How could anyone not memorize three books in a single night? How could anyone not understand the mechanical structure inside a machine? But many normal people just can't."

"And so, you begin to constantly doubt: are they truly stupid, or are they unwilling to put in the effort to think?" Shiler looked into Bruce's eyes, but there was no longer that cold, mocking smile that had always been there. This indicated that he was not ridiculing anyone.

Yet Shiler's words remained piercing. Bruce looked at Shiler in silence; he admitted that he had indeed pondered this question.

When faced with situations where normal people were completely baffled by certain problems, Bruce truly felt confused, because in his view, these were not difficult problems at all—they didn't even count as problems. With just a little bit of thought, one could arrive at the answer.

Then, why exactly couldn't they think of the answer? Had their brains really tried their best? When they showed indifference toward something, was it because they couldn't think of the answer, or because they were too lazy to think?

"I suspect the answer you arrived at is that it's a bit of both," Shiler said, voicing the answer in Bruce's heart. He continued, "Some people can't think of it, some are too lazy to think, and some pretend to be too lazy to think because they can't think of it."

"But there is no doubt that their behavior has constructed your impression of normal people: chaotic, confused, and a total mess."

"To them, the whole world is full of mysteries everywhere. They can't get the answers they want, they can't do the things they want to do, and they don't know where they came from or where they are going—like lost ghosts wandering across a vast land."

Bruce discovered that Shiler's gaze had become very different. In the past, when he looked into Shiler's eyes, he always felt that he was seeing an endless abyss. Shiler's gaze had always been profound, as if it contained countless secrets that could never be excavated, like an endless dam in the middle of a stormy ocean.

But now, Shiler's gaze had become very clear. The things he wanted to say and the emotions he wanted to express could be seen to the bottom at a glance, like pebbles beside a garden pond.

"But in fact, that is not the case." Shiler turned around and gave an answer that surprised Bruce somewhat. Actually, Bruce had just agreed with Shiler's last sentence; in his view, the lives of normal people were indeed just like that—confused, ignorant, and only looking at what was right in front of them.

Shiler sat back behind his desk. The light spilled in through the floor-to-ceiling window beside the desk. He looked at Bruce with focused attention and said:

"You took a trip to the slums and saw scavengers struggling desperately on the poverty line, and saw dock workers working hard just to make ends meet. Compared to your life as a billionaire, their lives are miserable to the extreme, and their intelligence and memory are even less comparable to yours."

"And so, you feel that their lives contain only these hardships, as if they are walking in hell, which is simply too pitiful. You feel that they must be dull, stupid, and devoid of any creativity."

Shiler shook his head gently and said, "The world of normal people is far richer and more colorful than you imagine. Every person rushing along the road, although they have their own fatigue, also has their own hopes. Although they often feel pain, they can always find happiness. They each have their own dullness, but they also each have their own humor."

"They each have their own characteristics and their own strengths. In many aspects, they appear very mediocre, but occasionally, a flash of inspiration will shine through. They don't have the opportunity to walk the path of art, but they can always use their abundant emotions to create astonishing works of art."

"They don't know much, but they are exceptionally easy to satisfy. They often feel frustrated and sad, but their method of solving it is simply to lay their heads down and sleep."

"A scavenger might be happy because they passed by a video store and heard a song they liked; a dock worker might be happy because they tied a beautiful knot today."

"Bruce..." When Shiler called out Bruce's name, Bruce saw another person on his face—that person who was once his nightmare, perhaps his friend, the one who always wanted to make him smile.

"You think that ordinary people smile because they have no other way to cope with the hardships of life besides smiling, but this view is simply too serious and arrogant. Is there a possibility that they are just purely happy?"

Shiler pursed his lips, gave Bruce a big smile, and said, "You pity them because their material life is not superior enough, and they also pity you because you rarely feel happy from the heart."

Shiler leaned his body to one side, rested on the armrest, and looked at Bruce, asking, "What is your take on laziness?"

"I don't like laziness," Bruce replied.

"Indeed, neither of us likes laziness. Therefore, a long time ago—that is, when my Palace of Mind was just established—I did not have the personality trait of laziness."

"At its root, laziness is actually a manifestation of the mind being out of control. For ordinary people, the time they can fully concentrate is limited. When their focus reaches its limit, they instinctively begin to lose focus."

"However, the vast majority of people cannot reach their limit of focus. Before that happens, something interferes with them, causing them to lose focus prematurely and distracting them. This thing is called laziness."

"If a person is very tired and goes to rest, that is not called laziness; that is called self-protection. But if a person is not tired, and both their mind and body are very healthy, yet they simply do not want to do something, it might be repulsion and avoidance."

"If a person is neither tired nor unwilling to do something, but in the process of doing it, they find that they are always unable to concentrate, unable to give their all, and there is always something blocking them from putting forth their maximum effort, this is what is called laziness."

"Fundamentally, it is because ordinary people cannot precisely control their own minds and cannot manage to let the mental parts that generate motivation work at maximum efficiency while the parts that create obstacles do not work at all."

"But we can do it." Shiler tapped the tabletop lightly with his hand and looked at Bruce. Bruce walked over, sat down opposite him, and he also really wanted to know how this personality of Shiler's was created.

"Whether one can block out their own lazy thoughts is the key to a person's execution. Some people clearly have high IQs, and the plans they formulate have no problems, yet they always give up halfway and fail to complete a task, simply because they cannot block the lazy thoughts in their brains."

"Conversely, for existences like you and me, perhaps because of our innate super-high IQs, or perhaps because of our innate mental illnesses, laziness does not exist for us."

"As long as our physiological and psychological conditions have not reached their limit, and we want to do something, we will certainly be able to consistently execute all parts precisely and in place."

"Our minds are like a precision machine. We let whichever part rotate, and that part will rotate. There will absolutely never be a part we cannot feel, or that we don't know where it came from, suddenly rotating to hinder our actions."

"Therefore, in my mind, there was originally no part for laziness, and when my personality shattered and produced countless fragments of traits, naturally, I did not carry this fragment."

"Then when did you appear?" Bruce asked.

"After I received professional psychological treatment," Shiler replied. He then explained to Bruce: "Before that, I didn't know what the situation was like for other people; I thought the whole world was the same as me."

"Therefore, when situations arose where some people gave up halfway through doing something but felt remorse after giving up, I would feel very confused. I didn't understand: since they wanted to do it, why didn't they? Why did they give up after doing it? And why did they regret it after giving up?"

"I didn't understand what was blocking them. Later, a doctor told me that it was actually laziness." Shiler stared into Bruce's eyes and said, "He also told me that not having laziness is not an entirely good thing."

"The parts that generate motivation allow a person to produce various positive emotions during the process of completing a task, such as the excitement and anticipation before starting, the composure and calmness during the process, and the sense of achievement after completion."

"When these emotions are generated, our brains need to make corresponding responses: cooling down when the heat of excitement is too high, adding fuel when calm thinking leads to low spirits, and affirming ourselves when a sense of achievement appears, endowing it with higher value."

"The lazy parts, however, cause a person to produce various negative emotions during the process of failing to complete a task, such as hesitation before starting, annoyance during the process, remorse and sadness after giving up halfway, and self-denial."

"When these negative emotions are generated, the brain also needs to make corresponding responses, such as urging when there is excessive hesitation, stabilizing the mindset when annoyed, comforting oneself when remorseful, and striving for balance when self-denying."

"If a person only has the parts that generate motivation and can only generate positive emotions, then their brain is constantly balancing the work of positive emotions, and it is very likely that overcorrection will occur."

"For example, if the brain is always suppressing excitement and anticipation, and exercises this ability to be particularly strong, it is very likely that when excitement and anticipation are not so high, it will erase all positive emotions, leaving a person in a constant state of low spirits and disappointment."

"In a state of rational thinking and low emotion, pushing emotions too high leads to irritable or even violent behavior."

"When a sense of achievement appears, excessive self-affirmation leads to becoming arrogant and narcissistic, unable to listen to others' opinions."

Shiler looked at Bruce with a smile and said with emphasis, "Such a person is very terrifying, right, 'Bruce'?"