Trembling At A High Altitude

I must state again: The viewpoint expressed in this chapter only represents the perspective of the character, Mad Scientist Yao Xue's mother, and does not represent the author's viewpoint, nor does it imply that the protagonist will accept these views. Moreover, it doesn't suggest that the plot setting of this book will proceed as such. Please engage these theories with your own rational thinking.

The text above is not counted in the VIP chapter's word count.

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"To avoid the omnipotent gene from blocking and interfering with human technology, they created this independent area, Film and Television City, where genes could not intrude—a clean zone," the director continued.

"I see, can you explain it in more detail?" Li Teng hadn't really understood.

"At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a scientist conducted an experiment where he implanted cow embryo cells into the brain, eyes, and other parts of the cow's body. He wanted to test whether these embryo cells could be cultured outside of the womb."

"He thought the embryo cells would die quickly, but the result shocked him immensely."

"He discovered that these embryo cells aggressively attacked the body's tissue cells, transforming them into a placenta, and then began voraciously absorbing nutrients. Their developmental process was no different from that of cancer cells."

"It was then that he understood why the inner wall of the human uterus is covered with various lethal immune cells. The truth was completely contrary to original human knowledge. Pregnancy is not as intimate between mother and child as imagined; the womb is not the best environment for nurturing embryos, but rather their purgatory!"

"But why do mothers still choose to have children, and even have many?"

"It is merely their genes driving them to sacrifice themselves for further replication of their own genes."

"For the fetus, to ensure its genes survive, it must absorb as many nutrients as possible from the mother, regardless of her well-being."

"The mother's uterus, to prevent the fetus from absorbing nutrients unrestrictedly, is covered with various lethal immune cells. This allows the fetus to only receive the bare minimum of nutrients necessary for its survival, minimizing the loss to the mother herself."

"The fetus sends various hormones back to the mother, including adrenaline to increase her blood pressure, glucagon to increase her blood sugar, and angiogenic factors to increase her blood flow and heart rate. All of this is just to extract more energy from the mother."

"The uterus also monitors the fetus at all times. If it detects that the fetus is taking too much or is unhealthy, it immediately ceases nutrient supply and expels it from the body."

"To prevent being expelled, the fetus anchors its blood vessels very deeply, forcing the mother to risk severe bleeding if she wants to reject it. This severe bleeding could even threaten the mother's life."

"To retain the power to expel the fetus, mothers every month train the ability of the endometrial lining to shed at great cost and through enduring pain. Essentially, they're training to ensure that no matter how deep the fetus's blood vessels are embedded, it can't stay indefinitely."

"So, being pregnant for ten months is not a tender affair, but rather a fierce battle between mother and child in the womb."

"The so-called maternal love and filial piety, human morality—all of it is false. From the moment the embryo implants in the mother's body, it has been battling with her. The only purpose of this battle is genes, to leave behind more of their copies."

"After you are born, does your mother truly love you?"

"That's just an illusion."

"It's just her genes inside her, ordering her to protect the genes inside you."

"Because a child carries half of the mother's genes, and the mother is old, having fulfilled her mission of passing on her genes, the child is more valuable to the genes. So, in critical situations, the genes will direct the mother to die for her child, thereby preserving the child."

"Scientists have filmed many instances in Africa where antelope mothers, to protect their young, offer themselves to crocodiles. Animals cannot love like humans do, nor possess a societal meaning of love for their young. Their utmost instinct is survival. The antelope mothers give up their instinct for survival not due to maternal instincts but because genes are manipulating everything behind the scenes."

"Having spoken about maternal love, let's now talk about romantic love."

"So-called love is just manipulation by genes behind the scenes," he mused.

"From the previous battle between mother and child, we already know that the cost of women reproducing is very high, but for men, it's incredibly low. For men, their pleasure ends quickly, and after that, all the costs are borne and endured by the women."

"That's why women demand that men buy houses and cars. It's not the women demanding, it's their genes demanding the men's genes to help balance these costs. Otherwise, they would refuse to help reproduce the genes within men."

"In nature, the most extreme example is that of the male mantis being eaten by the female during mating without resisting at all. He doesn't resist because his genes, which are in control, are simply balancing out the trading costs between the two. The bodies hosting these genes, or their so-called lives, are just expendable commodities in this trade."

"When it comes to human males courting, they also perform acts of reckless sacrifice for their female counterparts, just like the male mantis. Essentially, there is no difference from the female mantis eating the male during mating."

"Yet, we call this sacrifice and a man's vow to love one woman for his entire life, 'love.'"

"Ridiculous love."

"Genes control the body through hormones inside a human, making the person feel joy, happiness, and the readiness to risk it all for their partner, while the body's owner thinks all this is love, something beautiful."

"In reality, it's just genes controlling humans, needing to find the other half to reproduce and carry on."

"Affection, love, maternal love – they're just different modes of operation of this genetic machine. Human bodies, families, and clans are merely tools used by genes to survive and reproduce more extensively in natural selection. The human body is also just a machine, and humans are not in control; genes are the true controllers of this machine."

"There are many questions in nature that cannot be explained by Darwin's theory of biological evolution. But if you replace the word 'biological' with 'genetic,' transforming it into a theory of genetic evolution, all questions are easily answered."

"The evolution of all living things is just the evolution of genes, the evolution of populations. As long as the populations and genes survive, the individuals within these populations are expendable and insignificant."

"Look at the colonies of ants and bees to better understand the relationship between populations, genes, and individuals."

"But, are we really helpless against the tyranny of genes?"

"Is every individual merely expendable at any moment by our genes?"

"Humans are the only creatures with wisdom, the only species capable of resisting the tyranny of genes because we think, reflect, establish civilizations, and create cultures."

"Movies, television, games, novels, comics…"

"These are advanced forms of cultural expression."

"Only these things can exist without interference from genes, break free from them, and be passed down and even evolve through generations."

"They are collectively known as 'memes.'"

"Memes are humanity's weapon against the tyranny of genes; genes reside in our bodies, while memes exist in our brains, in our consciousness."

"It's a war between the consciousness of the brain and the genes of the body."

"Film and Television City is a sanctuary for the brain's consciousness."

"A vast laboratory, unspoiled and unpolluted by genes."