Author: DJ Tantillo

So why am I trapped in a steel box?

Intelligence.

Once the connection between intelligence and entropy – the latter in the form of the maximization of possible futures as a marker of the former – was shown to be valid for individuals as well as species, the sewer cover was rolled aside and we jumped into the dark. Now we could quantify intelligence, including emotional intelligence, through simple tests that could be administered to children.

At age seven, everyone is tested and receives two scores: one for analytical intelligence and one for empathetic intelligence. The results of these are never revealed to the test-taker, but are stored in a secure databank that serves a single purpose: to run elections. Both scores are used as scaling factors on one’s votes, meaning the votes of those with higher scores are weighted more heavily in determining the outcome of each election. Since no one knows their scores, no one knows how much their vote actually counts. Conspiracists assume that they are being repressed, but that is no different than before. On the whole, platforms of candidates now are based more on logic and compassion than on politics. The past century has been peaceful.

So what went wrong?

I discovered the fraud. Turns out that the original research on individual entropy potential as a measure of individual intelligence was faked. The scientists involved wanted fame. They got it. They believed their hypothesis to be true, but they lacked patience for the process of science. So they cheated.

And then they were proven right. Study after subsequent study validated their fake results and our intelliocrasy was born.

Should I tell the world about the fraud? Of course I should. And of course I shouldn’t. Since a superposition of those two states is not possible, I have to choose. But I couldn’t. I tried but it broke me. I couldn’t stomach the responsibility of doing so, of bearing the consequences of my action or willful inaction.

Then they found me and made the decision for me. They told me they’d let fate decide. They thought they were being funny in the manner of death they chose for me. They were sure it didn’t matter whether or not the world knew the truth.

So they built me Schrödinger’s box. In classic kill-the-cat style, at some point the Geiger counter will trigger the hammer drop, shatter the vial and release the poison. I’ll go out quickly. If my heart monitor stops on an even numbered second, my computer will erase my research and my sin will be one of omission. If it stops on an odd numbered second, everything I’ve found will be posted to the net and I may undo peace with truth. Or not, if you believe them.

I guess it’s time to do my part to increase the entropy of the universe.