Chapter 1086 — No Longer Sacred
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"...I have heard that name more than once lately, and more than once I have guessed at its mechanisms and functions. I can guess that you intend to tamper with the operating mechanisms of the gods, but I cannot guess how exactly you plan to do it," Luo Yan said. "You mentioned several concepts in broad strokes—universal literacy, regularization of the churches, emancipation of thought... So lately I have been pondering what the greatest commonality among them might be."
"The greatest commonality is 'desacralization,'" Gao Yang said, looking into Luo Yan's eyes. At last he had spoken the word aloud, brought it onto the table, laid it before a partner in alliance—yet he had never imagined that this partner would be Luo Yan Augustus. In that moment, even he could not help but marvel at the strangeness of fate. The development of all things in this world is always so unexpected. "Since we both know how the gods came to be, then by reasoning backward a little, we can also work out how they might 'cease to be.'"
Desacralization—the instant Luo Yan heard the word, he narrowed his eyes out of instinct.
As for the true operating core behind Gao Yang's vast plan, he had pondered it for a long time over the past period. He had read through every book Gao Yang had written, was thoroughly familiar with every argument in them, knew every decision Gao Yang had made over the past several years, and had continuously distilled principles from them. Regarding the Theocratic Council, he had in fact nearly glimpsed the whole shape of the plan—lacking only one key word, one hint of a "key."
Now, at last, he knew what that key was.
"Will this work?" He regarded Gao Yang with unprecedented solemnity. "Relying on desacralization alone?"
"Of course not on that one method alone, but it will be the most influential factor among them," Gao Yang explained. "After analyzing the generation principles and operating mechanisms of the gods, we have determined that it is the 'thought currents' of vast numbers of believers that shape the gods and influence them over long periods. And the foundation of such thought currents is 'attributing everything to the divine'—it is precisely because people firmly believe that some matter is the authority of a god that the corresponding authority becomes a god existing in reality. Blocking that process, then, is the key..."
"Blindness and ignorance give rise to such 'thought currents,'" Luo Yan took up the thread himself. "Because people do not know the truth of some matter, and have never even heard of any method grounded in logic for explaining the unknown, they naturally steer the answer toward some being that requires no explanation at all..."
"Yes, the key lies in 'thinking'—active 'thinking,'" Gao Yan nodded. "Only when thinking becomes a habit will people, upon encountering the unknown, first think of the logic behind it rather than attributing it all to some sacred and omnipotent being. And such thinking... must be built on a certain degree of educational普及—on a foundation of widespread education, while also requiring control over the influence of the churches."
"But the wise are always few," Luo Yan tried to find the unattainable points in this theory. "There is no such perfect state in which everyone can think rationally. Nor can you guarantee that education, once普及, will have so ideal an effect on every person—far more likely there will be countless half-informed fools and countless grandstanding 'tavern scholars.' Their thinking has nothing to do with truth; the distance between real knowledge and their minds may be wider than the boundless ocean. Such people..."
A subtle expression crossed Luo Yan's face. Clearly he was not merely deducing these outcomes—he genuinely knew them well. And Gao Yang immediately thought of why Luo Yan's description of these phenomena was so accurate—