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By Vishakha I K

Location: The Divine Council meeting

Agenda: To discuss the low cosmic energy output of Earth belonging to the Milky Way galaxy.

Presided by The Almighty Zeus.

Tyche, the Goddess of Risk Management took to the podium to address the gathering.

" Dear brothers and sisters, I stand here today seeking your wise counsel. We have an unprecedented situation on our hands that demands our immediate attention. "

There was a sense of urgency in her voice.

" The cosmic energy output from planet Earth of the Milky way galaxy has gone below the lower threshold for the first time since the creation of the planet. If we don't intervene, I'm afraid the energy balance of the universe will be disturbed", she concluded.

"Give us a brief status update based on Mercury's report, Tyche" Zeus instructed.

" Earth of the Milky Way was created 4.5 billion years ago as part of the Higher Consciousness experiment. Around 6 million years ago we introduced human beings to this planet. They were created in our likeness. They were given the ability to think, create and question. For several million years they used their abilities towards making their Earth a better place to inhabit. As we studied their evolution, we found a positive correlation between their ability to think, create and cosmic energy output of the planet. Thus, we created certain events like natural disasters, communicable diseases, wars, recessions to further stimulate their ability to think and create. As they continued to think, their cosmic energy output soared! But of late their energy output has hit an all-time low. So, we sent Mercury's messengers on an observe and report mission. Brothers and Sisters, what they have reported is truly worrying " Tyche took a deep breath before continuing,

"Human beings of earth have outsourced their power of thinking to a lesser being. They call it " Artificial Intelligence ". There is a dearth of original thinking and creativity. Instead of dealing with their problems head-on, human beings are employing AI to solve their problems for them! From music to the fine arts, AI has become omnipotent. With such a trusty assistant, human beings are using their mental faculties to mindlessly kill time instead of creating better solutions. With a decline in original thinking, the planet's cosmic energy is on the decline as well. " Tyche concluded.

"It's true!!"- Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, spoke up, " When these human beings were thinkers, they offered me beautifully worded poems and prose as offerings. Oh! How I loved the works of a Human called Shakespeare!! He knew how to give form to feelings!! But now? All I ever get is something called 'click bait'?! It is only a hollow expression of feelings using generic words. I'm appalled at their lack of effort!"

"But I am constantly providing stimulation to these beings" Eres, the God of adversities, spoke up while looking into his scroll of adversities, "my staff have reported that they have increased irritability by 150% through Traffic Jams, Global warming, Facebook and Instagram black outs and Internet outages!! "

"Internet outage is a Level-9 weapon!! Eres, are you telling me that the most powerful weapon in our Arsenal has FAILED?! " Zeus spoke through clenched teeth.

"I'm afraid so my Lord" Eres answered without looking up.

The mood in the council was grim.

Suddenly the doors swung open and Narcissus, the God of vanity, walked in with all his glory.

"Hello all!" he spoke in his trademark sing-song voice, " I have come to grace you all with my presence and my melodious voice! "

"Narcissus, you weren't invited. You aren't smart enough, brave enough or capable enough to contribute in any way to this meeting", Tyche said with a sarcastic smile.

" Sure, Tyche. I am not any of those things that you described. But the Gods who are smart, brave and capable haven't been able to solve your little energy problem. Have they? " Narcissus chided.

" Narcissus!! " Zeus thundered, " Your juvenile mind cannot fathom the gravity of the situation we are dealing with here. So, it is in your best interest to exit immediately"

Narcissus felt like a child being reprimanded by an angry father. But he wasn't going to let anything get to him today. Today was his day to shine. This was the opportunity he was waiting for.

"Maybe we need to be a little juvenile Lord, " Narcissus continued, " I am here with a specific purpose. I have the perfect solution for your problem with earth".

The council was all ears.

" Care to elaborate? " Tyche broke the silence.

Narcissus was soaking in the attention. He jubilantly continued, "You have used pain to stimulate these beings from time immemorial. The pain strategy worked until it didn't. So, maybe it is time to try another strategy. Say, Pleasure?! "

"But pain creates the most impact. Pleasure is fleeting. It has never inspired anything of value! " Athena interrupted.

"Oh! These humans have never experienced pleasure like this, sister dearest!" Narcissus fought back "I'm talking instant gratification, constant validation and unending appeal to one's vanity!!"

"Are you suggesting corrupting the minds with vices, Narcissus?? Is that your BIG solution? " Tyche almost laughed it off.

"Oh sister, retract your claws. I meant using the vices as a spark to rekindle the creative fire. Take greed for instance. We will make humans greedy for validation. But not validation from within but greedy for validation from strangers. That way they will never be satisfied and will be perpetually stuck in trying to better themselves. A forever hamster wheel!! " Narcissus closed eyes to soak in the adulation that he was sure would follow.

"I don't see merit in this plan brother! They could just use this Artificial Intelligence to gain instant gratification or validation. Where is the guarantee that they will use their own thinking? " Athena was curious.

"But you forget something, sister, Narcissus continued, " Since they are created in our likeness, their vices can only be satisfied by themselves and not by their artificial assistant. Whose compliment will you value more? The one that comes from other Gods or that which comes from mere mortals? "

Narcissus then continued to explain his plan of action and implementation road map to the council.

"Once my plan is implemented, you can rest assured knowing that humans of earth will be stuck competing with each other in pursuit of pleasure while increasing the cosmic energy output! You can thank me now. " Narcissus concluded.

*****

It was February 9, 2009. Facebook introduced the "Like" button for the first time. Soon you could provide approval to anyone with just a click of a button. Humans were thrilled. They immediately started chasing "Likes". Some used beauty, some shared knowledge, some shared stories- all in pursuit of more likes. Humans thrived on the instant gratification it provided.

There was another website called YouTube that let humans share videos. It also provided the option to "Like" Videos. But you could also "Share" the videos that you liked with other humans. It also encouraged you to "Subscribe" so that you would never miss a video from your favourite stranger. This further spurred human creativity to new heights. "Like, Share and Subscribe" became a new mantra on Earth.

Somewhere on Mt. Olympus Narcissus smiled, for he had won.

By Vishakha I K