Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 157 - 158 The Next 1000 Years

Chapter 157: Chapter 158: The Next 1000 Years

Chapter 157 -158: The Next 1000 Years

Zhang Yuan still felt a bit of sadness in his heart. After this hibernation, he would probably never see his teacher again.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, you’re not choosing to hibernate? Perhaps, you could wake up after reaching the Mother Star in the future.”

Academician Ding waved his hand, “No, following the doctor’s advice, with my current physical condition, it’s likely that once I go to sleep, I may never wake up again. Various life-extending technologies don’t work well on someone as aged as I am…”

“As I’ve gotten older, sometimes I too wish to rest a bit, to spend my days in retirement with a few old friends, living the life a normal person should.”

“But, before that, there are a few matters I want to discuss with you.”

Zhang Yuan perked up; the serious matters were coming.

The first thing their entire school wanted to promote was the “social pension system.” Without this system, all subsequent plans would be mere idle talk.

If nothing changed and they continued to develop in this safe and stable manner, after a thousand years, they would still be that mediocre Human civilization…

This was something no one wanted to witness.

Seeing Zhang Yuan’s and Zhao Qingfeng’s serious expressions, Academician Ding smiled lightly, “No need to be so pessimistic. First, take a look at this population report. Over these many years, the number of people choosing to become life partners has increased by 422%, with only 38% of the population still single. Even you, Zhang Yuan, have found a life partner, which is a cause for celebration.”

Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but frown a little, what did he mean by “even you have found a life partner”?

After making a small joke, Academician Ding continued, “That means, we have approximately 150,000 couples!”

“And in the two thousand years, the number of babies born, which is the added population, is only a little over a thousand, even under the poor living conditions and discouraging fertility policies…”

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“Do you understand what this extremely low fertility rate implies?”

Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment; it was inevitable that the low quality of life would significantly reduce people’s desire to have children.

The population aboard the spaceship consisted mainly of highly educated individuals, not farmers from the mountains. If they couldn’t provide a good living environment for the next generation and ensure good breeding, they would rather remain childless. This cultural phenomenon had already emerged during the Earth Era; children were not toys and were not born merely to take care of the elderly, it was more about responsibility and burden.

Academician Ding continued, “According to current statistical data, the environment is poor, material conditions are lacking, so the fertility rate is low, which is easy to understand.”

“Once we arrive at our destination and obtain abundant resources, the first issue we must address is solving survival problems and improving our living environment. The primary duty of a person is survival; if we can’t even satisfy our basic needs, we can’t handle other matters, let alone ideal morals.”

Zhang Yuan nodded; that was natural.

“But development has its priorities; some technologies can significantly improve the quality of life and fertility rates, some can provide spiritual enjoyment and pleasure, and some can enhance medical services… I think, the most important thing is to reinvent the Biological technology from Earth to significantly increase the average lifespan, not the other fancy stuff…”

Zhang Yuan opened his mouth, “Why?”

“Labor force, my friend; prolonging lifespan means an increase in the labor force!”

“For you young people, the effects of these lifespan-extending technologies would be much better, meaning… everyone could live to two hundred or even over three hundred years.”

“Anyway, these technologies were all invented by Earth people, we don’t need to pay any patent fees, nor do we need to raise prices or seek profits, consider it a public welfare!”

“Also, the public will definitely not oppose it. If given a choice between living up to 300 years with a higher quality of life and only 150 years, I believe most people would choose longevity.”

Zhang Yuan nodded his head.

Academician Ding spoke in a low voice, “What’s more critical is that this would reduce the intent to ‘give birth for old age support’ …”

“The natural population growth rate will continue to be greatly suppressed!”

“Think about it, the work pressure is high, lifespans are increasing, society is thriving, and there are no elders pushing these young people to have children. Naturally, everyone would think about having children later, allowing their children to enjoy a brighter tomorrow. According to historical experience on Earth, it’s common to have children at one hundred years old… delaying a few decades doesn’t seem to be a big deal.”

Zhang Yuan pondered for a moment, confused, “But, don’t we need a large population… with only 500,000 people, it’s far from enough for industrialization.”

Academician Ding smiled, a smile that slowly turned into a steely sharpness.

He articulated slowly and clearly, “We need a population, but not one that is naturally born!”

“The naturally born population is a huge obstacle to the social pension system! Moreover, the birth rate of the natural population is too slow… far too slow.”

“Time is not on our side. The equipment we carry aboard the spaceship is limited, our population is limited, and once this equipment is fully operational, it will rapidly age and depreciate, and at most, they can only last a few decades.”

“…The higher-quality population is also mainly concentrated in our generation. We are the elites selected from a population of ten billion, the high-tech talents from various systems. The subsequent generations, in terms of intelligence or other basic abilities, cannot compare with us…”

“So, what will happen in the future? Even if we let go and have children, the annual birth rate will definitely not exceed 2%! It will take 30 years to not even double our numbers, and remember, we are not farmers.”

“If we don’t have enough people, we can’t achieve industrialization!”

“When our generation has all aged and passed, and when the spaceship’s failure rate gets higher, if we still haven’t established a complete industrial system, our descendants will perish on this Outer Planet!”

Zhang Yuan took a deep breath, earnestly contemplating the possibility of this future happening.

Yes, it would happen! It was highly likely to happen!

The Outer Planet was not Earth, its ecological environment was extremely harsh. Without solid industrial support, and with the spaceship aging, various flaws emerging, if the spaceship is eventually scrapped, everyone would just await their death!

“…Under such a situation with no alternative, we must rapidly increase the population! With the extremely low natural fertility intent, using artificial womb technology to mass-produce babies becomes the only choice!”

When the Earth Era spaceship set off from Earth, it carried the Human gene pool, including sperm and eggs from superior gene contributors.

“Consequently, a large number of artificial babies appeared, without parents, growing from artificial wombs, raised by robots from a young age, their ideologies not the same as us natural people… I call them the new humans.”

“This process will take about twenty to thirty years. By then, millions of new humans, raised by robots, will significantly exceed the number of natural people, and they will have stepped into society, exerting their influence.”

“They are the natural supporters of the social pension system.”