014: beards_records_superstition
Subject A has experienced a period of boredom, forcing him to seek new ways of occupying himself in the pod. To maintain our mandate, we have not provided any additional forms of entertainment, which appears to have inspired his creative side.
We have witnessed examples of vanity many times during our multiple trials, the current detainees experimenting with different styles of facial hair is yet another. Some of the designs represent major historical and political significance, but no matter the esteem or stigma they held, all were ultimately regrettable.
They moved on to discuss world records, specifically the bizarre challenges humans set for themselves that were recognised by an organisation named ‘Guinness’. Apparently they also produced a delicious alcoholic beverage, perhaps we could synthesise and sample it at our next team building day?
These record attempts help illustrate the reckless and wasteful nature of their species: carrying out absurd activities that push the limits of human endurance and decency, often resulting in serious injury and death, or even worse, irredeemable embarrassment.
A thoughtful conversation around superstitions followed, probing the origins and cultural significance of assigning intention to coincidence. They study superstitious behaviour in sport, religion and tradition, then theorise about causes including mental illness, social bias and environmental stimulants. This phenomenon is not something our kind have suffered from: the concept of not having complete and utter control over our destiny is entirely alien to us, the illogical notion of any external influence deciding our fate could cause the majority of our population to simply cease operating entirely.
Subject B revealed they have been carrying out some research into the demise of humankind, in particular the specific point in their timeline that we now recognise to be their civilisations’ death throes. It would be prudent to observe this investigation to see if they draw the same conclusion as we have, and if they identify how those mistakes could have been avoided. Until this moment I hadn’t considered either of them to be candidates for establishing the first society in our ‘Earth Two’ program, but suddenly I am intrigued to discover what their hybrid spawn could achieve.
Signed,
An Observer
Intermission: Branched by rwlr
