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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Science Fiction
- Subject: Love / Romance / Dating
- Published: 10/25/2021
Spectacles.
Born 1951, M, from Wilmington NC, United States.jpeg)
I was busy talking to myself. I mean they should work. But would they? Heck, I don’t know. Nobody ever tried to use micro signals released from the firing of neurons in the brain to build a map of what a person, or who a person, really is. I might be nuts. Well, okay, according to the Mental Health folks, if you think you are crazy, you aren’t. But what I am trying to do sure is.
I am a neuroscientist. I am not a Psychiatrist. I have no interest in Religion, Spirituality, or Faith. I did pick up another Doctorate in Physics so I could understand the parameters for what I am trying to accomplish. My question was simple: What do we really think? Thoughts form - and then get filtered through a whole complex skeleton of neuronal/ electrochemical, and physical contacts in the brain. For example:
“My God, he’s fat.”
Might be the first reaction thought to seeing your Sister’s boyfriend for the first time. But that isn’t what you say. You don’t want to hurt your sister’s feeling, or his (both are also thoughts that come into play before you even have time to speak) . He might be your Brother in Law someday, and maybe, once you get to know him, you can ask about his weight. Not now.
You notice he is wearing a Football Jersey. You recognize the team. You know a bit about that team.
“Nice to meet you, Mike. Are you a Brown’s Fan or did my sister find that a garage Sale and think you should have it?”
Mike laughs.
He knows my Sister loves to go to garage sales. And, like me, he has tons of T-shirts that she chose, usually correctly, to add to our wardrobes. It is a safe opening to a conversation. So Mike answers:
“No. I really am a Brown’s Fan. I think we are going to have a good year this year.”
Again, my first thought doesn’t make it to my mouth. Because that first thought was: “Poor Brown’s Fans, they say that every year.” But that isn’t what I said out loud. Out loud I said:
“Well, with Baker out, Keenum has to really step up his game.”
My Sister interrupts us both:
“I didn’t want you guys to talk football all day, I just wanted you to meet before we go eat lunch.”
We both laugh. Mike gives me a wink…that lets me know we shall talk football later. His weight never came up.
So that is what I am working on…what if you could catch that first neural cascade in action? You could tell what a person was really thinking. Removing all the Social, Politically Correct, or ulterior smoke screens. You could, in affect, read their real thoughts. I know it sounds ambitious. But that is what I have been working on for over two decades. Lots of trial and error.
I mean really, have you ever tried to pick up a signal of only fifty five mini volts (the action potential energy of a firing neuron) through a half inch of bone, four or five inches of tapioca like goo (the brain) and then the distance the signal attenuates as it crossed the skull into the open air to a receptor a meter or so away…the transmitter is your brain, the receptor is my glasses. Yes, glasses.
I couldn’t design something that looked like a gun with a targeting system to amplify the signal enough to understand. Pointing anything that looks like a gun at someone in America could get you killed. We don’t have a good track record with anything that looks like a firearm. So that approach was shot down immediately.
Anything with obvious antennas and dials to establish a link to those energy spikes would also be so intrusive (and plain to see) that most folks would either truly guard their thoughts, or walk away. Or worse. So that was out too. But glasses? Nobody notices Glasses unless they are on a pretty girl, or handsome man. Most folks wear contacts. Right now, well, I don’t have the technical or nanotechnology to fit all that I need in a contact lens.
So I managed to configure my imaging and signal receptors in a pair of ordinary looking spectacles. The simple fact that they only had to be passive receivers of signals and not broadcast any, made my job so much easier. Ha! If you can call twenty years of trial and error, and constant technical re-education, easy.
And now…well, they are ready. My first pair of Spectacles. I hope they work.
They did.
*****
I sat next to the pond. I often did. It has been two decades since I invented “Spectacles.” It made me filthy rich. And a loner. You see (no pun intended) if you wear my Spectacles- well, you can spot a Gold Digger a mile away (not true, one to three meters is the optimum distance - any further and the signal decays to much to be accurate). You can spot a Con Artist, a Phony, and a Ne’er do Well just as easily. I sit here often to think about the unintended consequences of my spectacles.
It turns out that by reading the actual original thoughts of a person, you can also read intent. That changed two things dramatically: Policing and Dating. The justice system became a whole lot more efficient…and fair. A punk just out for trouble did not broadcast the same “thoughts” as a kid stuck in poverty just trying to get some candy for his Mom on her birthday. The Justice system underwent a major overhaul. A welcome one for most.
Dating. Well that was tougher. It turns out we are all way more Horny than we thought…especially between puberty and about age forty five. It took a while to sort out the subtle differences between: attraction, the drive to reproduce, and sexual desire. We are hard wired (no pun intended) to want to have sex with just about any healthy person who meets our basic standards for beauty. Blonde, blue eyes, dark skin, brown eyes, wide shoulders, narrow hips, or full breasts, long legs, or big butts. Those things are highly individual. Wanting to mate is universal.
Put on a pair of Spectacles when you go on a date…and you can see if the other person is just out for a fling, or if they really want to get to know you. In the age group I mentioned, it is likely both at first. One of the stranger findings from the Data Gathered from folks who wear my spectacles is this: The number of people you might like to sleep with is huge compared to the number of people you would like in your life everyday.
The latest numbers show that most of us only want one or two people to be in our lives for years - even decades. And that the most we can consistently bond with and hang onto- is five. Yep. Five. Big Families only look “tight” once they move out of the house. They always “love” Family, but they often go weeks, months and even years without seeing each other. The connection is always there, but not actual physical presence. So you love your brother, but are glad he lives in Michigan. LOL
Lying? Done. Over with. Erased. You can’t lie to someone wearing my spectacles. They “read” your real thoughts. Remember when I said Mike was fat…and you could cover that up with Social Niceties. Not if you are wearing my Spectacles. Not a chance. Nobody ever made any rules, or laws, but over the last few decades a protocol has come about. Nobody wears my spectacles all the time. Nor do they wear them much in Public.
No. Custom has arisen for when, where, and how long to keep you Spectacles on. People meet for a date, have a chat, a bite to eat, and then say:
“Do you mind if I put my Spectacles on?’ Refusal is considered rude, and a Red Flag that no one ever ignores. If they ask politely to put their spectacles on…and you decline. They simply get up and leave. No hard feelings. The Date is over. On the other hand, if someone asks you to put your Spectacles on…well that means they think you can learn something about how they feel about you. It takes a great deal of trust to ask someone else to “Spectacle” you.
Most people don’t ask the other person to wear their Spectacles unless they want to prove something to you. Like: I love you. Or: “This is who I am, really.” Or even:”See, I am telling the absolute truth as I know it.” Most times it works out, sometimes, well, disappointment sets in. Being willing to expose your true thoughts doesn’t always mean the other person will react how you think.
Spectacles did cut the Divorce rate by almost ninety percent. If both of you are wearing Spectacles and you both say “I do.” Well, you mean it. And if either of you has an affair later…the age old question : “But do you still love me?” Can be answered with a glance. So flings could be forgiven, and worked thru. Cheating, real cheating, where you lied about loving one, or the other (or both) is caught outright.
Custom also stopped the old con. Only a fool would stick around when someone said: “If you put your Spectacles on, you don’t really trust me.” That might happen once…at twelve- no spectacles, no date - is drummed into everyone by the First year of HighSchool…and it has changed the game. Most forms of abuse are now rare…and usually involve keeping someone from their spectacles. But that is short lived, because anyone nearby wearing spectacles would catch you for who you really are anyway. I told you, it changed the Justice and Political System forever.
It is why I sit by my pond now. It is habit. The Government built this place for me that second month after my Company was formed. Turns out a whole lot of Political Rhetoric was simply BS. I can’t tell you how many attempts were made on my life that first year. It took three years for everyone to have Spectacles. In fact, they are mandated in every country on Earth now.
Meetings are held by Governments and Spectacles are required. It has shaped how we think now. So we pipe water from the East Coast to the Desert now…something not possible when Politicians were just trying to get votes. It took only fifteen months to set the first pipeline up. Lake Meade is full. So is the Colorado river, the Rio Grande, and all the Rivers of the West and SouthWest. Because of Spectacles. Who knew?
I live alone now. The Spectacles haven’t been my friend. Turns out, I am easy to like, and hard to love. Few people want to hang around the guy who made lying impossible. Most tolerate me, but they don’t wear their spectacles when they are around me, and I don’ wear mine around them. I don’t want to know their thoughts, and they are afraid of mine.
*****
I was grocery shopping when it happened. I never expected it. Ever. I mean I met her by accident. She was leaving FoodLion when her grocery bag broke. A half gallon of Chocolate mile fell down and burst on the asphalt. She said:
“Oh, crap.”
I reached in my grocery bag and handed her a half gallon of Chocolate milk.
“Here you go. I have another one. I shall run back in and tell them they need a clean up.”
“But I have to pay you for this (Swinging my half gallon jug with her hand).”
“No. Consider it a Christmas gift. I always keep extra around. Don’t want to run out of Chocolate milk, you know.”
“There must be someway I can repay you.”
I smiled.
“You just did. Thanks for the kindness.”
She didn’t even hesitate.
“Well, (reaching into her bag and pulling out some Powdered Sugar Donuts) I have these, and some plastic cups.”
She pointed to a picnic table under a tree near the parking lot.
“Suppose we share?”
I agreed.
We chatted for a while. And a while longer. The chocolate milk was gone, so were all the powered sugar donuts. The sun was even going down. She looked over at me:
“Do you mind if I put my Spectacles on?”
I reached for mine too. It wasn’t really necessary. It just confirmed what we both already knew.
Sometimes you don’t need Spectacles to see what is right in front of your eyes.
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