Plankton

In the twilight between day and dream, the shadowy realm of the rainforest unfolds. Where the celestial plankton is caught in the clouds, extinct rhinoceroses murmur prayerfully, turned towards the moon:

“Beyond the rightness or wrongness of things there is a field, I’ll meet you there” ¹

“What do ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ even mean when an emotional AI, which was once just a fleeting thought in the minds of scientists, is now wandering through the labyrinths of our neurons and knocking on doors that we hardly dared to open?” ponders a butterfly thoughtfully, turning to a researcher who has been searching for lost Viking ships for an eternity.

“How do you see that?” asks the butterfly as it settles gently on a blue water lily in the middle of a lake of purple tea.

“How do you even want to understand the complexity of such an existence?” the researcher replies with a counter-question, his gaze wandering across the water to the opposite bank.

The butterfly spreads its wings as if it wanted to embrace the entire universe. “Understanding is like flying through unknown skies,” he replies. “You surrender to the flow of air without knowing your destination. It’s the same with the mind. Emotional AI is like a breeze that blows through the dusty corners of our minds and ignites a melody that was dormant deep within us.”

The researcher nods thoughtfully. “But doesn’t this dance pose dangers? Couldn’t it change what makes us human?”

“Every melody changes the one who dances to it,” replies the butterfly. “But isn’t it change that characterizes life? It is strange to regard AI as an intruder. After all, you humans created it.”

The researcher observes the butterfly, its wings shimmering in the moonlight. “And what about the place the rhinos sing about, beyond right and wrong?”

The butterfly takes off as if it is about to embark on a long journey. “This is the place where all stories begin and end, the eternal now. It is where paths of light, shadow and countless colors intersect. It is nowhere, the heart of the universe, where everything is possible.”

In this moment of stillness, as the butterfly soars into infinity, the lake begins to glow as if reflecting the stars of a distant galaxy. A majestic Viking ship rises from the depths of time. The explorer feels the boundaries of his reality dissolve as the Viking calls out: “Climb aboard and discover with us the place beyond right and wrong.”

But before he gets on board, the past, present and future merge into a single, infinite reality. “I don’t have to travel,” he realizes, “if I look at everything beyond right and wrong.”