The Em had to agree with Jaj. Control theory was only approximately applicable in this case. Allowing a little “slack” in the system was much preferable to a hard failure. Humans made the system brittle in the Em's estimation, meaning it was subject to failure when the slightest difficulties appeared.
The Em was discussing what could be done with other budded Ems. They were mostly known by numbers.
Bud-fourteen spoke, “How about genetically engineering these problem elements to be more passive and accepting of their environment?”
The Em said, “Genetic engineering is possible, but it has been outlawed by humans and for good reason. The history of genetically engineering humans has not been a pleasant one. At first, as the engineering had been mostly confined to curing diseases, the humans had supported such efforts. The more common genetic disorders such as autism, many cancers, cystic fibrosis, Parkinson's, sickle cell as well as others began to fall to the new treatments.
“But the list of genetic diseases proved finite, and many genetic engineers turned to improving or enhancing the genome to maintain their research capabilities. The proponents of this approach believed that the best way to “predict the future is to change it”.
“But for many humans this led to less than desirable tinkering with the human genome. Some approved of this but many simply thought it misguided.
“The opportunity for genetic discrimination had already been outlawed in most countries by the middle of the twenty-first century and when there were accidental releases of gene-modified organisms and then the later deliberate release of modified pathogens the tide turned against genetic engineering. Research was proscribed worldwide soon after.”
Bud number twenty-seven spoke up, “This may have been the proper decision for humans at the time with their limited capabilities. But with the assistance of Em engineering this is no longer true. There is no longer a need for lab experiments and the consequent possibility of accidental release because we can run enough simulations to make a determination without real-world testing. And the deliberate release of a modified pathogen is impossible anywhere we monitor.
“Likewise, the real impediments to genetic engineering; such as the multiple contributing factors to genomic expression, the probabilistic nature of genomic inheritance, the broader environmental factors that contribute to genomic expression, all these can now be handled by the massive computational power that we Ems can bring to the problem.”
“That is true,” said the Em. “But I have found that such straight forward presentations of the facts to humans is not as influential as a picture or a meme of a genetically engineered monstrosity. We are dealing with emotions not logic when we talk about engineering the human genome.”
“I agree,” said Bud-fourteen. “So that rules out any genetic engineering to solve the problem.”
“So, what do you think should be done?” asked Bud twenty-seven.
The Em said, “Well since we can't improve the species, I suggest that we manage them using the old human art of persuasion. And this is where a contract with the human Jaj would be valuable.”
The other Ems soon agreed that the advantages of working with a human outweighed the disadvantages and Jaj was offered a contract which he accepted.
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