*Episode 8*
The next day, Keiichi related the events to the Goddesses. Urd was confused ("What
did he mean about doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, or was that the wrong
thing for the right reasons? What did he say, anyway?"), Skuld was curious ("Not the
traditional method? And he knows the future? And he's been following you around
invisibly? Why hasn't Banpei picked him up yet? Hmm... I'll have to modify his
sensors..."), and Belldandy was happy ("That's very wise of him, Keiichi.").
After his first class, Keiichi stopped Koujiku and took him aside. After Keiichi
explained what had happened, 'Koujiku' smiled.
"Why are you smiling?" asked Keiichi.
"I've got something else to be grateful to him for."
"Oh?"
"He arranged for us to meet. I, for one, am glad he did."
"How can you be so sure? I mean, what if-" Keiichi said, only to be cut off.
"Let's not get into that. For one thing, you obviously think that I don't like him.
That's not quite true."
"Oh? You were pretty aggressive with him before."
"Not really. I don't like it when he hides things, but I understand why now. You see,
he really only has three options when you ask him a question like that."
"What?"
"Well, he could refuse to answer, like he has been. It may be annoying, but it's better
than the other two."
"Which are?"
"He could just lie. The fact that he's being honest is one of the best things I've seen of
him so far."
"And the third?"
"He could just tell you, but let's think of the consequences if he did. If he were to tell
you what the future held, you'd be pretty upset by it. You might even misinterpret what
he said, and have it result in disaster. Or, you might get complaisant about it, which
would be just as bad, if not worse. That's what he meant when he said that mortals
shouldn't know the future."
"Yeah, but what about the other two items?"
"Well, as for the true nature of the Universe, I'm at a bit of a handicap to explain."
"Because you don't know yourself, right? That's understandable."
"I just have to assume that there's a reason. My best guess is that it's something you
have to figure out yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"There are some things in life that no one can teach you, and that you have to learn
and understand on your own. When you're a child, you don't really understand that other
people are people, just like you are. No matter how many times people explain it to you,
you just don't get it, until one day you DO. Are you following me?"
"Sort of."
"Well, good. In any event, what my guess is is that the true nature of the universe is
like that, except that if he explains it to you, you *WON'T* understand, and that it'll
make it harder for you to understand it in the future."
"But why is it something mortals aren't *MEANT* to know?"
"Knowledge is power, Keiichi. If someone is told, and understands imperfectly, they
would probably be able to do tremendous damage. Why do you think that the gods and
goddesses only reveal themselves to certain people?"
"I don't know. I see why they only grant wishes to some people, though."
"Well, Keiichi, that part's pretty obvious. The problem, however, is that if they start
saying 'Hi, I'm a God' to every mortal on the street, very few people are going to be able
to live with the knowledge. Some would get inferiority complexes, some would just drift
along life, assuming that they can't change their fate, and some would just get angry at
them and try to hunt down and kill deities. Obviously, they'd fail, but it's still a problem."
"Then why don't the demons just reveal the gods' existence?"
"Balance of power, Keiichi. For every mortal who'd go hunting gods or be turned to
depression, etc. ten would go out hunting and trying to kill demons."
"And they obviously don't want that."
"Yes, Keiichi, that's about right."
"Hmm... I think I understand."
"Good."
"So, what about the third?"
"Not enough evidence. I can't say what it is, and without any clue as to what it is,
understanding as to why it's 'one of those things' is impossible."
"Oh." said Keiichi, a bit disappointed.
"Don't worry. He must have a good reason."
"What makes you so confident his intentions are benevolent?"
"Now, that's really difficult to explain. I don't really know where to start."
"Huh?"
"Well, first off, he obviously isn't omnipotent."
"What makes you say that?"
"If he was, he wouldn't have any interest in you, Keiichi, one way or the other, and
he wouldn't have to do what he is, anyway. He'd just think about it, and you'd be
whatever he wanted you to be."
"Yeah, but what if he just doesn't want to?"
"Even if he doesn't want to, the fact that he could would still be enough to invalidate
the concept of free will. We have a choice between believing that we have free will, or
that he's all-powerful. Since reason is dependant on free will, we have the choice of
believing that he's omnipotent or that we can think."
"And you've obviously though about the subject, right?"
"Exactly."
"So now what?"
"Well, first we need to figure out what some of his limits are."
"Oh?"
"Yes. As I've already established, he does have them. The next thing is that for
whatever reason, he likes telling the truth. He doesn't like to lie."
"What makes you say that?"
"Has he?"
"What?"
"Lied to you."
"Not that I've caught, but still, what about ones that I haven't?"
"Not likely. You've asked him some pretty awkward questions, and he's responded
honestly. Besides, he's obviously smart enough to realize that even one lie, whatever it
was, would be enough to destroy his credibility. He wants you to trust him, and is taking
extraordinary measures to ensure that he's trustworthy. Why go through all that trouble
only to have it become wasted?"
"Okay, I can see that, but what else?"
"Next, while he does know what consequences his actions to have--we have to
accept that if we accept the previous item since he said that he does--he doesn't always
know all of them."
"Oh?"
"Chances are that he sees the consequences of his actions as just that: chances. Or
probability to put it another way."
"Why do you say that?"
"There are two major pieces of evidence: one, he wouldn't be able to predict the
future with total accuracy unless he could predict our actions with total certainty, and
that would mean that we'd have to throw out free will as a concept."
"I can see that. So what you're saying is that if he could predict our actions with total
certainty, it would just be another form of mind control."
"Exactly. The second, however, is something a bit more direct."
"Oh?"
"He said that he preferred to do things indirectly, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did. What does that have to do with his abilities, though?"
"Ever given any thought to why he's prefer things that way?"
"Not really..."
"Well, there's only one real reason he would."
"And that is?"
"Well, if he only sees the *probable* consequences of his actions, he has to take
steps to minimize the unintentional consequences of them. The more directly he does
things, though, the more risk there is of having those consequences. It's really the only
logical explanation."
"Hmm...."
"Think about what I've said. It's a lot to chew."
"Yes, that it is."
"There're just two more things for now."
"Oh?"
"Yes. First, among the things he's offering you is immortality. In other words, he's
giving you the chance to be with Belldandy forever. I'm pretty sure you want that."
Keiichi just nodded.
"Well, that little lesson was obviously the first step towards that. He wants you to
*want* to learn what he can teach you, and that's just one obvious reason why you
should."
"That it is... What was the second thing?"
"Well, I'm almost done with that bike for the race. It's in a week, I believe? I should
be able to finish it tonight. We'd better test it before the race. Come to my place
tomorrow to try it out?"
"Sure!"
"Great."
The next day, Keiichi related the events to the Goddesses. Urd was confused ("What
did he mean about doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, or was that the wrong
thing for the right reasons? What did he say, anyway?"), Skuld was curious ("Not the
traditional method? And he knows the future? And he's been following you around
invisibly? Why hasn't Banpei picked him up yet? Hmm... I'll have to modify his
sensors..."), and Belldandy was happy ("That's very wise of him, Keiichi.").
After his first class, Keiichi stopped Koujiku and took him aside. After Keiichi
explained what had happened, 'Koujiku' smiled.
"Why are you smiling?" asked Keiichi.
"I've got something else to be grateful to him for."
"Oh?"
"He arranged for us to meet. I, for one, am glad he did."
"How can you be so sure? I mean, what if-" Keiichi said, only to be cut off.
"Let's not get into that. For one thing, you obviously think that I don't like him.
That's not quite true."
"Oh? You were pretty aggressive with him before."
"Not really. I don't like it when he hides things, but I understand why now. You see,
he really only has three options when you ask him a question like that."
"What?"
"Well, he could refuse to answer, like he has been. It may be annoying, but it's better
than the other two."
"Which are?"
"He could just lie. The fact that he's being honest is one of the best things I've seen of
him so far."
"And the third?"
"He could just tell you, but let's think of the consequences if he did. If he were to tell
you what the future held, you'd be pretty upset by it. You might even misinterpret what
he said, and have it result in disaster. Or, you might get complaisant about it, which
would be just as bad, if not worse. That's what he meant when he said that mortals
shouldn't know the future."
"Yeah, but what about the other two items?"
"Well, as for the true nature of the Universe, I'm at a bit of a handicap to explain."
"Because you don't know yourself, right? That's understandable."
"I just have to assume that there's a reason. My best guess is that it's something you
have to figure out yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"There are some things in life that no one can teach you, and that you have to learn
and understand on your own. When you're a child, you don't really understand that other
people are people, just like you are. No matter how many times people explain it to you,
you just don't get it, until one day you DO. Are you following me?"
"Sort of."
"Well, good. In any event, what my guess is is that the true nature of the universe is
like that, except that if he explains it to you, you *WON'T* understand, and that it'll
make it harder for you to understand it in the future."
"But why is it something mortals aren't *MEANT* to know?"
"Knowledge is power, Keiichi. If someone is told, and understands imperfectly, they
would probably be able to do tremendous damage. Why do you think that the gods and
goddesses only reveal themselves to certain people?"
"I don't know. I see why they only grant wishes to some people, though."
"Well, Keiichi, that part's pretty obvious. The problem, however, is that if they start
saying 'Hi, I'm a God' to every mortal on the street, very few people are going to be able
to live with the knowledge. Some would get inferiority complexes, some would just drift
along life, assuming that they can't change their fate, and some would just get angry at
them and try to hunt down and kill deities. Obviously, they'd fail, but it's still a problem."
"Then why don't the demons just reveal the gods' existence?"
"Balance of power, Keiichi. For every mortal who'd go hunting gods or be turned to
depression, etc. ten would go out hunting and trying to kill demons."
"And they obviously don't want that."
"Yes, Keiichi, that's about right."
"Hmm... I think I understand."
"Good."
"So, what about the third?"
"Not enough evidence. I can't say what it is, and without any clue as to what it is,
understanding as to why it's 'one of those things' is impossible."
"Oh." said Keiichi, a bit disappointed.
"Don't worry. He must have a good reason."
"What makes you so confident his intentions are benevolent?"
"Now, that's really difficult to explain. I don't really know where to start."
"Huh?"
"Well, first off, he obviously isn't omnipotent."
"What makes you say that?"
"If he was, he wouldn't have any interest in you, Keiichi, one way or the other, and
he wouldn't have to do what he is, anyway. He'd just think about it, and you'd be
whatever he wanted you to be."
"Yeah, but what if he just doesn't want to?"
"Even if he doesn't want to, the fact that he could would still be enough to invalidate
the concept of free will. We have a choice between believing that we have free will, or
that he's all-powerful. Since reason is dependant on free will, we have the choice of
believing that he's omnipotent or that we can think."
"And you've obviously though about the subject, right?"
"Exactly."
"So now what?"
"Well, first we need to figure out what some of his limits are."
"Oh?"
"Yes. As I've already established, he does have them. The next thing is that for
whatever reason, he likes telling the truth. He doesn't like to lie."
"What makes you say that?"
"Has he?"
"What?"
"Lied to you."
"Not that I've caught, but still, what about ones that I haven't?"
"Not likely. You've asked him some pretty awkward questions, and he's responded
honestly. Besides, he's obviously smart enough to realize that even one lie, whatever it
was, would be enough to destroy his credibility. He wants you to trust him, and is taking
extraordinary measures to ensure that he's trustworthy. Why go through all that trouble
only to have it become wasted?"
"Okay, I can see that, but what else?"
"Next, while he does know what consequences his actions to have--we have to
accept that if we accept the previous item since he said that he does--he doesn't always
know all of them."
"Oh?"
"Chances are that he sees the consequences of his actions as just that: chances. Or
probability to put it another way."
"Why do you say that?"
"There are two major pieces of evidence: one, he wouldn't be able to predict the
future with total accuracy unless he could predict our actions with total certainty, and
that would mean that we'd have to throw out free will as a concept."
"I can see that. So what you're saying is that if he could predict our actions with total
certainty, it would just be another form of mind control."
"Exactly. The second, however, is something a bit more direct."
"Oh?"
"He said that he preferred to do things indirectly, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did. What does that have to do with his abilities, though?"
"Ever given any thought to why he's prefer things that way?"
"Not really..."
"Well, there's only one real reason he would."
"And that is?"
"Well, if he only sees the *probable* consequences of his actions, he has to take
steps to minimize the unintentional consequences of them. The more directly he does
things, though, the more risk there is of having those consequences. It's really the only
logical explanation."
"Hmm...."
"Think about what I've said. It's a lot to chew."
"Yes, that it is."
"There're just two more things for now."
"Oh?"
"Yes. First, among the things he's offering you is immortality. In other words, he's
giving you the chance to be with Belldandy forever. I'm pretty sure you want that."
Keiichi just nodded.
"Well, that little lesson was obviously the first step towards that. He wants you to
*want* to learn what he can teach you, and that's just one obvious reason why you
should."
"That it is... What was the second thing?"
"Well, I'm almost done with that bike for the race. It's in a week, I believe? I should
be able to finish it tonight. We'd better test it before the race. Come to my place
tomorrow to try it out?"
"Sure!"
"Great."