Lost in the Cosmos

consciousness—according to the dictionary your computer transmitted.
    E ARTHSHIP: It is? Say again. Preternatural?
    PC3: Well, something like the consciousness of a child grown mature and sophisticated but maintaining its innocence permanently and avoiding the malformations of self-consciousness, enjoying the beauty of our planet and each other and our science and art without weariness, boredom, fear, guilt, or shame. Like what you call the Helen Keller phenomenon.
    E ARTHSHIP: How do you know about her?
    PC3: One of our cosmological linguists just arrived. This is he speaking. We’ve been monitoring you for years. Switch to Earth-L, English-speaking? German? French?
    E ARTHSHIP: American English.
    PC3: Got it. I read. What can we do for you?
    E ARTHSHIP: What do you mean by the Helen Keller phenomenon?
    PC3: The joy of consciousness and the discovery of the Cosmos through the mediation of symbols and the cooperation of others and the preservation of this joy against the incursions of boredom, fear, anger, despair, shame, and the love of war and death and the secret desire for the misfortune of others.
    E ARTHSHIP: Check. Did you say shame?
    PC3: We have observed that C2s experience shame. For example, do you wear clothes?
    E ARTHSHIP: Yes.
    PC3: Despite the controlled environment of your ship?
    E ARTHSHIP: Yes.
    PC3: Why?
    E ARTHSHIP: Ah, custom. Aesthetics.
    PC3: Aesthetics? Explain.
    E ARTHSHIP: Later, when we land. May we land?
    PC3: Not yet. What is your C-type?
    E ARTHSHIP: What is a C2 consciousness?
    PC3: A C2 consciousness is a consciousness which passes through a C1 stage and then for some reason falls into the pit of itself.
    E ARTHSHIP: The pit of itself?
    PC3: In some evolving civilizations, for reasons which we don’t entirely understand, the evolution of consciousness is attended by a disaster of some sort which occurs shortly after the Sy breakthrough. It has something to do with the discovery of the self and the incapacity to deal with it, the consciousness becoming self-conscious but not knowing what to do with the self, not even knowing what its self is, and so ending by being that which it is not, saying that which is not, doing that which is not, and making others what they are not.
    E ARTHSHIP: What does that mean?
    PC3: Playing roles, being phony, lying, cheating, stealing, and killing. To say nothing of exotic disordering of the reproductive apparatus of sexual creatures.
    E ARTHSHIP: What does that mean?
    PC3: Exploitative sex.
    E ARTHSHIP: Exploitative sex?
    PC3 (consulting computerized earth-slang dictionary): It seems to mean what you call “screwing everything in sight,” not onlytoandtobuttoandtoand++and++—to mention a few of the simpler combinations.
    E ARTHSHIP: That is what is called “freedom of sexual preference.”
    PC3: Call it what you like. We are not interested. What concerns us is our experience with C2s whom we have allowed to land on PC3. They are usually polite at first, but always turn hostile, deceptive, and end by attempting to screw (is that the right word?) any creatures on PC3 which have an opening or a protuberance. We could tolerate their odd sexual behavior, but they were also sentimental and cruel—or rather sentimental, therefore cruel. One goes with the other. They are mainly interested in self-esteem. We are afraid of C2s. They do not know themselves or what to do with themselves.
    E ARTHSHIP: What about you? What do you do about your consciousness and your selves?
    PC3: That is no problem. For us, consciousness of self is no different from consciousness of anything else. A self here is an individual self yet also a self among other selves. C2 selves vary from moment to moment from self-grandiosity to self-refusal, from being the infinite great self in the world to being the worst and the least self—because C2 selves don’t know who they are. * Perhaps your difficulty comes from the sensory mode which you call “seeing.” You “see” things. But can you “see” yourself? Who are you?
    E ARTHSHIP: I’m the second officer, the communications officer.
    PC3: No, I mean, who are you?
    E ARTHSHIP: You mean my name? Captain—
    PC3 (patiently) :No. Let’s begin with C-type. What’s your C-type? Are you C1, C2, or C3? You will not be given permission to descend until we establish that.
    E ARTHSHIP (after a pause) :What’s a C3 consciousness?
    PC3: A C3 consciousness is a C2 consciousness which has become aware of its predicament, sought help, and