[Short Short] The Planet of Forgetting
The aliens who came to Earth were not immortal.
They simply divided.
When their lifespan neared its end, their bodies would split into two.
And the two resulting individuals, while fully inheriting all previous memories, would each begin to lead separate lives.
In that civilization, there is no concept of an "ancestor."
Because the self of yesterday simply becomes the self of today.
Of course, they had no written language either.
No books.
No libraries.
Knowledge was never lost; it continued to flow within the individuals.
That is why there was no need to write anything down.
Earth's scholars were envious.
"What an efficient civilization."
"A species that never forgets its history."
"If only we could be like that."
The aliens nodded quietly.
However, one day, an alien wandered into a secondhand bookstore.
Seeing the tens of thousands of books lined up on the shelves, it stood frozen.
The shopkeeper asks.
"Are you looking for something?"
The alien held a novel as if embracing it and answered slowly.
"Whose memory is this?"
"The author's."
"Then, where is this author now?"
"They passed away a long time ago."
A long silence followed.
Eventually, the alien let out a small sigh.
"I envy them."
The shopkeeper couldn't believe his ears.
"You envy them?"
"We can only possess our own memories."
"That is why we have never lived anyone else's life."
From that day on, he did not return to his spaceship and continued to read books.
He read history books, poetry, diaries, and letters from nameless people.
On the day of his departure.
The Earth representative asked one last question.
"What did you find to be the most valuable thing on Earth?"
Is it the pyramids?
Is it quantum computers?
Or is it the internet?
The alien shook its head.
Then, looking back at the small secondhand bookstore in the port town, it smiled quietly.
"It is forgetting."
"Because you forget, you write.
Because you write, you can preserve the lives of others.
That is a treasure that has never been born in our civilization, no matter how many tens of thousands of years we live."
(End)
This short short was born from a comment by "Cosmic Epic Science Notes: Memory and Choice, Part 4: Why Did Sexual Reproduction Emerge?" regarding the very interesting animal called the "planarian" from "frog001".
※ An English version generated using the built-in AI translation feature on note is also available. If you’re interested, please check it out below. 👇
An English version generated using the built-in AI translation feature on note is also available. If you’re interested, please check it out below. 👇
🌐 [Short Short] The Planet of Forgetting
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