"Ringo, John - Council Wars 1 - There Will Be Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ringo John)

"As you wish. I'm not sure what other term to use for making people do things
they don't want to do and don't have to do. But I'd like an answer to the
question."
"It would be up to the individual," Paul said. "But attainment of goods and
energy would be dependent upon work. Manufacturing, services, that sort of
thing. I have a five-year plan to shift from full replication to a work-based
economy."
" 'A five-year plan,' " Sheida said with a groan. "Do you know how horrifying
those words are to even a casual student of that history you dismiss as fable?"
"What?"
"Never mind," she sighed. "The one thing we learn from history is that we're
doomed to repeat it. So you are discussing industrial work? For males and
females? Or information technology work?"
"It would be open to both," Paul agreed. "And both."
"You do realize that in anything but a low-tech agricultural environment, there
is no surety of population increase, right? That population growth is a
market-based factor? And that it's only low-tech agriculture that has a market
for children? More hands to do the chores. That is not the case in an industrial
society. Especially one where both sexes work."
"There have been plenty of industrial societies that had high population growth
rates," Celine Reinshafen said. The woman was dark and almost skeletally thin,
her long black hair drawn back in a bun. She shrugged at Sheida and smiled
thinly. "I know that much history."
"Generalities that you learned from your nanny are not what we're dealing with
here," Sheida said. "All of those societies were in postagriculture adjustment
or had a strong cultural emphasis on children. If we had a few million members
of the Church of Latter Day Saints, Reform Zoroastrian or Islam we wouldn't be
in this situation."
"So you agree that there is a problem?" Chansa said. "Then why are you arguing?"
"As Abraham Lincoln once said, 'my esteemed colleague has his facts in order but
his conclusions are in error.' That's why. Among other things, the rate of
decrease is decreasing. Yes, Paul, I've been looking at the same thing for
nearly a hundred years. It just occurred to you! Congratulations!"
"So what is the answer?" Bowman asked. "And who in the hell is Abraham Lincoln?"
"Give me strength," she replied, looking upward. "Skip the literary allusions.
The answer, as usual, is to leave it alone.
"Look, there are more differences between men and women than plumbing. Something
I don't think you understand. We were talking about maternal instincts a moment
ago. On a scale of one to ten, men average about four. Whereas women average
about eight. There are women who can't stand children or babies. Still most
women think that babies are just adorable, but let other things get in the way
of having them. Men, on the other hand, rarely think that babies are great.
Women tend to coo and ooh and ahh over babies; men tend to give them a wide
berth.
"Some of this is still cultural, but most of it is genetic and the reason it's
cultural is that the genetics pressure the culture. If you want, I can get my
sister to show you the individual genes. They express whether there is a general
positive response to babies and children. Or, for that matter, small, furry
animals. These responses can be masked by culture, but they are expressed much
more aggressively in females than in males. With me so far?"