Page 97 - An Evening with Maxwell's Daemons

Sweet Oblivium

requirements of empiricism cannot escape some of its assumptions
and Pavlovian conclusions. No, I am proposing a hypothetical
provision of the initial response to the desired comestible without
the rapid decline in pleasure occurring with its actual introduction
to the digestive system. Although as a species we have a great
overlap in what is considered delicious and delightful, individual
tastes differ sufficiently to be amenable to a fairly wide range of
flavors and aromas. Sweet Oblivium, therefore, would be
customized based on the data I already described. Its purchaser,
having yielded both that information and a certain minimal price for
a sample of the stuff, would receive by post a small vial of liquid or
powder compounded to be the most wonderful thing he or she has
ever tasted or smelled. And it will not be by custom staled, as
Shakespeare has it: nothing to trigger satiety; and it will also contain
a new food-derived biochemical designed to suppress the dose-
dependent tolerance and consequent reduction in attractiveness of
the compound.”
“What won’t be publicized is that people with active or potential
addictive personalities will not be able easily to cease consumption
of Sweet Oblivium. They will be the first to return to purchase
more—and learn that the price goes up by an order of magnitude
for repeat orders. Think about it: how many times a day would you
want that ultimate experience? No drug could match it. But is it a
drug or an herbal supplement? It’s either a brilliant manifestation of
disruptive corporate behavior profiting a few at the expense of the
many, or it’s criminal. How would I proceed with a situation that
might not be tenable in even the medium-term?”
“Are you kidding?” asked Fred Feghootsky. “You’ve got a lot of
possibilities. The more unstable the better! Strong defense and
opposition! Lawyers and scientists and computer geeks, all
sleazeballs! I would just close my eyes and throw a dart at a tacked-
up list of people and parties involved with this, and run with that
choice. Or decide who really has a plan for tackling this malicious
octopus, and make that person your protagonist. That, of course,
would commit you to choosing the least corrupt among a rogue’s
gallery of contemporary types. As a cynic, I would pick someone

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