The Chairman replied; “That will not be necessary. Continue.”
George said; “Yessir. Further, the scientific criteria of improved intelligence—a statistically significant increase—is the one that will be adapted.”
“And how long will it take to achieve this increase?”
“The estimate is it will happen in the sixth generation of Participants.”
Another Committee Member asked; “And how long is a generation?”
George answered; “Nominally twenty-five years.”
“So six generations is one hundred and fifty years!”
“That’s correct, but that is not the amount of time The Project will have to take to meet the criteria.”
“And why not?”
“The first generation of Participants are those who initially come down, and some of them will have children—the initial second generation.”
“So now for those who don’t come down with children it’s five additional generations; that’s still one hundred and twenty five years.”
“In theory yes, but I believe I can shorten the generation time.”
“But if you don’t, we have to be prepared to fund your project for at least one hundred and twenty-five years.”
“That’s correct.”
Another Committee Member questioner; “How many couples will be the initial Participants?
George answered; “At least a hundred.”
There was a very long pause, then The Chairman said;.
“George. You do realize you’re asking to be financed to build a luxurious resort on a Caribbean island, and support at least one hundred couples and their children for five additional generations. We are well funded and patient, but you are really trying our patience aren’t you?”
“Yessir.”
“Well?”
George took a very deep breath, then said; “This is my proposal for The Project that, according to the materials you provided. . . .”
“George, do we have to speak to you again about this matter?.”
“Sorry. . .the materials that were provided. Based on those materials, this is what I believe has to be done for The Project to achieve its goals.”
Feeling he could say no more, George stopped.
The Chairman then looked around the dais to see slightly nodding to more confidentially nodding heads. Then he turned back to look down at George and said; “We are inclined to support your Project.”
“Thank you.”
“Do not thank us. Get The Project done!”
“Yessir.”
“You will begin working out the details now with one of our assistants.”
Before George could say anything, The Chairman pushed a button under the table. Just as The Committee rose, turned on its heels and left silently, the door on the left opened and the same man who had collected George’s materials re-entered with a stack of papers under one arm and a laptop under the other.
Chapter 5
GEORGE was speaking at a lectern on the stage of the main Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel. The dance floor was covered with an industrial-strength floral design carpet on which meeting chairs were arranged audience-style. Almost all of the seats were occupied by couples. He was finishing his peroration;
“. . .and, for no charge, you’ll be moved down to an incredibly beautiful Caribbean island to stay in sumptuous accommodations at a luxurious resort-style facility with a full complement of water-and land-based sports. You’ll live mortgage-free, insurance-free and basic expense-free in a clean air, crystal water facility that’s ecologically-friendly and getting friendlier all the time, much thanks to Participants like you who are already there. If you wish to continue to work distantly, you’ll have individual state-of-the-art computerized communications equipment linked to our own satellite system.”
George paused, then said; “Perhaps this is the time to answer your questions.”
A hand in the audience shot up; “What if we want to work distantly but our present employer won’t allow us to do so?”
“We have connections with a number of multinational corporations. We can put you in touch with the ones who would be happy to employ people with your abilities to work distantly.”
Another audience member said; “You say we were selected for higher intelligence. How was that done?”
“We combed, for example, public records like college and graduate school alumni publications, newspaper business sections, business magazines, and academic discipline membership directories to identify those of you who got higher degrees with higher honors than most, were hired into more advanced positions than most, advanced more quickly than most.”
The audience member persisted; “But are those really good indicators of intelligence?”
“They are good enough for the initial selection.”
“What are the next steps in selection?”
“Well, first is self-selection.”
Another audience member asked; “What kind of self-selection?”
“We want acceptable couples to go there to have children, as well as couples who have acceptable children to go there with their children. Further, we want such couples to make a commitment that they will try, if needed, to convince their children to stay there and, in turn have children, and so on.”
There was a gasp in the audience. Then yet another member asked; “If this is a Eugenics project, for how many generations do you need a commitment to stay?”
“The current estimate is six.”
A low whistle came from the audience. There appeared to be a lull in the questioning so George said;
“This is the self-selection—I’ll ask those of you who won’t make a commitment to The Project, and won’t make a similar commitment to convince your children to The Project to leave this presentation.”
The couples in the audience began talking to each other. When George thought the conversations were over, he continued;
“And I’m going to ask those of you who leave not to discuss this meeting with anyone else.”
Another audience member asked; “Why?”
“Because, as some of your reactions indicate, this Project is controversial. If word gets out there might be investigations which could jeopardize The Project for those who are already there as well as some of your fellow couples here who might want to go.” George let that sink in, and then said; “Discuss this among yourselves, then those of you who won’t make a commitment, please leave quietly.”
Again, the couples in the audience began talking with each other, then, one-by-one, some left the ballroom. When the exiting appeared to be complete, George said;
“Thank you for making your commitment. Now I’ll describe the next selection steps: First, all of you will have your intelligence assessed with an individually-administered intelligence test, given by a board-certified Clinical Psychologist. Those of you who have pre-pubescent children should know that they will be tested similarly. Then, those of you who meet our standards. . .”
A member of the audience interrupted;