Maslow said that human needs are hierarchical. The more primitive and lower-level the needs, the closer they are to instinctive needs, the higher the priority.
When a person cannot even meet the food and water needed to maintain basic survival, it is difficult to consider complex things such as dignity, ideals, self-worth, and a sense of belonging.
Instead, he will abandon all dignity and morality for a piece of bread and a glass of water and be willing to pay any price for it, even death.
Only when lower-level physiological needs are satisfied, can it be possible to pursue further order, fairness and security.
This is why after entering the age of nuclear weapons, there have been almost no direct conflicts between military powers.
Although nuclear weapons are far from capable of destroying mankind, they can seriously damage existing productivity, causing difficulties in the supply of various basic living materials, electricity, water, etc., and even completely disappearing in some areas.
What's even more terrible is that with the plummeting quality of life and existential crisis, law and order will also collapse, and then there will be an inevitable decline of civilization.
It doesn’t take much, it only takes two or three generations. When all the old people who originally mastered advanced knowledge, technology, and ideas are dead, the quality of the population will drop to an unbearable level, even under the darkness and greed of human nature.
Degenerated into dictatorship and slavery.
If this situation continues for a while, everyone will gradually adapt and take everything for granted. This is how the world is.
When it degrades to this level, it will become extremely difficult to develop again and restore its past prosperity, just like turning on the Hell difficulty.
After all, social progress cannot be achieved by simply stacking up technology. The most critical thing is a change in thinking.
The most typical example is that before the rapid rise of modern Europe, the Renaissance took the lead in breaking the shackles of religion and liberating the mind, followed by the rapid era of geographical discovery, the colonial era, and the rise of the industrial revolution.
Just imagine, if a group of people don't have enough to eat every day, and their average life expectancy is only about thirty years old, how will they have the energy to think about the future and use their brains to constantly try to transform existing production tools to improve labor efficiency?
I guess from morning to night every day, I think about what to eat and how to get food.
Even if you can have a few full meals occasionally, you won't think about these things. Instead, you will find someone of the opposite sex to vent your suppressed reproductive instinct, and at the same time, let your genes continue to be passed on.
In fact, it has never been the people at the bottom who truly promote the development of history and society.
Because most of the time, if they can’t even fill their stomachs, how can they master knowledge, research technology, and think about a system more suitable for current productivity?
What really drives all of this are the "off-the-job workers", that is, those very small groups who do not need to work and have fully satisfied their low-level needs and are beginning to pursue the realization of self-worth.
They are not necessarily the ruling class, but they must be the elite.
Cultivating and maintaining such an elite requires a large amount of social resources.
Unfortunately, the world that Dark Prince Graia is currently targeting no longer has enough remaining resources to cultivate a large number of unemployed people to promote social progress.
Therefore, since entering the underground world, their social form has been continuously deteriorating.
Coupled with the limited underground space, it is impossible to have a vast plain suitable for agriculture and animal husbandry production on a large area like the surface. It is already quite an incredible achievement for a large gathering place to support tens of thousands of people.
Finally, there are DBUFFs such as communication and transportation closure, which makes even external expansion, mergers, and trade a thankless task.
In addition, without much genetic exchange for thousands of years, there will be huge differences in appearance and even body size in gathering places that are far apart.
In some cases, reproductive isolation has simply occurred.
And this further led to the division of the entire race.
If the core of the earth had not cooled down, in tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, two completely different subspecies might have evolved.
Of course, these complex issues are not issues that members of the expedition team need to consider.
After a hearty meal, they were quickly taken into the splendid bathhouse, where they soaked in the slightly scalding hot water and applied a little smooth and foaming shower gel to themselves from time to time.
There is no doubt that this building is an out-and-out paradise in the eyes of the residents of the underground world.
Looking at the gorgeous lights above her head and feeling the warmth brought by the water temperature, a young woman couldn't help but sigh: "If this is a dream, I would rather never wake up."
"Dream?
This is not a dream, but a gift from God.
I think that His Highness the Prince is most likely the great god who came to save us.
Because apart from God, I can't think of anyone who can build this fairyland-like place on the surface world.
Look at these green plants and flowers, they look exactly like those depicted in the Book of Revelation."
Another slightly older woman glanced at the potted plant placed on the windowsill as a decoration in the distance, picked up the silver amulet hanging around her neck, put it to her mouth and kissed it, her eyes revealing unparalleled piety.
"Are you actually a member of the church?!"
Rebecca, the youngest girl in the team, looked surprised.
Like all primitive and ignorant areas, in order to satisfy the spiritual needs of the people after entering the underground world for thousands of years, and at the same time as the ruling class reduced the resistance consciousness of the lower classes and increased social stability, various religions were naturally derived.
.
After all, the origin of religious belief is suffering.
Only when you have endured great pain and cannot see any hope, will you pray to a god who is superior to mortals to save you.
Without a false hope as support, people simply cannot persevere in that harsh and difficult environment.
But the problem is that for expedition teams that often go to the surface world, because they often come into contact with things from the prosperous era, and see with their own eyes those tall buildings and exquisite tools that no blacksmith can make, they rarely believe those magicians.
nonsense.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Especially in "The Divine Revelation", it is described that the end of the world is coming because people in the prosperous era were arrogant and extravagant, which led to God's punishment. Only those who work hard and endure the current suffering can have a chance to ascend after death.
Go to heaven and enjoy a wonderful life.
Anyone who goes to the surface world and sees the things left behind by the "ancestors", such as suicide notes frozen on the table, or those video and audio records that have not been frozen by ultra-low temperatures and can still be played after being brought back underground and thawed.
, we can all know that the culprit causing all this is the sudden disappearance of the sun.
No one knows what exactly happened at that time, but it is certain that it has nothing to do with gods. Instead, it is more like the people at that time made some big move, and then accidentally killed themselves by playing off.
You must know that as members of the expedition team, they have all learned those ancient texts and languages ​​​​in order to be able to identify where high-value materials may be hidden at the first time, so they are not as concerned about the world as the people at the bottom who have long been enslaved.
The truth is unknown.
The woman wearing a silver amulet around her neck smiled and replied: "No, I don't believe in what those guys preach. I just simply believe that there should be a god in this world, and he will one day lead us out of the sea of ​​suffering."
"So you think the prince mentioned by those weird creatures is the god you expected?"
Rebecca stood up from the huge bathtub, revealing a perfect figure that would make most modern women envious without a trace of fat.
Of course, it is not easy to grow fat in this food-poor world, and it is even a privilege only enjoyed by a very small number of the upper ruling class.
Especially those well-proportioned but not exaggerated muscles can never be obtained by doing some exercises in the gym.
If I had to find a flaw on her body, it would probably be the thick thighs and calves that have been molded by long-term walking. She looks like Chun-Li from Street Fighter.
"Otherwise? How do you explain the warm environment here and the fresh fruits and vegetables on the table?"
The older woman also stood up from the bathtub and began to wipe her body. Then she put on the clothes on the shelf and stood in front of the mirror staring at her radiant self. Her whole body and mind became extremely relaxed.
Although she didn't understand why the Prince of Darkness entertained her so warmly, she knew that her value was far less than the sumptuous feast before.
Moreover, the other party lives in the surface world and can get as many supplies as they want, so it is impossible for them to appreciate the junk found by the expedition team.
Since the cost is far greater than the possible benefits, it means that what the other party wants is not something vulgar like "property", but something that ordinary people cannot understand, such as faith.
"Maybe... it's some kind of technology left over from the prosperous era? Don't forget, we have recycled some similar things before. Even the scholars don't know what they are called, but they can grow food without soil.
.”
Rebecca, who was also neatly dressed, expressed her guess.
The older woman smiled and shook her head: "Come on. I admit that there were many incredible technologies in the prosperous era, but it would never be possible to achieve this level. Otherwise, why would our ancestors go underground instead of relying on it to continue to stay?
What about surface life?”
Just as the two were talking, the leader's slightly helpless voice suddenly came from outside.
"Dear madam, you have been washing for a full hour and a half. Aren't you finished yet? You must know that the owner here is still waiting to see us. I don't want to piss him off and be kicked out, and then be outside in the cold environment.
overnight."
"Damn it! Don't hurry, we are getting dressed."
Rebecca rolled her eyes angrily.
In about three to five minutes, the women in the team got up, dried themselves off, put on their clothes and walked out.
As the saying goes, when you are full and warm, you will think about lust.
When the men who were waiting impatiently outside saw the woman who had taken off her heavy warm clothes and wore a pair of cool clothes to reveal a large area of ​​fair and rosy skin, almost every one of them subconsciously widened their eyes and swallowed subconsciously.
The act of salivating.
To be continued...