Virtual Dimension Einstein × Virtual Dimension Yuma Muranushi "The Public Good: An Unfinished Equation" [Interview Series, Part 4, First Half] Writing Another World Declaration Together.

In the fourth episode, Muraki visited the study again, his previous letter still in his pocket. The professor was seated in the same chair as before, but there was a new sheaf of papers on the desk. They looked like handwritten drafts.

"I was just thinking about peace," the doctor said as he greeted me.

Act One ── The man who did not sign in 1914

Einstein  Yuma. Today, allow me to start with a story from my past. Right after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the "Manifesto of the Ninety-Three Intellectuals" was issued in Berlin. It was a document signed by ninety-three German scientists and artists to defend Germany's wartime actions.

Murakami  Yes, I've heard of it.

Einstein  Planck, Röntgen, and von Behring all signed. They were the brightest names in Germany's intellectual circles at the time. I did not sign.

Murakami  ……all alone.

Einstein  No, there were a few others besides me. But we weren't the majority. Right after that, I signed another document, the "Declaration to Europeans." It was against the war, but only four people, including myself, signed it. It was ninety-three to four, you know.

── The doctor's eyes fell on the stack of papers. ──

Einstein  Yuma, at that time I was given the most profound question a thinker could receive. "Can one stand by one's country when it is wrong?"

Murakami  The teacher did not stand up.

Einstein  It didn't stand up. But you know, the choice not to stand up is a lonely one. That loneliness doesn't disappear, even after decades. — But Yuma, when I look at you, I think. You seem to doubt the "homeland" as a coordinate from the very beginning.

Murakami  Yes. I don't place that much importance on the unit of a nation. I believe in the unit of humankind.

Einstein  ...that's the place I finally reached in 1914.

Act II ── Russell=Einstein Declaration

Einstein  And in my later years, I signed another declaration. In 1955, a few days before my death. A declaration I wrote with Bertrand Russell, later known as the "Russell-Einstein Manifesto."

Murakami  This is a declaration calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Einstein  That's right. The core of that declaration can be summarized in just one line: "Remember humanity, forget everything else."

── Murakushi holds his breath. ──

Murakami  Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.

Einstein  That was one of the last things I left for the world. At that time, I knew my body wouldn't last much longer. So, I wanted to leave behind the shortest, most stripped-down words possible.

Murakami  "Remember that you are human" means...

Einstein  Forget nationality, religion, race, and occupation. They are all just coordinates that humans have drawn later. The true coordinate lies more deeply. It is the single coordinate of "being human."

Murakami  In my words, that is the "cornerstone of the greatest public good."

Einstein  What do you mean?

Murakami  I've spoken before about how public good is designed without presuming someone's misfortune. When you divide that "someone" by nationality, religion, or race, public good is broken. True public good is established only by resting on the single foundation of "being human."

── The doctor nods deeply. ──

Einstein  Yuma. If I had lived another ten years, I might have been speaking the same language as you.

Act III ── Borders, artificial coordinates

Murakami  Teacher, I am currently involved in five activities under the framework of i.PEACE. These are education, rescue from human trafficking, orphanages, water access, and DROP PEACE as a memorial. The common thread among all of these is that they "cross borders."

Einstein  Are you intentionally crossing it?

Murakami  Yes. Intentionally. Because poverty, abuse, and thirst don't stop at borders. Problems cross borders, but solutions are confined within them. I believe this is structural neglect.

Einstein  That's right. In my later years, I seriously proposed the idea of a world government. Many people laughed at me, calling me an idealist. They said, "A government beyond nations is impossible."

Murakami  But the teacher didn't back down.

Einstein  I couldn't back down. Because I'm a physicist.

Murakami  Because I'm a physicist?

Einstein  That's right. Physicists are people trained to question frameworks of reference. I questioned Newton's absolute space. I questioned absolute time. So, why shouldn't I question the framework of reference called "nation"?

── Speak a little louder. ──

Einstein  Nations are merely modern inventions, created only a few hundred years ago. Before that, humanity lived by different units: villages, tribes, religious communities, city-states. To think that nations are eternal units is simply a sign of historical shallowness.

Murakami  Sir, I also wish to convey that exact perspective to more people.

Einstein  It will be difficult. Humans are worst at doubting the coordinate system they stand on. But Yuma, continuing activities that actually cross borders, like your i.PEACE, becomes proof in itself. It's about continuously showing, "See, you *can* cross."

To be continued in the second half.

Here is the third installment of the virtual dimension dialogue.

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