How a genetically modified society uses death as a biological failsafe
In short: Imagine a world where committing murder triggers an instant, fatal organ shutdown. In Yusuke Kishi’s acclaimed novel, humanity has survived a global collapse by implementing 'Death Feedback'—a terrifying biological mechanism that makes violence physically impossible, but at a devastating cost to human freedom.
In the 2008 novel *From the New World* (Shin Sekai Yori), the author Yusuke Kishi presents a post-apocalyptic landscape set one thousand years after the fall of modern society. The collapse was precipitated in 2011 when a tiny fraction of the population—just 0.3 percent—developed psychic abilities known as 'Canto.' The subsequent misuse of these powers for crime and violence destabilized the environment and triggered a devastating world war. The environmental shifts caused by the conscious and unconscious use of these powers were so profound they fundamentally altered the planet's wildlife.
To prevent a recurrence of such chaos, the surviving psychic humans established a stable, albeit oppressive, feudalistic society. They utilized genetic modification and social conditioning to implement 'Attack Inhibition' and 'Death Feedback.' This biological safeguard ensures that if a psychic human kills another, their organs shut down, causing near-instant death. This mechanism effectively ended large-scale human-on-human violence but created a world of strict surveillance and engineered biological constraints. This biological control is so absolute that even the strongest telekineticist in the village's history remains powerless against a Fiend due to the feedback mechanism.
The stability of this civilization, such as the settlement of Kamisu 66, relies on even darker manipulations. The society utilizes genetically engineered creatures, including the eusocial, human-speaking 'Queerats,' and even employs 'Impure Cats' to eliminate children who show signs of dangerous psychic disorders. The narrative follows Saki Watanabe, a girl who discovers that the peace of her village is maintained through the erasure of collective memory and the systematic elimination of those deemed unstable. The village authorities maintain order by monitoring students and erasing the memories of those who disappear. Even the leadership, such as the head of the Ethics Committee, participates in these memory-altering practices to protect the collective psyche.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: From the New World (novel)
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