The top administrator's answer explained to Liu Hanyang, Zhou Yun and others the relationship between the countless tadpole-like objects released by the electromagnetic vortex formed after the explosion of the giant light ball and them. Both belong to Boltzmann's brain, but they are just more civilized. They are just different, but they have one attribute in common, that is, they are another form between living and non-living bodies.
Liu Hanyang seemed to be thinking more deeply, what exactly is "another form between life and non-life"? This was his deep question at the moment.
"Supreme Administrator, I have a question to ask you." Liu Hanyang said.
"Ask, you can ask anything as long as it's within the scope of my answer."
He nodded politely, and then said: "We humans have done some research on living and non-living objects. Both are made of matter. As far as biology is concerned, the biggest difference between the two is that life is made of A molecular system composed of nucleic acids, proteins and other substances, which has the ability to continuously reproduce and respond to the outside world."
After he took a breath, he continued: "Inanimate objects, which we generally call matter, are only composed of atoms, and atoms are composed of interacting subatomic particles, including protons and neutrons. The atomic nucleus, as well as the electron cloud composed of many electrons, are unable to reproduce and react to the outside world. Excuse me, what exactly are you, the Boltzmann brain or the Boltzmann consciousness?"
"Before answering your question, I would like to correct you humans. On a cosmic scale, your understanding of living and non-living entities is still very superficial and vague. Only by truly understanding the meaning of the two can you Do you understand what we are?"
After a pause, he continued: "If according to your logic, the biggest difference between living and non-living entities is the ability to reproduce and respond to the outside world, then please tell me, how did the elements originate?"
"The universe was born in a big explosion 13.8 billion years ago, which produced a large number of elementary particles. As the universe continues to expand, its radiation temperature and material density continue to decrease. Neutrons decay or combine with protons to produce hydrogen and deuterium. (Heavy hydrogen), helium and a small amount of lithium. Then 200 million years after the big bang, the nebula appeared and continued to shrink and aggregate under the influence of gravity. After reaching the critical temperature, hydrogen nuclear fusion will occur, and stars will be born."
Liu Hanyang spoke more and more, seeming to show his rich knowledge of the universe to the top executive. He looked around, raised his head and said: "When hydrogen nuclear fusion occurs in the interior of a star, a new element helium will be produced. If the mass of the star If enough, it will continue to trigger the nuclear fusion reaction of helium nuclei, producing new elements carbon and oxygen."
He glanced at the top administrator and continued: "If the mass of the star is greater, it will trigger nuclear fusion of carbon elements, which will produce new elements neon, sodium, magnesium and even iron elements; if the mass of the star is greater than 9 times the mass of the sun, , its core exceeded the Chandrasekhar limit, causing the core to collapse, eventually triggering a supernova explosion, which in turn produced new elements such as gold, silver, platinum, iridium, californium and other heavy elements."
"According to your conclusion just now: The biggest difference between living and non-living entities is the ability to reproduce. Then, can the process of element production you described be considered a series of reproduction of non-living entities?"
The words of the top executive made Liu Hanyang speechless for a moment. Indeed, stars are like super processing and refining factories of elements. From the beginning of hydrogen and helium to the production of heavy metal elements such as gold and silver, in a sense, they are not elements, that is, part of non-living bodies. Does the series reproduce?
In this process, stars of different masses will also have different life cycles, from white dwarfs, red giants, supernovas to black holes. Different life cycles breed different elements. Moreover, super-massive stars will form after the core collapses. Enough material is provided for the birth of the next generation of stars, the Sun being the second generation of stars born in a nebula formed after the explosion of a larger, older star.
Aren't stars of different masses also changing and "reproducing"?
It can be seen from this that it is far-fetched to define life and non-life as the first condition that distinguishes them on a cosmic scale, that is, "the ability to reproduce." The boundary between the two will also become blurred.
Unless, the universe itself is a living entity.
"Now, let's look at the second condition you define for living and non-living entities: whether they can respond to the outside world." The top administrator said.
His tone was calm, without providing evidence or derivation. He almost asked questions following Liu Hanyang's words. However, Liu Hanyang felt that every word was directly to the point and full of lethality, enough for him to expand and lead this topic. A deeper level of thinking and collision.
The chief executive's words held a deeper meaning.
Liu Hanyang thought of quantum mechanics, a field in which he had spent his youth and passion, and a field in which he was good at.
"Just now we discussed the universe and the laws of motion in the macroscopic world. Now let's talk about the laws of motion in the microscopic world."
Liu Hanyang guessed correctly, and the top executive indeed brought the topic to quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics and relativity together form the theoretical basis of modern physics. The former mainly studies the basic theory of atoms, molecules, condensed matter, as well as the structure and properties of atomic nuclei and elementary particles. It has fundamentally changed mankind's understanding of the structure and properties of matter. understanding of interactions.
"Before meeting you, the liaison officer sent me a history of the development of physics as a whole, including a famous experiment - the double-slit interference experiment. Subsequently, you humans expanded and expanded this experiment. By extension, this experiment can prove that your second condition for defining living and non-living entities: "whether they have the ability to respond to the outside world" is not rigorous. "
Liu Hanyang thought of the double-slit interference experiment.
The experiment is divided into three sessions.
In the first field, a group of continuous photons is allowed to pass through two parallel slits in the middle. This is the same as the experiment done by Thomas Young. A column of alternating light and dark interference fringes appears on the back screen.
In the second scene, only one photon was allowed to pass through the two parallel slits in the middle. After a period of time, a column of light and dark interference fringes also appeared on the back screen.
The problem is, when there is only one photon, it can only pass through one of the slits, but in fact, the photon is in a superposition of passing through one slit and passing through the other slit. state, so interference also appears in the subsequent screens.
In the third field, only one photon is allowed to pass through the two parallel slits in the middle, but a detector or camera is placed at the slit. This device allows the experimenter to observe which slit the photon passed through. , a strange phenomenon occurred, the interference phenomenon located in the back screen disappeared.
The third experiment proved that the measurement or observer effect causes the collapse of the superposition state, which means that once an observer is introduced in the second experiment, the superposition state of the two paths will collapse into a single result of a single path.
Unknowingly, about 20 minutes have passed. These 20 minutes are Liu Hanyang’s memories and thoughts about the double-slit interference experiment.
The words of the top administrator were recalled in the space: "So, please tell me, what conclusion did you draw through the double-slit interference experiment?"
"The measurement or observer principle causes the collapse of superposition states." Liu Hanyang replied.
"Very good, then can we look at it in reverse: photons have the ability to respond to the outside world?"
"External response ability..." Liu Hanyang muttered, a stream of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
"Yes, that is to say, once an observer intervenes, the photon will collapse from the superposition state into a single result, and it will have the ability to respond to the outside world?"
His rhetorical question made Liu Hanyang fall into deep thought... Indeed, judging from the results of the experiment, the observer effect caused the collapse of the superposition state, producing a single result. Looking at it conversely, the photon responded to the outside world.
Now, both the macro world and the micro world seem to point to one result, which is the definition of living and non-living entities on a cosmic scale, that is, "life has the ability to continuously reproduce offspring and respond to the outside world." The definition seems not to be rigorous.
If we really want to define the two, we can only give them a simple distinction based on the earth as an isolated system.
"Your Excellency, Chief Executive, after discussing with you, I have
Gained a new understanding of the universe. "Liu Hanyang said, his words were sincere and full of respect, "Then, please tell me, in the double-slit interference experiment, the observers are you Boltzmann brains, us humans, or something unknown to us. The will of the universe?"
"Our consciousness and yours together constitute the will of the universe, and we are both an integral part of the universe."
Liu Hanyang understood that since the known low-entropy universe has produced lonely Boltzmann brains, that is, independent self-awareness bodies, in the fluctuation of entropy, the probability is higher than the probability of such things as our human beings. The probability of an evolved brain is much greater.
In other words, there should be many such lonely Boltzmann brains floating in disorder in the universe. They have consciousness and memory different from ours. Therefore, for the universe, observers are more likely to experience this kind of random increase. The brain that emerged from the fall of the world, not just the evolved brain of humans.
Also, the City of Ten Thousand Realms they live in proves that they have a certain social form, and like human society, there is racial reproduction, evolution, and civilization progress.
Maybe the universe we are in is a huge life form, maybe it is a Boltzmann brain that we cannot understand, or maybe it is one of many parallel universes.
Whether it is the macroscopic world dominated by gravity, the microscopic world dominated by quantum mechanics, or the dark matter and dark energy that we cannot touch or see, or the Boltzmann consciousness, and of course our human consciousness. are an integral part of this universe.
Matter and consciousness are not dominated by who, and the universe is not the existence of "I think, therefore I am", but the way it should be.
The universe is around us, but it is also hundreds of millions of light-years away. The big bang 13.8 billion years ago laid the prototype of what it should be. Since then, everything it contains has been developing and changing. Never stop...
The universe is waiting for us to explore and discover...
