The door to the computing center remains closed on this day. It is the most boring and neglected building in the city. Unlike the Ethical House, people never seemed to want to come here. Given the number of people living in the city, that's incredible, but that's also because it's inexplicably unlovable. People will always avoid this place subconsciously, House Zero, a ghostly building with a weak sense of existence.
By the railing of the building, Ji Xun looked at a moon-white insect flower growing out of the gap. It flaps its wings on the calyx, spreading scale powder and peptide toxins. He had completely analyzed the toxin components and made the corresponding antidote, so he was able to watch the metamorphosis of the petals up close. Zhu Er stood further away, frowning and looking towards the distance of the road.
"I'm still imagining the moment you experienced." Ji Xun said, "That day, Bei saw a singing flower growing out of her workbench, just like the one in front of me. You also witnessed those Things that were supposed to be lifeless came to life. What was the first thing you felt at that moment?"
"Feelings are completely divorced from facts." Jules replied, "Those hallucinatory parts have no actual meaning. Only by stripping them away can we grasp the essence of things."
"I cannot agree that everything created by the Slicer is an illusion. As you can see, Jules, all matter here exists. We can completely regard it as an independent and small special universe. If Reality is not the only criterion, how do you explain that they are more false than the old universe you lived in?"
Jules was indeed considering the question he posed. After a while she said: "Everything here lacks logical coherence, Mr. Ji Xun. This is not a formal statement, but you know what I mean. A real universe has logical laws to follow. Even the last drop The dry drop of water, each of its elementary particles has experienced the entire history of the universe. If you could watch everything, you would know every event it went through before it dried up. It is these events that sent it to where it finally dries up. place."
"These are just feelings." Ji Xun said.
"Of course not. This is cause and effect and law! The absence of matter is not inconsistent with their objectivity. This question is a bit too elementary, Mr. Ji Xun, I think we have all passed the age of discussing such prerequisites. Same. Things appear to us in a completely causal manner, or they are simply conjured up by our imagination. That is completely different. I need not explain the difference."
Ji Xun turned around, and the insect flower began to form a cocoon behind him. As he took two more steps, his body began to change, his growth and development accelerating until he was older than his original age. That was still not enough to keep him and Jules at eye level, but at least he no longer had to raise his head.
“We can simply divide exploration into two types,” he said. “Recognizing and finding things we have never seen before is a job with randomness. It depends on how close the new thing is to the boundary of our exploration. How far. But here's another quest, about things we think we know, but we actually know next to nothing."
"Now is not the time to explore yourself, Mr. Ji Xun. The value of life is a topic that will not have a final conclusion, unless we are talking about a dead person."
"I'm not referring to a philosophical issue." Ji Xun still said, "In fact, this is a practical issue involving the application of technology. In the place where I was born, this issue almost destroyed all our achievements. Jules, a drop of water What is it?"
"A hydroxide compound of a specific structure."
"Yes, but we can divide it into smaller parts. Most of the regional rules we know are consistent in the structural decomposition of microscopic particles. I think you have also heard of our attempts, About making computational tools at the elementary particle level - but that's just an application boundary. For theory, we don't have a real answer. If we had to say 'what is a drop of water', it would be another infinity Task."
Jules stared at him silently, obviously unsure of where their conversation was leading.
"We are still talking about some theoretical issues," she pointed out. "In my opinion, Mr. Ji Xun, these are philosophical issues in general. They are not applicable."
"What is logic?" Ji Xun asked indifferently, "If we split logic like a drop of water, what would we get? Regarding those basic principles that we default to as 'self-evident', are they really inseparable? ? Or do they only hold within the set of mental models we use? If we break down the 'self-evident' parts - in other words, the underlying layers of all theories we have - what follows? What are we facing?"
He saw a hint of confusion on Zhu Er's face. She failed to capture the discussion-worthy aspects of this simple topic. And the result was exactly what he thought. Zhu Er's answer was almost exactly as he expected.
"It's an interesting thought game." She said rather reluctantly, "But I don't see the application you mentioned, Mr. Ji Xun. You know, before the advent of the slicer, our universe had never been questioned by anyone. It collapses due to the law of cause and effect.”
"What about here? How do you think about this within a wish machine environment?"
"The slicer just prevents us from observing the process." Juul reminded, "That doesn't mean there is none. It doesn't show 'things that never could have existed.' And no matter what kind of history, Mr. Ji Xun, even if it is history with a very small probability, it has nothing to do with us in terms of the basic rules you mentioned. Even the slicer will not truly 'eliminate causality'. We, or the slicer Everything that is shown in this city is just different leaves on the same branch.”
"Yes," Ji Xun said, "For a first-level wishing machine, exhausting the physical display power will not cause such a dilemma. No matter how the description is expanded, we are still within this model."
"I don't know what you are implying, Mr. Ji Xun. The theoretical terminology we use is obviously very different, so I hope that both of us can communicate in a layman's way."
Ji Xun blinked. His eyes fell to the end of the road. Behind him, the membranous cocoons formed by insects and flowers fell like dead leaves. A moth with dull wings covered with fine scales took off from the flower stem. Jules noticed it but didn't take it as a sign of anything meaningful. The truly meaningful things happen at the end of the road. Away from the computing center, the person they were waiting for was approaching. Jing Huang and Cat Killer were far away from each other, but no one seemed to be hurt. There is also a particularly majestic orange cat man with long hair as gorgeous and beautiful as flames. Neither Zhu Er nor Ji Xun knew this beautiful cat, but they both acted calmly and listened to what this strange visitor had to say.
The pretty cat was talking loudly, in a nagging tone. Its eyes stared at Jing Huang and its tail stood straight up.
"You're in trouble, Dachshund!" it said unceremoniously, "Look at the good things you've done, Dachshund! The executor is about to be dispatched, and you've got yourself into big trouble! You asked for this, Vegetable cat!"
"Shut up." Jing Huang said.
Jules stared at this absurd and chaotic scene. She didn't like this unexpected situation. But Ji Xun just smiled with interest. Before he walked towards the three people coming towards him, she heard his last whisper.
“As for the use of terminology and communication,” he murmured, “the reality is that natural language doesn’t do a good job of explaining our predicament—it’s a math problem for the time being.”
