Chapter 10: The Grandfather Paradox - Answer 1

Customer Service Department.

The place wasn't large—a 100-square-meter office with over twenty landlines, yet only five staff members.

On normal days, only a few trivial calls would ring, making even five staff members seem like too many.

But today, when Old Wang saw these five female customer service representatives frantically answering calls from different regions, he was completely dumbfounded.

"It was my oversight; this program is too popular, causing the phones to ring non-stop. We don't have enough manpower!"

He quickly stepped forward and picked up a phone at random, acting as a temporary customer service supervisor.

"Hello, this is Suzhou TV Station. May I ask what your question is?"

Hearing this, a male voice with a bad attitude came through the phone, "You aren't Jiang Zhe, you can't answer my question; transfer the line to Jiang Zhe."

Old Wang was stunned. I was a university student back in the last century after all, how could I not be able to answer a question?

"There are quite a few calls today. If everyone looks for Jiang Zhe, his time definitely won't be enough; we need to screen the questions here."

To this, the person on the other side didn't fuss too much and asked: "Can the outcome of the Grandfather Paradox be resolved using the conservation of energy/mass?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Old Wang had a look of shock and subconsciously said, "Holy crap!"

Good grief, good grief!

How should I know?

He had been kept in the dark before, constantly curious about what Jiang Zhe had actually done to cause such a massive amount of traffic!

At this moment, he finally knew what program Jiang Zhe was hosting!

So he was popularizing the Grandfather Paradox, which is in the top ten of the rankings?

No, it wasn't just popularizing science, but actually decrypting the Grandfather Paradox?

The key was that the traffic remained high, and the audience weren't fools, which directly illustrated one point—this new substitute host, Jiang Zhe, might actually be able to solve this problem!!

"This... I'm very sorry, I really can't answer that."

Old Wang recovered and quickly switched the call to the backstage director, instructing: "Switch this call to Jiang Zhe."

After the call was switched, Old Wang hurriedly reported the matter to Station Manager Zhao.

When Station Manager Zhao learned the news, he was also speechless.

Not enough manpower!

In all the years since the station opened, five customer service staff had always been more than enough!

Who could have imagined that as soon as Jiang Zhe came to substitute, he would make the customer service department completely short-staffed!

If this continued, they would have to hire another batch of customer service personnel!

In desperation, Station Manager Zhao could only temporarily order other staff members to act as customer service to avoid causing dissatisfaction among the audience.

...

Inside the studio.

Jiang Zhe faced the camera, and the shocked voices of the backstage staff came through his earpiece.

"It's exploded, it's exploded!"

"The phone lines have completely exploded; many of us are heading to the customer service department."

"Teacher Jiang, only one staff member is staying backstage to transfer calls for you, everyone else has gone to the customer service department."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhe felt a surge of joy in his heart; at least his job was secure.

"Mm."

He then faced the camera and spoke, "I didn't expect everyone in front of the screen to be so passionate about science. For the next three questions, I naturally won't let you down."

"Let's welcome our first lucky viewer!"

As his voice fell, the backstage staff switched the viewer who had previously spoken with Old Wang over to Jiang Zhe.

With a "click" sound,

An excited male voice came through.

"Finally got to you, Jiang Zhe. The person who answered the phone before couldn't even answer a bit of my question. I hope you won't disappoint me!"

Through these words, Jiang Zhe understood what had happened but still maintained a smile on his face. "May I ask our first viewer, what is your question?"

He could hear the arrogance and sense of superiority in the student's tone, as if he had hit upon the other's area of expertise.

"Hello, Host Jiang Zhe, I am a junior student at Shanghai University of Science and Technology."

"In reality, the Grandfather Paradox cannot be solved. If it were solved, the paradox would lose its beauty."

"Even so, since your TV station is using the guise of being able to decrypt it, I naturally have to use my expertise to discuss it with you."

"May I ask if the outcome of the Grandfather Paradox you want to answer is as I describe."

"According to the laws of conservation of energy and mass."

"Within a vast closed system (the universe)—"

"The mass and energy within a world are conserved. When it loses mass/energy and when it replenishes mass/energy are all traceable through the movement of microscopic particles."

"I'll give a simple example."

"The total mass/energy of the world in 2024 is 100%. The grandson lives in 2024."

"The total mass/energy of the world in 1980 is 100%. The grandfather lives in 1980."

"Now, the grandson finds a way to go back to the past, and he successfully goes back. No matter what method he uses, he just goes back."

"Thus, the total mass/energy of the world in 2024—that is, the changes in the movement of fundamental microscopic particles—will decrease slightly. Suppose it becomes 99.999997%, making the total mass of 2024 unbalanced."

"He returns to the era of his grandfather in 1980, and this 0.0000003% of the grandson's mass is added to the 1980 era of the grandfather."

"The grandfather's era naturally becomes 100.00000003%."

"Now, it's clear at a glance that the mass and energy of the worlds in both time periods are unbalanced, which will certainly cause a strong Butterfly Effect!"

"Finally, the outcome for 2024 will be: the lack of the grandson's existing mass/energy causes everything to collapse from a point to a plane, and eventually, 2024 will completely collapse."

"The grandson returning to the past also causes the world of the grandfather's era in 1980 to collapse, which will eventually lead to the collapse of 1980."

"So, the answer seems to have arrived; is what you want to say—"

"The grandson can go back to the past, but the Butterfly Effect in both worlds will cause both worlds to collapse, right?"

This physics student, fearing the program's audience wouldn't understand, specifically switched to a simpler explanation!

The total mass/energy of both worlds is increasing/decreasing, so in the end, there will be no good outcome!

If there is to be a good outcome, then it is—change nothing!

As these words fell, the bullet comments in the online live stream room suddenly came to a halt, and many people fell into deep thought.

This was also what many people agreed with; after all, only by bringing in parallel worlds could these problems be reasonably avoided.

...

At this moment, far away in an office at Beijing University of Science and Technology.

Professor Feng also had a look of surprise on his face.

"Finally, a kid has asked what I wanted to ask. This is likely the answer Jiang Zhe would have originally given."

"If he doesn't solve it from this aspect, the Grandfather Paradox remains an unsolved mystery!"

"If he really intended to answer like this originally, then his level in science wouldn't be very strong either!"

"I want to see, now that someone has said what you wanted to say in advance, how will you wrap this up?"

In fact, there were many people with the same thoughts as Professor Feng.

There was more or less sympathy, as well as regret.

Who told Jiang Zhe to touch a taboo paradox?

...

Inside the leadership conference room.

Station Manager Zhao looked at Wang Guosheng and the others below the stage.

Everyone had a worried expression on their faces.

Station Manager Zhao couldn't help but gulp, "It seems he's encountered a professional. Someone beat him to Jiang Zhe's answer?"

After all, those who could explain the Grandfather Paradox really might be physics students and professors.

Station Manager Zhao and Old Wang both looked at Wang Lin, wanting to ask something.

Wang Lin only shook his head slightly, "This is a very basic question of energy conservation. If Jiang Zhe can't answer it, the problem will be quite serious."

Inevitably, some people began to worry.

To resolve energy conservation, one naturally had to solve this problem!

At this time, on the screen,

There wasn't the slightest trace of surprise on Jiang Zhe's face.

"Mm, what you said, little brother, is actually not bad, it's just that the answer is very conventional."

The other side didn't speak; only the sound of somewhat disdainful breathing could be heard.

Jiang Zhe explained unhurriedly:

"You said it very well, but you ignored one problem—"

"You've already traveled back to the past, yet you directly bypassed the step of [traveling]."

"What does the grandson use to [travel]? Does the grandson use a machine to [travel], or some method from the microscopic world to [travel]?"

"The constancy of the speed of light means that even if humans in the future hypothesize exceeding the speed of light, they would only go to the future and cannot return to the past."

"Therefore, you directly ignored the key element of [traveling]."

"The [Quantum Delayed Choice Experiment] I popularized to everyone earlier is something that only happens within the microscopic world; it will absolutely not appear in the macroscopic world."

"To travel, one naturally does so through the microscopic level. How can one travel within the macroscopic?"

"Microscopic physics doesn't have to fully comply with Einstein's 'Theory of Relativity', does it?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the student on the other side wanted to say something but hesitated.

Jiang Zhe was right!

What governs a part of the microscopic world is Quantum Mechanics!

"So what? So, Jiang Zhe, what is your outcome for the Grandfather Paradox?"

Hearing this, Jiang Zhe didn't get upset with the kid and spoke to explain: "The outcome of the Grandfather Paradox will naturally exceed many people's expectations."

"Now, I present to you Outcome 1 of the Grandfather Paradox!"