Chapter 117: Boltzmann, Fermi Paradox, Zeno's Tortoise

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, evening had arrived.

Jiang Zhe spent the entire afternoon looking at houses online.

Ultimately, he confirmed his target: Villa No. 1 in the 'Waterfront Manor' villa district of Huqiu District.

Strangely enough, Villa No. 1 previously had a reputation for bad Feng Shui; a former owner had committed murder there, and it was subsequently left vacant. No one dared to live there, and no one dared to buy it.

As it happened, Jiang Zhe managed to snag a bargain, getting it for 30 million when it was originally worth 100 million.

Jiang Zhe made an appointment with the current owner, transferred a 5 million deposit, and decided to finalize the transaction next Monday.

The current owner even thoughtfully promised to invite a master to perform a cleansing ritual; for Jiang Zhe, who didn't believe in ghosts or gods, the world was a grand stage—if any spirits had the guts, they were welcome to come.

As the sky darkened, Jiang Zhe, having finished making dinner, had a brief chat with Wang Lin and Xiao Shiyi, mentioning the house purchase.

"We're moving next week to Villa No. 1 in Waterfront Manor. Isn't that the haunted house? It's worth over a hundred million, and you got it for thirty million?"

"Where did you get the money? You're not some hidden second-generation rich kid out here just to experience life, are you?"

Xiao Shiyi stood up solemnly, gazed affectionately at Jiang Zhe, and then patted his own shapely rear, hinting to Jiang Zhe, "Sugar Daddy, I'm entrusting the rest of my life to you."

"Always so unreliable." Jiang Zhe's face darkened, his mouth twitching. "What ghosts and monsters? It's just people's minds playing tricks. Don't worry about where the money came from; just know that your Brother Jiang is very good at making money."

"Let's not talk about that. After dinner, hurry up and get to work."

The two asked a few more questions, but at Jiang Zhe's insistence, the three of them finally decided to move together next week.

Wang Lin had a sudden thought and asked, "By the way, what paradox are you planning to talk about tonight?"

"The Trolley Problem... though that was my original idea. That paradox isn't enough to fill two hours, so it's pending. I'll continue with an impromptu lecture."

Jiang Zhe had thought it over.

The Trolley Problem couldn't be the main core because it involved moralizing and self-imposed dogmatism.

In fact...

This paradox didn't really help with viewership ratings.

Save five people, kill one?

Or kill five people, save one?

Wang Lin said thoughtfully, "True, the Trolley Problem is too heavy on education. And with only two fixed answers, A and B, whichever you choose will draw voices of dissent."

Xiao Shiyi chimed in, "The Trolley Problem can only be discussed as a minor core. If you're looking for a main core... based on the materials I've looked up lately, I have several that would suit you."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhe's eyes lit up. "Oh? Let's hear them."

"1: The Boltzmann Brain—the birth of the first intelligent consciousness might have originated from it."

"2: The fermi paradox—if there are aliens, where are they?"

"3: The Hilbert's Hotel Paradox—is space infinitely large? This seems to involve the multiverse; it's unprovable, or at least, I can't prove it."

"4: Zeno's Tortoise Paradox—after many years, is the Achilles really always slower than the tortoise?"

These paradoxes were all perennials in this world; Xiao Shiyi desperately wanted to hear Jiang Zhe solve them.

As the suggestions ended, Jiang Zhe raised a hand to stop him. "I know the first few. As for Zeno's Tortoise Paradox, a race between Achilles and Zeno's tortoise... that's a paradox from thousands of years ago. The previous answer was: Achilles can never overtake the tortoise because he will always be infinitely divided into the smallest units of time and space."

"Actually, Zeno of Ancient Greece was wrong; mathematics back then wasn't as developed as it is today."

"This paradox was later ended by planck time and distance—meaning there is a minimum division for space and distance, which is [planck time/Distance]."

"So the tortoise will be overtaken at the smallest unit of distance or time, ended by [planck time/Distance]."

"By the way, the [Dichotomy Paradox] was also ended by [planck time/Distance], so there's not much point in me continuing to talk about it."

After hearing it all, Xiao Shiyi couldn't help but look stunned.

Did Jiang Zhe just solve a paradox on the spot?

On... on... on the spot?

Wang Lin's eyes also suddenly lit up.

"Holy crap... I really believe in your level of impromptu paradox solving now; I hadn't even thought about it that way."

"You're right, Zeno's Tortoise was ended by Planck long ago; I just never looked into it."

Indeed, this world had [planck time/Distance], which left Jiang Zhe no room to exploit it.

Previously, Wang Lin had been a bit skeptical of Jiang Zhe; he thought Jiang Zhe had researched materials before doing his impromptu lectures.

Who knew Jiang Zhe really understood these things and didn't need to look up materials at all?

This is the difference between people!!!

Jiang Zhe waved his hand. "Read more books, read more newspapers, and get more sleep. Xiao, continue."

"Oh..."

Xiao Shiyi looked dazed and scratched his head awkwardly.

What had been a paradox to him was suddenly silenced by a single sentence from Jiang Zhe, leaving him at a loss for words.

This was simply too ridiculous; many unsolved mysteries were life-long puzzles for them, but for Jiang Zhe, they were as simple as eating or drinking water.

Seeing Xiao Shiyi's difficult expression, Jiang Zhe stopped making things hard for him. "Thanks, Old Xiao. I'll stick with the continuation of 'Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly' from last time; however, it will involve 'Brain in a Vat'."

Wang Lin's face darkened. "Why do you sound so perfunctory? Isn't this supposed to be something exciting and thrilling?"

He shook his head and lamented, "You don't understand. For someone like me who understands and has decrypted these in my mind, the mystery of exploration is lost. That is to say—the things I'm talking about are ordinary to me. It's only because you, Xiao Shiyi, and the audience in the livestream don't understand them that they feel fresh."

Although the words made sense, Xiao Shiyi and Wang Lin exchanged a look of utter disdain.

They could hear the humblebragging!

How many people were dying to know the truth behind these paradoxes?

And yet here he was, humblebragging by saying: [No challenge, no mystery, not interesting at all].

Listen to that—is that even human?

After dinner, while Xiao Shiyi and Wang Lin were organizing documents, Jiang Zhe also organized the materials, images, and his computer for today's lecture.

...

Past seven in the evening.

In the studio, after the prime-time evening news ended.

The middle-aged male and female hosts on stage hurried to their feet and ran toward the leadership conference room to watch Jiang Zhe's broadcast immediately.

The on-site staff quickly got busy, changing the set, cleaning up, and testing the audio.

Jiang Zhe went straight to the monitoring room and saw Old Wang.

"A rare guest, a rare guest indeed!"

Old Wang couldn't hide his excitement, breaking into a smile and immediately pouring tea for Jiang Zhe.

Jiang Zhe nodded in thanks, his gaze then sweeping over Old Wang, who was dressed in a suit.

His gaze lingered for a moment.

Old Wang frowned, feeling a bit strange, and then looked down at himself.

Only then did he realize to his surprise that his trouser zipper was undone. He coughed awkwardly, "I've made a fool of myself."

Jiang Zhe raised his hand to check the time—it was almost eight o'clock. He spoke directly, "Uncle Wang, take care of your health lately. If you really have to, bring your wife to Su City. Your son is my brother, and I see you as family. This is your private business, but... for the sake of your wife and your reputation, I suggest you exercise some restraint."

Having said that, he didn't linger and got up to leave the monitoring room.

Old Wang was left completely baffled. "Take care of my health, bring my wife to Su City... what is he talking about?"

The young staff member nearby, Professor Li Ming, walked over and cleared his throat. "Teacher Jiang lives downstairs from you, right?"

"Yes, what about it..."

As soon as he said it, Old Wang's face turned to utter shock.

Holy shit!

He'd been found out!

He'd met up with a young married woman yesterday...

The noise had indeed been quite loud; Jiang Zhe must have heard it.

This was so damn embarrassing!

"Ahem!" Old Wang looked at Professor Li Ming with a serious face. "Don't overthink it; nothing happened."

"Mhm..." Professor Li Ming couldn't help but snicker. Afraid of being caught, he turned back to the monitoring room.

Watching Professor Li Ming leave, Old Wang immediately took out his phone and blocked the young woman who had sent a string of messages.

...

In the leadership conference room.

Wang Lin and Xiao Shiyi arrived one after the other.

Seeing Xiao Shiyi and Wang Lin arrive, Station Manager Zhao asked impatiently, "Little Wang, Little Xiao, what is Jiang Zhe talking about today?"

Wang Lin replied, "The follow-up to Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly. If there's enough time, he might randomly talk about something else."

"What about the materials? Did he give them to the director?"

Xiao Shiyi took over the conversation. "No, Jiang Zhe brought his own computer this time. The director just needs to handle the sound effects; Jiang Zhe is covering everything else."

With those words, the station manager finally felt at ease.

Then Station Manager Zhao picked up the walkie-talkie and asked Old Wang in the monitoring department, "Old Wang, are the ratings increasing instead of decreasing?"

Old Wang's voice came from the other side: "Yes, the evening news had 2 million people online. Now that the commercials have started, the number has broken 4 million; another big wave is coming shortly."

"Hold steady. Put on a few high-value commercials in these few minutes. Once Little Jiang is on stage, strive to break last time's ratings today."

"Don't worry, the livestream is linked to the decryption forum. Some experts from Su City have already joined; the traffic is solid."

In the livestream.

The netizens constantly flooding into the room and those coming from the forum were extremely impatient.

Because Jiang Zhe hadn't held a vote this time, nor had he revealed what he would be talking about in advance, making many people intensely curious.

...

Kyoto University of Science Auditorium.

Professor Hua Yunfeng, Old Feng, and a group of experts were all gathered here.

Even though it was Saturday, the experts and students on site were waiting for the broadcast to start, dressed in black cotton coats.

Professor Hua Yunfeng tapped on his laptop and took a look around the forum; just like last time, there was no preview.

"This Little Jiang is so willful; he only leaves cliffhangers in the show and doesn't even preview the next episode now."

Old Feng, reviewing computer materials, replied: "It should still be Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly; after all, the conclusions of Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly involve too much."

"Last episode he decrypted Quantum Consciousness Information and the origin of consciousness; this episode he'll have to make a judgment regarding [The Reality or Falsity of the World]."

"The reality or falsity of the world can't really be separated from physical data and thought experiments."

"But I can feel that today will be another day of shattered worldviews."

Professor Hua Yunfeng nodded silently. "I hope so, otherwise these newly invited professors from other colleges will probably be dissatisfied."

...