Chapter 119: Information Cocoon

"Holy shit..."

"It's so damn easy to understand; is this the consequence of us humans labeling everything?"

"I get it; this is the surface meaning of Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly; reality and illusion are just labels we humans assign; and then we trap ourselves in a dilemma."

"Right, right, right."

"..."

The audience suddenly had a realization.

Many people hadn't undergone professional baptism; it made them realize for the first time that knowledge could enter the mind in such a way.

Gradually, these words stirred the desire for knowledge in the audience's hearts.

...

At this moment, inside the lecture hall of the Kyoto University of Science.

All the Philosophers had burning gazes, nodding in excited appreciation, raising their hands to applaud, and thunderous applause erupted at the scene.

"Good!"

"Very good!"

"This is the true philosophical level of Teacher Jiang!"

"This is amazing. He hadn't really shown his philosophical level before, but now that I've seen it, it's simply impeccable!"

The applause continued.

These words had truly reached their hearts.

It was like an impromptu lesson for them; no matter who you are, you will label everything. Without labels, humans seem to lose something.

But as long as one gets used to it, people can actually still live quite comfortably and freely!

Explained philosophically, the meaning of Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly is just this—[Don't dig too deep, if you do, you're done for!]

But!

Not digging deep is not Jiang Zhe's style.

They knew Jiang Zhe had deeper and more eye-popping analyses.

On the big screen.

Jiang Zhe's mouth curled slightly as he continued to explain:

"So, the surface answer to Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly is just this; humans bring trouble upon themselves; it's a concept completely devoid of meaning."

As he changed the subject, he raised a finger.

"But!"

"Here, I'm going to give this Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly a truth!"

"Otherwise, I'd be doing a disservice to the position I'm sitting in."

When these words came out, the audience was shocked by Jiang Zhe's stubbornness.

Upon realizing this, the audience's faces darkened, their mouths twitched, and they complained wildly in their hearts.

You're just sitting in a host's chair, not a god's throne, damn it.

How could a human possibly distinguish everything in the world?

If anyone else dared to say that, the audience would surely point at their nose and curse; but since it was Jiang Zhe sitting up there...

"Let's get back to the topic."

"It is actually very simple for people to distinguish which is a dream and which is reality!"

After saying this, he picked up the whiteboard on the table and wrote three words on it: [Degree of Freedom].

Then he pointed the whiteboard at the camera and explained, "As you can all see."

"If I were Professor Zhuang, I would ask myself, between the life of a butterfly and my own life, which life do I understand better?"

"In which world am I more real?"

The bullet comments gave answers one after another: [Real World].

Holding his earpiece, Jiang Zhe heard the answers from the audience.

"Hmm, it is indeed the real world."

"Hypothesis: I am now Professor Zhuang."

"Why would I know the real world better?"

"Because I know that after going through the grind of academia, I upgraded from an ordinary professor to a Bronze-tier Professor, then a Silver-tier Professor, and finally a Gold-tier Professor."

"But I don't know how to live as a butterfly. Flapping wings seems tiring; how many times a day do I flap them? How long before I need to rest? How many meals do I eat a day? And how should I lay eggs?"

"As you have all heard, I have a great deal of evidence proving that I am Professor Zhuang, while the evidence I have to prove I am a butterfly is very scarce."

"When Professor Zhuang doubts the reality and illusion of the world; what exactly is he thinking, and in the days that follow, what will he talk to people about?"

"As I said before, the question posed by Professor Zhuang is actually exploring the freedom of life."

"If this world is real, but we have no freedom, good people don't get rewarded, and bad people go unpunished, what is the meaning of such reality? We'd rather not have it, right?"

"If this world is virtual, but we possess absolute freedom, where everyone can develop their hobbies, gain incredible powers, do whatever they want, and there is no pain or conflict, wouldn't such a virtual world be good? We'd rather have it, right?"

These words instantly sparked deep thought in many people.

They finally understood why Jiang Zhe had asked that earlier:

[Is it that we cannot distinguish between reality and illusion, or is it that we are unwilling to distinguish between reality and illusion.]

Hindsight...

It seems that people themselves are unwilling to distinguish between reality and illusion.

If one gets to the bottom of it, it's just people wishfully thinking, wanting to find evidence of the virtual in reality, and evidence of the real in illusion.

These words were full of philosophical flavor, calming the restless hearts of many netizens who had come for his reputation.

"Why?"

"Why are so many people pursuing reality and the virtual?"

"The answer is also very simple!"

"A small part is curiosity."

"Curious people, scientists, treat things from beginning to end; this is the focus of scientists."

As he changed the subject.

"But!"

"What about most people?"

"In reality, what you yearn for is more freedom and fewer constraints!"

"Because you think the real world cannot satisfy you; the real world is mediocre."

"Reality is tiring, exhausting, living in a world within pre-determined frameworks, where everything you want to do is constrained; you can't do what you want; you have to do what you don't want every day; and it's a repeating cycle."

"But the virtual, or even a dream; it temporarily loses those frameworks; allowing everyone to obtain supreme freedom; you can do whatever you want; murder, arson, rape, and plunder; satisfying all the dirty and even evil thoughts suppressed deep in your heart."

"Yes, it's not that you yearn for reality and illusion; nor are you curious about reality and illusion, but rather you yearn for [Freedom]."

"In the real world you think you are in, you are actually just like staying in an information cocoon."

"Every day you receive information pre-planned by the outside world."

"Others will tell you how the world operates."

"Others will tell you how society operates."

"Others will tell you that the knowledge you have learned is correct."

"The country will tell you through political propaganda, giving you a concept, that our Xia Country is very good; very strong, and never does bad things!"

"Hmm, you believe it."

"Hmm, you also think this is real."

He shrugged and joked while explaining:

"But!"

"When you step out and go to every corner of the world to take a look; you will be surprised to find—"

"We are much worse than the good places; but we are much better than the bad places."

"In the end, everyone will find: the country is not as good as we imagined; but at least it's not bad"

Speaking up to this point, Jiang Zhe's expression gradually became serious.

"This is the [Information Cocoon]!"

"The grassroots masses will only be instilled by the masters at the top of the pyramid with the information they want you to see, the world they want you to see."

"The purpose is to prevent you from having wild thoughts, thinking about the truth of things, and then causing trouble."

"In other words: the masses at the bottom of the pyramid will gradually be controlled by the masters at the top of the pyramid, and then lose the ability to [think], [contemplate], and [distinguish between truth and falsehood, right and wrong]."

"These words involve a top-tier concept: 'Brain in a Vat'."

These words were still full of philosophical flavor, causing many in the audience to fall into confusion and contemplation for a moment.

Yeah!

Parents tell their children from a young age—

You should do this; parents are doing it for your own good.

Teachers tell students according to the textbooks—

You should do this because it's the correct way; teachers are doing it for your own good.

Leaders tell employees—

You should do this because it's the correct way; leaders are doing it for your own good.

From childhood to adulthood, knowledge and thoughts have always been instilled from the outside world. Over time, people lose the ability to distinguish right from wrong on their own, believing that what they say is always correct.

Just like the first time children who have just entered society from school make a police call...

In an instant, the cognition built up over a dozen years is shattered!

Many in the audience have heard these things to some extent.

Like North Korea, which everyone knows about; the people there think the world is just like North Korea.

Because the top of the pyramid in North Korea has always been using mobile phones and videos to play movies of Xia Country from the last century to the North Korean people, and any footage showing high-rise buildings is deleted. After this thought of "the whole world is the same" is instilled into the masses, the masses will take it for granted and think—

[The world is just as we see it; the outside world is the same as ours; therefore, our place is very good!].

But what is the fact?

When those North Koreans who were in the information cocoon jump out of the information cocoon...

Only then do they realize in surprise—everything before was a lie by the upper-level controllers, all virtual; all an illusion set up by the masters at the top of the pyramid!

Like the Qing Dynasty's closed-door policy; it's the same!

The common people at that time thought the whole world was the same as the Qing Dynasty; but in reality? It was not so.

Thinking about it carefully, the audience all fell silent, not saying a word.

They began to think about a question: [Is the world we are in also like an information cocoon?]

Hasn't reality and illusion been explained?

Isn't Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly easier to decipher now?

While the audience was in deep thought, doubting life, Jiang Zhe's voice came.

"Therefore, the boundary between the virtual and the real is the upper limit of your cognition, the upper limit of freedom."

"The higher the cognition, the more it is false, even if it is real."

"The lower the cognition, the more it is real, even if it is false."

"High degree of freedom is real, even if it is false."

"Low degree of freedom is virtual, even if it is real."

"I'll give you all some time to think; later, I will use some concise concepts and evidence to crack Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly!!!"

Witnessing all of this, Professor Zhuang Zhou, as a Gold-tier Professor, couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

Jiang Zhe...

He is far higher than the upper limit and perspective in my own cognition!!!