Chapter 23: Is Time a Line, a Circle, or a Sphere?

At this moment, inside an office at Guangzhou University of Science and Technology.

"Mom, this is the paradox decryption program I told you about last time."

This female top student wearing black-rimmed glasses was indeed the woman who had made the third call during the previous program: Tang Qian.

Standing beside her was a middle-aged female philosophy professor in a formal suit: Professor Tang Yan, a well-known philosophy professor in the country. The two were sitting on a sofa watching the show.

"Mom, it's really amazing. His paradoxes involve both philosophy and physics. Even someone like me, who isn't interested in physics, is starting to get intrigued."

"The way he explained 'hamlet,' there's simply no original author anymore!"

It was rare to see her daughter so emotional on a typical day; she had clearly become a little fangirl of Jiang Zhe.

A helpless smile appeared on Professor Tang Yan's face. Tang Qian usually had no interest in philosophy, and she even had to force her daughter to attend her own classes.

Who would have thought that after watching the show once, she would be conquered by the host Jiang Zhe all the way in Su City.

"Mom understands. Perhaps what's difficult isn't the paradox itself, but Jiang Zhe's way of thinking. You don't possess his mindset right now, so naturally, you think he's incredible."

"I've been in academic circles for over thirty years; let's just watch and see for now."

...

At the same time, in a lecture hall at Kyoto University of Science.

Professor Feng was with eight graduate students, each of whom was a talent bridging both philosophy and science.

It was originally time for sleep, but for some reason, Professor Feng insisted on dragging this group of thirty-somethings to watch some program.

"Professor, this really isn't necessary. It's already ten at night, and my wife is nagging me to come home and sleep. Why do we have to watch some show? Isn't it just proposing paradoxes and solving existing ones? Give me some time, and I could do it too."

One young graduate student had a look of displeasure on his face.

As soon as he spoke, it drew agreement from the top graduate student student, Leng Fei: "Yeah, Professor, there's really no need to watch this paradox stuff. After a paradox is solved, does it bring technological advancement to our reality or something? It's not a substantive breakthrough. It's really making a mountain out of a molehill, my dear Professor!"

Professor Feng looked displeased. Glancing at this group of self-important graduate students, he gave a cold snort: "You are all geniuses, so I can understand your arrogance. But I'm not asking you to learn how to solve paradoxes."

"Instead, I want you to solve problems using Teacher Jiang's way of thinking. Look at your own research. Especially you, Leng Fei—instead of properly studying particle physics, you insist on researching 'Gravitational Waves and Time Travel.' Do you think that's something a normal person can figure out?"

As Professor Feng finished speaking, the graduate students below the stage twitched their lips.

Each of their research topics was different, and the directions they took were also quite varied.

This was all thanks to Professor Feng's 'versatility'; condensed matter physics, particle physics, Quantum Mechanics, and more were all subjects he taught.

Seeing the tone used by Professor Feng, who carried weight in academic circles, Leng Fei and the other top students began to feel curious about Jiang Zhe.

At this moment, Jiang Zhe's voice came from the large screen.

"In the last episode, we used 'hamlet' as Example 1."

"Today, with so many people flocking to the show due to its reputation, I will recap Example 1."

"Example 1 of the Bootstrap Paradox: It is simply Xiao Ming buying a copy of 'hamlet' in 2024, then traveling back to the Renaissance to personally give it to William Shakespeare, who then successfully writes 'hamlet'."

"Thus, an insoluble puzzle arises: whether hamlet was written by Xiao Ming or William Shakespeare becomes an unsolved mystery."

"This is one of the cores of the Bootstrap Paradox."

"There will be an advanced version of the Bootstrap Paradox shortly!"

As Jiang Zhe's voice fell, the corners of Professor Feng's mouth curled slightly, and he glanced at Leng Fei and the others below.

He saw shock written all over their faces.

For them, this was the first time they had encountered the essence of such a paradox.

Leng Fei looked dazed: "Holy crap... he actually proposed an original paradox. Looking at it this way, 'hamlet' really is trapped in a damn time loop. It's almost on par with the Grandfather Paradox!"

With just a few sentences, Jiang Zhe had successfully captured the attention of this group of self-important top students!

Vaguely, they felt that this show was actually worth watching!

...

Meanwhile, in the studio of Suzhou TV Station.

Facing the camera, Jiang Zhe pulled a spring from the drawer under the table, held it in his hand, and then posed a question:

"Before we discuss Example 2 of the Bootstrap Paradox."

"I have a question for everyone."

"Do you think time is a line, a circle, or something else?"

"Of course, you can say whatever you think, no theoretical support needed!"

"I'd like the audience in the livestream to cast their votes so I can see what you all believe."

After speaking, he tapped his earpiece, signaling the backstage staff to launch the poll.

The backstage director was very professional, sending the content to the livestream almost simultaneously.

[What is time?]

[A: A line]

[B: A circle]

[C: Fill in the blank, please input what you believe]

Without any surprise, 95% of the people chose [A].

Only a small portion chose B, C, or other viewpoints.

"Does that even need to be said? Of course time is a line!"

"Exactly, my nine years of compulsory education weren't for nothing. Time is a line."

"I'm a physics student. I really want to say that time is actually the continuous state of the motion of matter, or even the physical reactions produced by particle collisions; but I feel like if I say it, the host will just debunk it, so I'll stay quiet."

"I think it's a [circle], or perhaps a sphere; actually, time is the process of the entire universe's motion and its instantaneous state."

"To the person above, what about after the Heat Death? How do you explain it when everything in the universe has disappeared?"

"Don't ask me, I don't know. Go ask Host Jiang."

"..."

Soon, the various answers from the audience were reported to Jiang Zhe by the director.

Hearing this, an expected smile appeared on Jiang Zhe's face.

"The results are in."

"95% of people believe time is a line—a state process of all matter moving irregularly in all directions, recorded by humans as a 'timeline'."

"3% believe time is a circle—because a time loop can solve many difficult problems."

"Another 1.99% believe time has no so-called 'line' or 'circle' designation."

"And 0.11% believe time exists based on intelligent consciousness—based on Quantum Mechanics."

At this point, Jiang Zhe smiled slightly.

"Very good, everyone has their own unique insights. Being able to think spontaneously is a great start!"

Suddenly!

He changed his tone.

"But I believe that time is neither a line, nor a circle, nor even a sphere, but something else!!!"

Jiang Zhe's certain expression and tone immediately piqued the audience's curiosity.

Time being a line or a circle was the understanding of the entire world.

Was Jiang Zhe speaking out to contradict the whole world?

Professor Tang Yan's lips curled slightly. "He's starting to show flaws. I'll see how you take that back."

Leng Fei looked mocking. "Oh ho, I thought you had some skill before, but now you're directly negating the judgments of past scientists. Just a flash in the pan."

Professor Li showed an unexpected smile. "Hahaha, to prove his paradox is superior, he actually negates the world's understanding established by previous scientists. I thought you were capable before, but you're showing your flaws this quickly?"

There were many people who felt the same way.

Even Professor Feng, who admired Jiang Zhe, felt doubt arise in his heart when he heard the disdain from the graduate students below.

"What is he doing? He couldn't really be a flash in the pan, could he? He clearly started from reality and truly solved the Grandfather Paradox in the previous show. Why is he like this now?"

At this moment, Professor Feng looked embarrassed, his heart wavering.

Even in the leadership conference room, Old Zhao and the others had grim expressions.