Chapter 31: Is Earth Fighting Death?

Jiang Zhe's analysis caused the already bewildered audience to sink into deep thought once again.

Is the universe fighting against death?

At this moment, the people in front of their screens wavered.

"The universe isn't fighting against death, is it?"

"If the ultimate end of the universe is heat death, then how can the universe be fighting against it?"

"I don't know, I really don't know!"

"..."

In the eyes of the public, the universe was simply the universe—nothing special, just rather mysterious.

And yet, today, a host was actually discussing whether the universe is fighting against death...

In an instant, they felt a sense of trance.

How does the universe fight against death, and in what way?

Clearly, this question was still somewhat difficult for ordinary people to grasp.

Inside the large screen.

Jiang Zhe adjusted his earpiece; he had received a prompt from the backstage director.

The director suggested he use a simpler example to help the public understand.

He nodded slightly, deciding to use a simpler analogy to explain how the universe fights against death!

...

Inside the lecture hall of Kyoto University of Science.

Professor Feng and the graduate students were still immersed in the "most despairing law" Jiang Zhe had explained earlier.

Even as physics majors, they had never combined the laws of thermodynamics with the meaning of life.

Leng Fei, with a solemn expression, was the first to speak: "The perspective is very fresh and educational. Our living is an act of fighting against ever-increasing entropy, experiencing death over and over again."

In truth, Leng Fei had no interest in whether the universe was fighting against death.

He had been deeply immersed in those words.

Those words seemed to possess a magical power, striking at his soul.

"Yes, he's right. Every one of us is experiencing death, facing despair, and saying 'I refuse' to the injustice of fate!"

He looked at Professor Feng with determination, "Professor, this Jiang Zhe... he understands physics deeply, and he understands life. He doesn't look like a typical young man; if I may be so bold, his vision and perspective might even reach further than yours!"

As soon as he said this, it immediately gained the approval of the other graduate students.

"Yes, Professor; if he pursued a career in physics, he would definitely have his day!"

"Our coming here wasn't in vain; we can truly learn a lot from this program."

"..."

Hearing his students finally approve of his previous actions, Professor Feng smiled, "Yes, children, this is the meaning of the process of exploring paradoxes. It allows us to find more about our own thinking and the meaning of the world while on the path of exploration."

Just then, Jiang Zhe's previous words came from the large screen.

"Is the universe also fighting against death?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present focused their gaze on the screen.

Jiang Zhe's analytical voice continued.

"How does the universe fight against death?"

"And in what way is it fighting against death?"

"Perhaps this is still somewhat difficult to understand, but if we switch the 'Universe' to 'Earth', then everyone will understand much faster!"

"Let's translate this into: in what way is our Mother Earth facing death!"

If Jiang Zhe's previous questions were somewhat intangible and invisible...

...once it was changed to how the Earth faces death, many more people began to understand.

Everyone listened with rapt attention, diligently taking notes.

"Our Earth has existed in the universe for 4.6 billion years. From its infancy when it was unsuitable for life, through eons of evolution, it finally became a planet suitable for life to thrive."

"The various overlords of Earth throughout history—whether it was the Anomalocaris in the oceans, the Tyrannosaurus Rex on land, or even various strange and bizarre beasts."

"Ultimately, they all disappeared from the grand stage of Earth."

"We won't concern ourselves with how they went extinct, but rather look at the conditions behind their extinction."

"First, as the former overlords of the world, dinosaurs had almost no rivals."

"If dinosaurs were allowed to continue unchecked, herbivores would have bred frantically until they consumed every green plant on Earth."

"And the spread of carnivorous dinosaurs would have become increasingly terrifying, as herbivores became mere meals for them!"

"Over time, assuming no external interference, the number of carnivorous dinosaurs would naturally dwindle until they eventually went extinct."

"Okay, here we learn a principle: no matter who it is, they will eventually disappear from the grand stage of history, replaced by the next batch of organisms to dominate the Earth."

"When the dominant species has lived peacefully for a few eras, they are replaced again, and again—a frantic cycle of replacement!"

"As time passed, the oxygen content on Earth gradually decreased, and it was our turn, humanity, to step onto Earth's grand stage."

"Humanity transitioned from primitive survival to the tribal era, then from tribes to ancient times, and finally to the modern era... for..."

"...survival, we acquire more resources, wage external wars, and engage in internal struggles to achieve a peaceful life."

"In eras of peaceful life, our technology advances further, and the resources we consume from the Earth increase accordingly."

"The drawbacks of more and more humans living on Earth have also begun to appear!"

"Soil erosion and desertification: Overgrazing and indiscriminate logging lead to desertification, severe soil erosion, and frequent mudslides and landslides."

"Global warming: Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, ozone depletion, acid rain, water pollution, air pollution, and marine debris."

"Deforestation: Over-logging leads to reduced forest areas, increased carbon dioxide levels, and exacerbates global warming."

At this point, Jiang Zhe's face showed deep contemplation. He paused for a moment to give people time to process.

In fact, having heard this, all the people watching the screen had realized it.

If humanity were allowed to continue like this, we would certainly never reach the end!

Scientists had long discovered this problem, and now the Xia Kingdom was also rapidly remediating the damage caused to the Earth in the past.

So new energy appeared, and new everything began to emerge, reducing the damage people cause to the Earth, with the hope of slowly compensating the Earth in the future!

At this moment, the same thought arose in everyone's hearts simultaneously.

"If humanity continues to ravage and destroy the ecological environment without doing anything, then the end we face, regardless of anything else, will be extinction!"

"Volcanoes, tsunamis, and landslides—for the Earth, these are also acts of fighting against increasing entropy, right?"

"To the person above, yes; that is exactly how the Earth fights against death. As residents of the Earth, we need to provide help."

At this moment, on the screen.

Having received the bullet-chat prompt from the director, Jiang Zhe smiled.

"Yes, now everyone has realized how the Earth fights against death."

"It naturally triggers disasters to self-repair, but its own repair progress is inherently very slow!"

"Take a desert, for example, the Sahara Desert—"

"The transformation of the Sahara Desert occurred after the last Ice Age ended, roughly between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago. At that time, the Sahara was still an oasis."

"According to the cycle of the African Humid Period, there is a back-and-forth switch between desert and oasis, with a desert/oasis transition occurring roughly every 23,000 years."

At this point, the smile on his face gradually vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

"But what about us humans?"

"To destroy an oasis, we only need to cut down all the greenery on that land."

"It could take 1 day, 2 days, 7 days, or even a month."

"Before long, this oasis will turn into a desert where howling winds and sandstorms sweep through!"

"And how many years would it take for us humans to turn it back into a forest?"

"Roughly 5 to 10 years!"

"Yes, if we leave the Earth to perform self-repair and fight the entropy increase it faces on its own, it would undoubtedly be extremely slow!"

"We live here, so we need to help it repair itself, and appropriately prune nature; otherwise, dense vegetation wouldn't be very suitable for human survival either."

"But if we refuse to repair it, it is clearly visible that the end will naturally be our extinction."

At this point, Jiang Zhe held up the seven characters he had written on the whiteboard earlier: [Slow Self-Regulation].

"Yes, the Earth is undergoing [Slow Self-Regulation], fighting against the [Entropy Increase] it is facing."

"The [Entropy Increase] here refers to our human civilization—the degree of damage and chaos we humans cause to the Earth."