Chapter 53: The Answer Appears!

Jiang Zhe's impassioned and angry speech...

Combined with his unique skills, actually left the entire audience dumbfounded.

At this moment, in the online livestream room.

The number of online viewers in Jiang Zhe's livestream room had already broken the 1 million mark.

Gifts in the video flew by rapidly along with the bullet chat, instantly covering the screen.

"Holy crap, I'm calling it—this is amazing!"

"Exactly! Why didn't I think of the fact that a paradox could have so many explanations? It's not that we aren't smart enough; it's that the person who proposed the paradox is playing us for fools!"

"Right! If Plutarch had just given me a clear definition, I would've known the damn answer immediately!"

"No, this is actually where Plutarch's brilliance lies. He gave us something vague, even undefined, and then let us guess while he sat back and watched the tigers fight... Damn, I feel like I'm not a tiger, but a freaking monkey. I've been played for a fool!"

"..."

In an instant, a sense of stifled frustration also welled up within the audience.

Besides them, the people in front of their televisions more or less showed the same reaction.

"I freaking studied paradoxes for nothing!"

"Man, looking at it this way, compared to the Grandfather Paradox, the Trolley Problem, and Jiang Zhe's original Bootstrap Paradox, this paradox is just weak!"

"..."

Where there was approval, there was naturally opposition.

The experts in the lecture hall had previously thought Jiang Zhe was talking nonsense.

But once Jiang Zhe threw out the word 'definition,' it led to many different answers.

Thinking carefully, they realized that Jiang Zhe's point was actually correct, and it simultaneously confirmed Plutarch's brilliance—standing at the top of the world, watching monkeys play.

If no one had stood up, this paradox would likely have remained unsolvable.

"This..."

Below the podium, the experts were slack-jawed and speechless.

Everyone saw the shock and bewilderment on each other's faces.

"He's right. Since this paradox appeared, no one could be certain of anything, and everyone had different opinions. Why did no one think that the 'definition' was what was wrong?"

"This... how is it possible? Why would different definitions yield different answers?"

"Could it be that this paradox really doesn't have a single answer?"

"..."

The philosophers at this moment began to doubt their lives.

In the school of paradoxes, Jiang Zhe's so-called 'definition' directly raised the paradox to another level.

If someone were to use their own fame to create a so-called original paradox and then give a vague premise—they could toy with scholars and students worldwide...

As soon as they used their brains to think about it, Professor Hua Yunfeng and Old Feng sensed Plutarch's "despicable" side.

The two looked at each other, suddenly feeling that Jiang Zhe's words were correct.

[We... seem... to be... all... idiots!]

Soon, the sound of discussion rose again from below the stage.

"No, you're wrong, and Jiang Zhe is wrong too."

"Hmm? Wrong where?"

"No, it doesn't seem to have much to do with the 'definition'; Jiang Zhe is using a clever trick to explain it!"

"Stop being so cryptic. Exactly how is it a trick?"

All the philosophers looked toward a man with glasses in the middle seat.

The man with glasses said thoughtfully, "His explanation is that it's a problem of 'definition.' I think most of it is related to 'definition,' but he doesn't seem to have hit the core point."

"In fact, this paradox has only one question—"

"If the planks of the Ship of Theseus are gradually replaced, is it still the Ship of Theseus?"

"It's this simple question, regardless of who makes the determination."

"It has nothing to do with the wives of the husbands on the shore; it has nothing to do with the crew and warriors on the ship. One just needs to explain this paradox from a God's-eye view."

"Jiang Zhe's method is very clever, using 'definition' to negate Plutarch's paradox."

"If he explains it that way, it indeed makes sense and can convince most people."

"However, it just feels wrong!"

Once these words were spoken, the experts on site fell silent for a moment.

Then, many people realized that what this young expert said made sense.

Although Jiang Zhe's idea was incisive, it still felt a bit 'wrong'!

Just as everyone was immersed in the young man's Q&A.

The next moment, Jiang Zhe's voice once again came from the large screen.

"Let's continue. As for why I say many of us are fools."

"The Ship of Theseus is an inanimate object; it is a noun."

"If someone looks at it from the perspective of materialism, clearly, whether it's replaced or not, this ship is no longer the Ship of Theseus."

"Why? Because before the Ship of Theseus was replaced, its microscopic molecules operated in a fixed pattern."

"When an old plank is replaced by a new one, from a microscopic perspective—the internal molecular structure of that new plank in the Ship of Theseus is bound to be completely different from before it was replaced."

"Ships are inanimate objects; their molecules will not fuse with each other."

"It's not like our flesh and blood, which heals itself after being damaged. After our wounds heal, our bodies are still our bodies; there's just an extra scar."

"So, this is the difference between inanimate objects and living things."

"As the saying goes, [You will never find snowflakes of the same shape and size in nature], proving the uniqueness of snowflakes."

"Well, this answer is simple and easy to understand, but it won't get everyone's approval, right?"

These answers were naturally simple and easy to understand.

They also made more viewers' eyes light up.

Many people remembered the difference between 'inanimate objects' and 'living things.'

Using the inanimate nature of the Ship of Theseus to explain living things definitely wouldn't work!

"Now, let's switch to the nation."

"From a macro perspective, a [nation]—"

"On the surface, it's the same language, culture, ethnicity, etc. It's an orderly territory, a place where people live, totaling 9.6 million square kilometers. It is also an inanimate object, a noun."

"I would now like everyone to think about one question—"

"Two thousand years ago, Qin Shi Huang unified the Xia Nation. Those people already died 2,000 years ago."

"The dynasty at that time was called the [Qin Dynasty], and the people were called the [Old Qin People]."

"Did the Great Qin really disappear? It did; it's just the dynasty that disappeared!"

"Some years later, those [Old Qin People] disappeared and became [Han People]."

"Later, the [Han People] disappeared too. Did the Han Dynasty disappear? It did; it's just the dynasty that disappeared!"

"Then the sun and moon rotated, time cycled, and one dynasty's people became those of another new dynasty, and so on."

"The dynasties of the Xia Nation have gone through long periods of replacement. People of every era have gone through the changes of time, and the people on this land have gone through a hundred generations of reproduction. They are no longer the original people."

"Can you say that we, the Xia people, no longer exist? Naturally, you cannot."

"I now have one question: when all the people from the early days of the [New Xia Nation] have passed away, will our Xia Nation no longer be the Xia Nation?"

"If you say [it is], why is that? Could it be because our culture and heritage still remain? Right? Yes, someone will definitely say that!"