133: Chapter 133: There is no present, only memories

Jiang Zhe's statement was too shocking, causing the brains of all the viewers to stall for several seconds.

Immediately after, the barrage flooded in like a tide.

"???"

"Holy crap!!!"

"What does this mean? What does this mean? Are we currently in a deathbed flashback?"

"Hold on, bro, my CPU is already fried!"

"Holy sh*t, I waited all day and it was worth it; are we currently in a deathbed flashback?"

"Impossible, impossible, my hand is clearly typing on my phone!"

"Maya, help me, this is too terrifying!"

"..."

In an instant, millions of viewers were left scalp-tingling by Jiang Zhe's words.

It was as if their constructed materialist worldview had shattered once again.

Even Wang Shulin, who was monitoring the backend, couldn't help but widen his eyes and shiver, "Holy crap!"

At this moment, in the Principal's office.

The room was buzzing with the sound of the heater.

Even though the air was warm, it couldn't suppress the tension among the seven or eight teachers in the room.

Principal Fu opened his mouth, then raised a hand to touch the goosebumps on his arm, "Ah! I feel like I wasted my money turning on the heater."

Old Wang, Xiao Wang, and the other teachers looked at each other, all seeing the shock on each other's faces.

...

On the other side, inside the residential quarters of the Kyoto University of History.

In the living room, Professor Chen Runzhi and his group had just started the live stream when they heard Jiang Zhe's earth-shattering remarks.

Old Chen was shaken, his body trembling, "This Xiaoyu's brother is so explosive right out of the gate; he's too daring!"

Professor Wang Shouren looked astonished, "In my philosophy, neither Nanke's Dream nor Zhuang Zhou Dreaming of a Butterfly would dare to say this. You really are... Xiaoyu's brother!"

At this moment, Professor Wang Shouren felt that Jiang Zhe's philosophy was more 'philosophical' than his own!

...

In the lounge of the Huaqing University.

Professor Guan and Dr. Li Mo subconsciously sat up straight, their faces filled with shock.

The other graduate students subconsciously gasped, "Damn! You scared me."

"Not just you, you scared me too."

"How is he so daring? Even our Huaqing University sci-fi heavyweights wouldn't dare say this!"

Professor Zhao Chengfeng, the psychology professor on the side, frowned deeply after a brief moment of shock, his voice filled with extreme doubt: "How is this possible? This is simply too alarmist. This has already deviated from scientific hypotheses and completely left the scope of psychology; it is purely creating panic!"

...

On the other side, inside the Qingfeng Temple.

Zheng Ming had the most intense reaction. He suddenly straightened his body from the chair, "This time he's not even talking about science. Then what do our daily eating, sleeping, studying, working, listening to music, watching TV, and perceiving all things count as? Are they just rehearsals?"

This time, even the composed Wang Chongyang couldn't help but shake his head, "This statement is indeed too bizarre. Attributing everything we have experienced to illusory memories is tantamount to denying all real effort and the value of our existence; it is indeed inappropriate!"

Celestial Master Zhang and Dr. Zhou Ming looked at each other and both shook their heads gently.

The Celestial Master's eyes held more contemplation, while Dr. Zhou Ming, as a doctor, instinctively resisted this denial of the [authenticity of the present].

...

At this moment, in the living room.

The warm light seemed to freeze at this moment.

Xiao Yu shook her head violently, "Impossible, this is absolutely impossible, Brother, your statement is too shocking!"

"If everything is a memory, then what is my thinking right now, and what am I arguing with you about? What I hear, what I smell, what I feel, are these all [memories] at the moment of death?"

Facing Xiao Yu's fierce rebuttal, Jiang Zhe looked indifferent, perhaps even too calm.

He did not answer the question about the deathbed flashback, but instead steered the topic toward a well-known physics concept.

"Xiao Yu, let's not talk about [memories] for a moment."

He picked up the tablet, opened the drawing software, and selected a white background.

He drew a small house, Jiang Zhe, and Xiao Yu on the background, with the Earth drawn under their feet.

He drew several stars, the sun, and a streamlined black spaceship in outer space.

"Let's talk about what this [present] you believe in so firmly really is!"

He placed the finished drawing in front of Xiao Yu.

"Xiao Yu, let's do a thought experiment."

"Assume that I stay on Earth, and you board the very advanced spaceship in this picture."

"The moment your spaceship leaves Earth, it accelerates directly to a speed infinitely close to the speed of light—for you, it might just be a blink of an eye, or perhaps only a few seconds passed, and then your spaceship finishes turning around and returns to the vicinity of Earth."

He looked at Xiao Yu, his gaze gradually sharpening.

"Because the faster the speed, the slower the time!"

"Brother is sitting at home, looking up at you flying away from Earth."

"And for you, Xiao Yu, inside the spaceship, completing an acceleration to the speed of light and then returning, during this period, according to the Theory of Relativity, how many years have passed on our Earth?"

Xiao Yu frowned, the answer slipping out, "According to the formula Δt' = Δt / √(1 - v²/c²) — as I leave Earth approaching the speed of light, time on Earth will become slower and slower, while my time inside the spaceship remains almost unchanged."

"For me, Xiao Yu, perhaps... on Earth..."

"10,000 years, or even longer have passed!"

Jiang Zhe nodded with satisfaction, "Correct. One second you were still on Earth, and the next second you left Earth at the speed of light; and when you return, the city you see has already turned to dust; human civilization may have already been destroyed, and it is even unknown whether human civilization still exists."

"For Xiao Yu at the speed of light, you feel that only a few seconds, a dozen seconds, have passed!"

Speaking to this point, Jiang Zhe asked, "Then, Xiao Yu!"

"The moment your spaceship finishes turning around and is about to return to Earth's orbit—for you, it is [the present]."

"For Brother, who has already disappeared on Earth, and for all of human civilization that has already disappeared, it is also our human [present]."

"Are these two [presents] the same [present]?"

Xiao Yu heard this and opened her cherry lips in surprise, moved her lips, but ultimately said nothing.

Jiang Zhe did not wait and gave the answer directly: "Yes, as you can see—they are not the same present!"

"Why? Because in the universe, [the present] does not exist at all. The concept of [the present] is just like [up and down]; it is relative and depends on the environment and state of the observer; there is no absolute present."

"For example: Our present in 2025, from the perspective of someone 2025 light-years away, will only be seen in the future year of 4050; they will see this day in 2025, and they will see the content of my tutoring you today."

"Is our [present] unified with the [present] of someone 2025 light-years away?"

Xiao Yu shook her head repeatedly, "It is not unified. At this moment, someone 2025 light-years away looking at our Earth is currently seeing [30 BC], that is, the Earth from 2,025 years ago."

"Exactly!"

"So Xiao Yu, your rock-solid [present], on the scale of physics, is as fragile as a soap bubble; it breaks at a touch."

"And you cannot fundamentally define what [the present] is!"

Jiang Zhe's tone gradually became serious:

"Therefore, what we usually call [the present] does not actually exist at all!"

"It is just an illusion created for the convenience of communication; in the real universe, there are only countless [local presents] that vary according to the observer. They cannot be synchronized with each other, and can even differ by many years!"

Xiao Yu gasped, "So you mean, the present as we humans understand it, actually doesn't exist at all?"

"Is even [the present] itself a dreamlike illusion?"

"Correct!" Jiang Zhe nodded, "You can understand it that way."

After these words, the viewers, after experiencing the shock of the deathbed flashback, were left scalp-tingling again because of this cold physical fact.

"I'm literally numb."

"I'm looking at my phone right now, and you're denying that my [present] exists online?"

"Is [the present] all fake?"

"So, me holding my girlfriend at this very moment is also fake?"

"If the present is illusory, then what about the past and the future?"

"It's terrifying to think about. We're starting to doubt what we are. I feel like we don't even exist anymore!"

"..."

In the Principal's office, Principal Fu heard this and quickly looked at the physics teacher, Old Yu, "Old Yu, what do you say about this?"

Physics teacher Old Yu had a very serious expression, "This is true. As someone who graduated with a science degree, you know this too."

"This is a thought experiment based on Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Although none of us brought it up, it's actually not bad that Jiang Zhe brought it up."

"Simply put, if Xiao Yu really flies at that speed, then Xiao Yu's few seconds can indeed correspond to millions of years later on our Earth."

"For Xiao Yu at the speed of light, she only needs 1 second in the speed-of-light state to reach any point in the universe—she can complete a journey across the entire universe."

"This is an inevitable result based on the laws of physics; it is real, not fake!"

Speaking of this, Old Yu's expression was somewhat subtle, "To say something terrifying, this kind of extreme [time dilation] effect, to a certain extent, indeed matches the [deathbed flashback experience] where the patient's time is infinitely stretched, as described in medical science [at the moment of near-death experience]."

After these words, the office was dead silent. Old Wang and Xiao Wang were both frightened.

Even the physics teacher, Old Yu, was frightened by his own speculation and shivered.

...

On the other side, inside the Qingfeng Temple.

Zheng Ming had a very tight expression, his face full of disbelief, "So what if the present is relative?"

"Does that prove we are all in a deathbed flashback? The logical leap is too big, isn't it?"

"Fundamentally, these are two different things!"

Celestial Master Zhang, Wang Chongyang, and Zhou Ming did not speak; they were all lost in thought.

Deathbed flashback and time dilation, indeed... it was very reasonable, but it felt so reasonable that it was unreasonable!

At this moment, on the screen, in the living room.

Xiao Yu shook her head violently: "Brother, this is too far-fetched. I feel like this is more like your wishful thinking, a very scary physics and philosophy hypothesis!"

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly, not surprised by Xiao Yu's reaction.

He nodded slightly and threw out a new conclusion.

"Alright, in that case, let's put the concepts of deathbed flashback and time dilation aside for now."

"Let's talk about a phenomenon that is more relevant and more applicable to everyone in the world."

"Déjà vu and precognitive dreams!"

Xiao Yu blinked: "Déjà vu? Didn't we talk about that before?"

"Yes, we talked about it." Jiang Zhe curled his lips slightly, "But last time it was the answer under the akashic records or that framework—now, I'll give you some time to think—"

"If you accept Brother's previous statement that [we are already dead, and everything now is a memory]—that is, we are in a kind of [memory]—then re-explain déjà vu and precognitive dreams within this [memory] framework!"

Speaking to this point, he rested his chin on his hand, his expression somewhat enticing, "At that time, what will happen?"

"What will happen?"

The living room fell completely silent. Xiao Yu frowned and fell into deep thought.

Millions of viewers in the live stream also followed along to think.

Jiang Zhe had spoken about déjà vu before, and precognitive dreams are clearly seeing a future event in a dream.

At first, nothing happens; perhaps months or years pass without anything happening; once a specific time is reached, that event actually happens, and at that moment, it still makes that person feel incredible and astonished.

If one accepts that life at this very moment is part of a deathbed flashback memory...

Then, both déjà vu and precognitive dreams will be answered!

Suddenly!

Xiao Yu and the viewers widened their eyes!

A terrifying feeling came over them!

In this way, déjà vu and precognitive dreams are not obtaining future information from the akashic records.

But rather...

A [memory disorder] within a deathbed flashback when we are near death in the future!!!

Thinking of this, countless viewers were dumbfounded, feeling scalp-tingling!!!