349: Chapter 349: Ask me about the development of civilization? Let's abandon language first!

Minutes later, the discussions in the living room gradually died down.

Jiang Zhe scanned the audience, "Who has a question next?"

His gaze fell upon a kind-looking, middle-aged man sitting on the sofa to the left, and he looked surprised.

"Brother Zhao, do you have a question?"

He chose him mainly because Jiang Zhe was surprised to discover that the man was a civilization scholar from his own team at the Hidden Dragon Base in his past life: Zhao Mingyuan, who used to be his subordinate.

He hadn't expected to find a counterpart of him in this world!

The man was stunned at first, "You know... you know me?"

He was the human civilization scholar Zhao Mingyuan. He was broad-bodied and stout, wearing a black suit with a slightly protruding belly. He wore silver-rimmed glasses and looked energetic and very refined, like a kind uncle next door.

He specialized in the evolution of civilization and futurology, and had been listening quietly until now.

Ouyang Baili noticed something odd about Jiang Zhe's gaze, so he quickly picked up the group photo of the Hidden Dragon Base on the table.

Only then did he realize with astonishment that behind the slightly weathered-looking Jiang Zhe in the photo stood that very man, with his hands resting on Jiang Zhe's shoulders.

This sight filled Ouyang Baili with surprise, and then he smiled, "The multiverse is truly wondrous!"

Zhao Mingyuan calmed down and stood up to ask, "I do have a question, but I cannot compare to the others here, and I dare not waste everyone's time."

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly, "Even if I don't answer anyone else, I will answer your question."

Upon hearing this, Academician Zhang and the others who had long held high positions looked displeased.

Why?

As a civilization expert without any academic awards, what qualifications did he have?

But soon, Academician Zhang and the others realized that they were on Jiang Zhe's home turf, so they suppressed these petty thoughts.

"Alright, thank you, Mr. Jiang Zhe. I do indeed have a question."

"In your previous lectures, you spoke about the upper limits of civilization and also about out-of-place artifacts."

"I want to ask, how do you think human civilization should develop in the future, and in which direction should the future of our Huaxia go?"

This was a very broad yet practical question.

Academician Zhang and the others, who were previously displeased, were immediately drawn to the question.

Jiang Zhe looked at Old Zhao and said unhurriedly:

"Development? If you want to develop, the first step is — to abandon language!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the living room fell silent, and everyone's face was filled with astonishment. Was he serious?

Zhao Mingyuan wanted to speak but hesitated. He thought he had misheard until he saw the incredibly serious expression on Jiang Zhe's face.

At this moment, the live stream chat exploded.

"Abandon language? Then how do we communicate?"

"Brother, what are you talking about?"

"The first step of development is to abandon language? What kind of move is this?"

"Our ancestors spent so long creating language, and you want us to abandon it?"

"Brother, although you are bold, careful, and wise, surely it doesn't have to be like this?"

"..."

Zhao Mingyuan took a deep breath, "Mr. Jiang Zhe, although I admire your strength and vision, saying this is perhaps a bit..."

He weighed his words, "Language is the cornerstone of human civilization. Without language, there would be no writing, no law, science, technology, and so on; they would all cease to exist. You say we should abandon language, this!!!"

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear: this was simply too absurd.

Academician Zhang and the others nodded in agreement.

Academician Zhang looked at Jiang Zhe with suspicion, as if re-evaluating what this young man was actually up to.

Qian Mingyi said to Ouyang Baili, who was beside him:

"This point of view is indeed a bit radical."

"Language is a tool for thought. Without tools, how can one think?"

Ouyang Baili said, then scrutinized Jiang Zhe. He knew that Jiang Zhe would not speak nonsense; there must be a reason for this!

Jiang Zhe didn't explain further; he waited until the living room was quiet before continuing:

"Language is a tool for thought—this sentence has been said many times by predecessors in every discipline."

"But have you ever considered that tools can also restrict the user in return?"

He nodded slightly, scanned the people on the scene, and finally let his gaze fall on Old Zhao.

"Let me give you an example."

"Brother Zhao, can you imagine a color that does not exist in any human language?"

Zhao Mingyuan opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He tried to imagine—a brand-new color that had never been named.

But at this moment, his brain stalled.

He could only imagine red, blue, green, purple, or even mixed color systems; all colors had names.

He couldn't imagine a color without a name.

Old Zhao's silence was the answer.

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly.

"Yes, you can't imagine it, and neither can I."

"Everyone present cannot imagine it. Why? Because language has locked our boundaries of imagination."

"We can only think about what language allows us to think about."

He paused and held up one finger.

"Let me give another example."

"In the Xia language, we use the word 'Dragon'."

He stood up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up an eraser, and wiped away the original image of a building; then, with incredible speed, he drew a lifelike dragon and dotted its eyes.

"But what is a dragon?"

"Antlers, a snake's body, eagle's claws, fish scales; they are all combinations of known things."

He turned around, his gaze falling on Old Zhao, "Through this drawing, you should have realized that we humans haven't created anything new; we are just combining old parts to complete the pattern of this dragon."

The twenty-something experts on the scene felt a sense of novelty, and even Xiaoyu looked puzzled.

His artistic skill was surely not inferior to the masters of traditional Chinese painting, right?

Lifelike!!!

Before Old Zhao or the others could speak, Jiang Zhe turned around again to draw on the whiteboard.

Soon, a white unicorn appeared, surrounded by colorful auspicious clouds that he had added.

"In English, 'Unicorn'—it is a unicorn; a horse's body with a horn on its head; this is still a combination."

He turned around and scanned the people present.

"When humans try to think of a creature that does not exist in any language, we cannot do it. Why? Because our brains will directly stall. All the new things we can think of are just old parts that language has already given us."

"Currently!"

"There are over 7,000 languages in the world, and every language is a prison."

"The thinking of our people is framed by the Xia language, and the thinking of the people of the Fu Nation is framed by English."

"We think we are thinking freely, but in reality, we are just pacing back and forth in a cage of language!"

"And this is where the disadvantage of language lies!"

He tapped the back of his left hand lightly against the whiteboard.

"Language allows us to communicate, but it also makes it so that we can never touch [true thought]."

Zhao Mingyuan's brows furrowed even tighter, "Then, Mr. Jiang, what do you mean?"

"What I mean is!"

Jiang Zhe walked back to the sofa and sat down, "Language cannot describe things that do not exist."

The scene fell silent again.

As he changed the subject, he pointed his right hand at his temple.

"Thought can!"

"And language can only describe things that already exist."

"You can only speak of an apple because there is the word 'apple'."

"You can only discuss love because there is the word 'love'."

"You can only discuss gravity because there is the word 'gravity'."

"But apples, love, and gravity already existed before language appeared."

"It was thought that grasped them first, and language only gave them names."

He held up one finger with a serious expression.

"So the question is, isn't what thought can grasp far beyond what language can describe?"

After he finished speaking, everyone looked at each other. Although the words were simple, the meaning and flavor Jiang Zhe presented were quite unique.

It was indeed true; thought understands the world one step earlier than language!

Just then, Jiang Zhe continued:

"Therefore, I want to propose a hypothesis: the Language Prison Hypothesis!"

Everyone in the living room held their breath.

Every time he had proposed a hypothesis in the past, he had managed to achieve a precise explosion in the scientific community!

Hypotheses that seemed absurd, or even bizarre, were often able to directly strike down human pride!

"The Language Prison Hypothesis asserts: We humans cannot think of things that 'do not exist'."

"All our thoughts are bounded by vocabulary."

"We humans can never think of things outside of language—including the true answer to the question of 'Who am I'."

"Because the three words 'Who am I' are themselves a frame that language has set for us."

"We think we are searching for the truth of the world, but we are just running in circles, lost on the tracks preset by language!"

Having said this, he paused for a few seconds, his eyes scanning the serious faces of those present.

"Therefore, when I say we must abandon language, it is not to stop you from speaking, but to make you realize that language is a wall."

"All human thinking is completed within the walls."

"And as for the things outside the wall, you can't even imagine them."

Zhao Mingyuan sat on the sofa as if frozen by a binding spell.

He was a civilization scholar who had studied the evolution of civilization his entire life, yet he had never thought—

The first step of civilization was not actually the invention of language, but realizing that one is trapped by language!

Ouyang Baili analyzed with a grave expression, "So, the real breakthrough is not to come up with new things, but to smash this wall of language?"

Celestial Master Zhang rested his chin on his hand, his face full of contemplation, "In my Taoism, 'The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao'; the Tao that can be expressed is not the true Tao. It turns out the tao te ching also validates Jiang Zhe's core concept in this regard: thought, thinking!"

Zheng Ming couldn't help but ask, "Then, true thinking—does it not require language?"

Jiang Zhe glanced at Zheng Ming, "Brother Zheng, try to imagine: something that can make you happy, make you sad, let you smell the scent of heaven, make your mind clear, and finally make your spirit wither—what kind of thing is that, and what color is it?"

Zheng Ming was a bit surprised. I treated you so poorly before, and you still call me brother?

However, Jiang Zhe's address of "Brother Zheng" caused all of Zheng Ming's past pride and selfishness to vanish in an instant.

Was this what it meant to be magnanimous? No, it was that the other party simply didn't take him seriously at all.

At this point, Zheng Ming finally became completely serious, and he tried to think of something without a word.

Ten seconds later, he shook his head with great difficulty, "Except for [laundry detergent], I can't think of anything else at all!"

"Yes." Jiang Zhe nodded and smiled slightly, "That's right, because you are trapped. On the contrary, thought can."

"Directly stimulating your anterior insula and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex can allow you to experience a complex perception that language cannot name, but that consciousness can clearly feel."

At this moment, millions of comments appeared in the live stream chat.