354: Chapter 354: The Observer Debt Hypothesis

"Next."

Jiang Zhe had just finished speaking.

A voice sounded from the side. This was a middle-aged scholar sitting near the door, surnamed Wang, who worked on strategic research at a national think tank and had been quite quiet until now.

"Mr. Jiang, what do you think is the biggest blind spot in humanity's current understanding of the universe?"

Jiang Zhe glanced at him and said without hesitation, "Blind spot?"

"The real blind spot is this: you don't know which questions are fundamentally wrong."

"For instance, 'What is dark matter?' is a wrong question. Dark matter isn't 'something'; it's just an extra term in an equation."

"You are looking for a particle that doesn't exist, just like trying to find the mass of a ghost."

"Next."

The think tank expert Wang was stunned for a moment, then quickly scribbled a few lines in his notebook.

A fair hand went up. It was a young female scholar sitting in the back row, wearing thin-rimmed glasses; she was a lecturer in the history of science and technology at Jingdu University.

"Mr. Jiang, what do you think will be the greatest technological breakthrough for humanity in the next hundred years?"

Jiang Zhe thought for a moment and said, "Energy storage. Whoever solves the energy density problem of batteries will hold the key to the next century. This isn't a prediction; it's common knowledge in physics. Next."

The female scholar nodded; it was just as she had expected.

She raised her head, wanting to ask a follow-up question, but seeing that Jiang Zhe had already shifted his gaze away, she wisely kept her mouth shut.

The third hand went up. It was Professor Hai, a middle-aged to elderly man sitting beside Academician Zhang, who was a big name in the field of artificial intelligence research.

"Mr. Jiang, what is your take on the relationship between artificial intelligence and human consciousness? Can machines develop consciousness?"

Jiang Zhe answered quickly:

"Whether machines can develop consciousness depends on how you define consciousness."

"If you define consciousness as the ability to process information, then machines have already surpassed humans."

"If you define consciousness as subjective experience—that feeling of 'I am I'—then machines are still far off."

"The core issue isn't whether machines can, but whether humans are willing to admit it. Admitting that machines have consciousness is equivalent to admitting that humans are not special—this psychological threshold is much higher than the technical one. Next."

The fourth hand went up. It was the young Researcher Guo in the middle row, a professor in materials science.

"Mr. Jiang, when do you think room-temperature superconductors will be realized, and how will they change the world once they are?"

Jiang Zhe answered directly without almost any thought:

"The realization of room-temperature superconductors depends on when humanity abandons the dead end of high pressure."

"All major breakthroughs in history were not achieved by taking the old path to the extreme, but by taking a new road; just like the [Technological Singularity] I mentioned in my past livestreams."

"Once realized, there will be zero-loss power transmission, widespread magnetic levitation, and lower barriers for nuclear fusion."

"But the most disruptive thing isn't these; what's disruptive is this: the essence of a superconductor is electron pairing, and the essence of electron pairing is information transmission."

"If room-temperature superconductivity is achieved, humanity won't be far from manipulating the vacuum. By then, the energy problem will no longer be a problem. Next."

The fifth hand went up. This time, it was Zheng Ming.

"J, I have a very cliché question. Do you believe in fate—not the physics kind, but whether a person's entire life is already predetermined?"

Jiang Zhe looked at him without answering directly.

"In my past livestreams, I have talked about some obscure concepts like the revolving lantern and the Quantum Delayed Choice in an attempt to explain fate."

"But it seems you don't quite approve of my past explanations."

"The fact that you are asking this question now shows that you already have an answer in your heart. You want me to confirm it for you, but I will not."

"I can only tell you that fate is not a line; it is a tree. The path you have walked is the trunk, and the paths you haven't taken are the branches. You think you made a choice, but in reality, you just didn't see the other branches. Next."

Zheng Ming was a master of Sinology; he understood these things more clearly than others.

The sixth hand went up. This time, it was Lin Chen from the Meteorological Bureau.

"Mr. Jiang, when you spoke about mirages earlier, you mentioned that the Earth is a player. So, let me ask a related question: do you really believe that the Earth has consciousness?"

The living room went quiet for a moment. This question seemed a bit cross-disciplinary; it was usually the kind of content Jiang Zhe would only discuss with his viewers in the livestream room.

Jiang Zhe pondered for a moment, then gave his answer:

"In the past, I have provided cases where the Earth's interconnected veins affect the globe—that is, cases where the microscopic affects the macroscopic."

"Have you seen that episode—[Jiang Zhe Hypothesis]?"

Lin Chen nodded, "Of course I have. I have also studied it in depth, and it is based on that viewpoint that I am asking again."

"Very good!"

"Consciousness does not necessarily require a brain; the brain is merely the hardware carrier for consciousness."

"Whether the Earth has consciousness depends on whether you are willing to view the operation of the entire Earth as a cognitive process."

"Atmospheric circulation transmits information, ocean currents regulate temperature, and the biosphere provides feedback and regulation; this is a cycle of perception, processing, and response."

"Humans have consciousness because humans have neurons."

"The Earth has billions of species, and every species is a neuron of the Earth. You ask me if the Earth has consciousness; let me ask you—can a single cell in your body perceive your existence?"

Lin Chen was a bit surprised and said belatedly, "No, it cannot."

"Exactly. Today, humans also cannot perceive whether the Earth has consciousness; we can only speculate, which is why the Jiang Zhe Hypothesis was proposed not long ago."

"Next."

The seventh hand went up. This time, it was a young scholar sitting in the back row, who had just joined the astrophysics department of a university, surnamed Chen, wearing round-rimmed glasses.

"Mr. Jiang, why do you think physical constants happen to be the values they are now? If they changed even slightly, stars wouldn't shine, atoms wouldn't form, and life wouldn't exist. Do you really think this is a coincidence?"

Jiang Zhe shook his head speechlessly; this was a cliché question in his previous life.

He hadn't expected that someone in this world would still be asking about this kind of cosmic philosophy.

"It is not a coincidence; it is because you are here asking this question."

"There are countless combinations of physical constants, and the vast majority of combinations cannot produce stars, planets, life, or scientists."

"Only a very small number of combinations can evolve a brain that asks 'Why?' You ask why the universe is just right for life—because in a universe unsuitable for life, no one is there to ask this question."

"The answer is that it is not the universe that chose you; it is that you appeared in a universe where you could appear."

"This is called the selection effect; it is not mysterious, but it is counterintuitive."

"Next."

Researcher Chen gasped, looking at Jiang Zhe with a strange expression, as if looking at a monster.

For the previous few questions, Jiang Zhe had been able to answer fluently without even thinking.

He knew that this was a behavior that could only be achieved when knowledge was overwhelming everyone present!

Soon, the eighth hand went up.

This time, it was an old acquaintance, Ouyang Baili, who had been waiting for a while and finally couldn't hold back.

"Little Jiang, you've answered so many miscellaneous questions; isn't it my turn now?"

"Ask."

"Can you talk about the connection between Quantum Mechanics, consciousness, and the macroscopic universe?"

"I have thought about this question for decades, read countless papers, attended countless conferences, and I always feel that there is a layer of window paper that hasn't been pierced yet!"

After saying this, Ouyang Baili stared solemnly into Jiang Zhe's eyes.

As he finished speaking, the other professors looked at Ouyang Baili; it was clear that this question had a very cutting-edge feel.

Jiang Zhe did not answer immediately but stood up and walked to the whiteboard.

He picked up a black marker and wrote seven characters on the whiteboard: [Observer Debt Hypothesis]

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"This question cannot be explained in a few minutes; it involves the intersection of four disciplines: Quantum Mechanics, thermodynamics, consciousness science, and cosmology."

"There is plenty of time today, and I will elaborate on it specifically later."

"But I can give you all a preview: you think observation is free, but it is not. Every observation is an individual borrowing a debt from the universe—this debt will have to be repaid sooner or later!"

He put down the pen and walked back to the sofa to sit down.

"Before I officially begin, does anyone else have any other questions? If not, I will start talking about this."

A few professors in the living room were eager to move, especially Professor Chen Runzhi and Old Qian, but neither of them raised their hands in the end.

Soon, everyone's eyes were focused on him.

Jiang Zhe nodded, "Since that is the case, then I will talk about the Observer Debt."