Chapter 243: Human Civilization’s Shining Moment (3)
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 243 – Human Civilization’s Shining Moment (3)
By the time Chen Yu had gone through his list of people to teleport, the s.p.a.cious central courtyard had already become packed full of people.
After verifying that every professor and scholar on his list was present, Chen Yu powered down the Interstellar Portal and walked up the elevated platform. He then deliberately scanned his audience with a “profound” gaze before saying, “Everyone present is a top expert or educator of the various fields. I would like to thank you for making time out of your busy schedule to respond to my invitation.
“Everyone here isn’t a bureaucrat, and neither are we holding a meeting here. Normally, I should dispense with the nonsense and get to the point. However, aside from everyone here, there are also more than 14 million ordinary people paying attention to us. Most of these people are unclear about the development and difficulties faced by the world, technology, and human civilization. Therefore, some verbosity cannot be avoided.”
Placing both hands behind his back, Chen Yu recalled the script in his mind and continued, “Through the Hubble s.p.a.ce Telescope, we know that the universe originated from the Big Bang more than 13 billion years ago. If we consider 13 billion years to be 13 years, then the sun had only appeared 4.5 years ago. And as we know, the earliest living organisms appeared on Earth four years ago, while the dinosaurs went extinct about three weeks ago.
“The earliest h.o.m.o sapiens began to evolve in Africa 50 minutes ago. The Industrial Revolution occurred six seconds ago. The First World War occurred two seconds ago. As for the Second World War, the birth of nuclear weapons, Hiroshima becoming a unit of measurement, humans landing on the moon, the electronic revolution, the information explosion, and etc., these are events that just occurred within the previous second.”
[Humans are awesome!]
[Awesome+1]
[What’s the relationship between Hubble and the Big Bang? How do you know that the universe is 13 billion years old?]
[I was born 0.001 seconds ago.]
[UP! Check and see whether my kneeling posture is according to standard.]
“Through this time comparison, ordinary people would easily misconceive that…”
Looking at the camera, Chen Yu stretched out a finger and continued, “Human technology has just experienced an explosive start, and the flames of this explosion will continue for a very, very long time.
“Unfortunately…
“Ordinary people aren’t aware that behind this brilliance is endless despair.”
His voice gradually becoming lower, “Humanity has already entered a bottleneck period, and the scientific name of this bottleneck period is called a developmental disorder.
“At present, you and I are experiencing changes almost every day in our lives. This goes especially true for the people of China. However, this isn’t a technology explosion. Instead, it is just the rapid development of information technology, one of the many technology branches.
“In reality, the development of energy, power, materials, semiconductors, and fundamental physics has slowed to the point where ordinary people can’t even understand it. It is not an exaggeration to say that development in these aspects has completely stagnated.
“Audience in front of the screen, have you noticed it yet? Have you seen the darkness hidden under that brilliance?
“For example, Moore’s Law has long expired; the carrying capacity of s.p.a.ce shuttles has not improved ever since Apollo program’s Saturn V; the theory of relativity and quantum theory created by Einstein over a hundred years ago still remains at the forefront of science even in 2020; 95% of humanity still doesn’t understand the cla.s.sical mechanics created by Newton several hundred years ago…”
Pausing slightly, Chen Yu shifted his gaze from the camera to the crowd before him, “I’m sure you all have a much better idea of these problems.”
In response, the numerous professors present exchanged glances with each other and remained silent.
“In China’s textbooks, there is a story describing how long America and the Soviet Union have taken to develop nuclear weapons, while China has successfully accomplished the same feat in just a few short years. Similarly, there are computers, fighter jets, missiles, satellites, computer chips, and etc.
“While I admit these advances are remarkable, after all is said and done, China has simply followed the path of its predecessors and had taken many shortcuts. Few people knew that before the Manhattan Project, there was no theoretical support for the realization of nuclear bombs. This also leads me to the next thing I wish to talk about—the difficulty of creating new technology.
“The most critical and challenging aspect of developing new technology is not the investment of manpower, energy, money, or time. It is that we are unsure whether this technology can be realized.
“Take the controllable nuclear fusion that has been studied globally, for example. This is the most critical technology for the continuation of human civilization bar none. However, as funny as it is, thus far, the academic community still isn’t sure whether controllable nuclear fusion is only something that looks good on paper but is actually a useless ‘perpetual motion machine.’
“In simpler terms, it’s like trying to answer a question from a mentally disabled teacher. We aren’t exactly sure if this question is inherently wrong. And once we start trying to answer this question, it is likely that we won’t obtain an answer even at the end of our lifetimes. This is the technology swamp. There are numerous bottomless potholes in this field, and a single misstep could lead to our demise.”
After speaking up to this point, Chen Yu momentarily fell into a daze as he thought of his teachers in Sixth High…
“A small fork in the technology tree can lead to the disintegration of a superpower.
“A big fork in the technology tree can even cause the demise of human civilization.
“After hearing all this, does everyone still think that humanity’s technological development is in an explosive period?”
Stepping off the platform, Chen Yu beckoned the crowd to follow after him.
Without hesitation, the numerous professors followed closely after him. They left the courtyard, walked through a corridor, bypa.s.sed the main hall, walked out of the castle, and arrived before the entrance of a small, independent castle.
“The legacy of modern scholars such as Einstein has been exhausted, and humanity’s development had inevitably reached a barrier.
“This also explains the Fermi paradox. With how vast the galaxy is, why hasn’t it been occupied by technologically developed aliens yet? Why haven’t we seen any aliens until now?
“Because continuous technology explosions do not exist. Most civilizations will eventually be wiped out in the layers of scientific barriers.
“Even we humans have been nearly locked in this tiny solar system by physics, the speed of light, energy, genes, astronomy, communications, and other fields of science…
“Why did I add the word ‘nearly,’ you ask?”
Halting his footsteps, Chen Yu stretched out both his hands and placed them against the castle’s doors. Smiling, he said, “The answer is here.”
Creak…
As the wooden doors parted, an aura tainted by age and the vicissitudes of life flooded out of the gap between them!
The pupils of every professor present suddenly dilated.
The government officials, scientific researchers, and even ordinary viewers in front of the screen also involuntarily reacted in shock.
Inside the castle was…
A sea of books.
It was a sea of books that stretched on endlessly row after row!
And through the high-definition image captured by the camera, everyone could see the text labeling the books on the frontmost bookshelves.
[Atmospheric Nan.o.bot Dispersal]
[L-Gate Insight]
[Nanite Repair System]
[Synthetics]
[Dark Matter Power]
[Entropic Recursion]
[Mega-Engineering]
[Extradimensional Weaponry]
[Selected Lineages]
[Ascension Theory]
[…]
Turning around, Chen Yu opened his arms and faced the camera. And in a sonorous and powerful voice, he asked, “Do you see it?
“As a childcare toy, the castle naturally contains scientific books for children and adolescents in the 32nd century.
“And this…
“This is human civilization’s shining moment!”