Chapter 476: Chapter 75 An Qing’s Answer Chapter 476: Chapter 75 An Qing’s Answer It’s not that it’s not complex enough; it’s that it’s not simple enough.
the same words had once been spoken by the super artificial intelligence VV in the Third Dreamland.
Back then, he couldn’t understand the Mirror Puzzle that Huang Que had left for him, so he consulted VV.
And VV, after a long absence, thought for a long time.
Even the lights of Rhine Sky City dimmed a bit, and intuition made Lin Xian feel that something big was coming, something really big this time!
The answer VV finally arrived at was strikingly simple and even too blunt—
it means exactly what it says, that you should look in the mirror more.”
At that moment, Lin Xian managed to suppress the urge to demolish the trash can with his hands.
He decided to ignore this artificial dimwit.
Today, these words, taken from a certain famous science fiction novel, were once again spoken to him by Chu Anqing, making Lin Xian feel somewhat bewildered.
It was not uncommon in this world, or in history, for the smart to be outsmarted by their own intelligence, to overlook things right under their noses.
Chu Anqing wasn’t an untrustworthy stranger.
She not only passed Huang Que’s strict selection;
She also risked her life to cheer him on and accompanied him into space to catch Space-Time Particles;
Her father, Chu Shanhe, was a great hero who fought for both country and people and gave Lin Xian a lot of help during the battle with the Seven Sins;
All things considered…
Chu Anqing, on the contrary, was the most trustworthy person.
“It’s just that the problem I’ve been thinking about is a bit fantastical, and it has too many hypothetical premises, making it a bit difficult to understand, so I’ll just briefly explain it to you, hoping…
Chu Anqing braced herself.
Her hands neatly placed on her knees, like a well-behaved child in kindergarten, ready to listen to the profound truth of how many pears equal an apple plus an orange.
After organizing his thoughts, Lin Xian slowly began:
“After watching movies like ‘The Matrix,’ ‘Source Code,’ and ‘The Truman Show,’ with concepts similar to ‘Brain in a Vat’ or ‘being in a real filming studio,’ I often wonder: What method could possibly make us aware of the falseness of the world?”
“The concept of the Brain in a Vat is pretty much like when an enemy knocks you out, takes control of your brain, and feeds information directly into your brain through a computer, including sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, as well as the sense of body presence and the experience of movement.
To your brain, it’s as if you’re genuinely in a colorful, incredibly real world that’s no different from everyday life.”
“But obviously, no matter how real the brain thinks this world is, it’s still fake, a computer fabrication; there’s an evil doctor controlling everything you see and experience, making you his experiment or simply laughing at you.”
“As for the concept of a filming studio, you certainly understand it since you’ve seen ‘The Truman Show.’ It’s like waking up to find neighbors, cars, malls, cinemas…
everything from daily life around you.
Only, all of these are actors and props arranged by the director, the colossal filming studio as big as several cities with hidden cameras everywhere.
If you don’t travel far by plane or train, you’d never discover you’re the protagonist of a reality TV show being broadcast live 24 hours a day for the world’s amusement.”
“Let’s assume that I, you, or anyone for that matter, are in such a Brain in a Vat, in a hugely realistic filming studio the size of several cities.
Under the complete surveillance and control of an enemy and director, what methods do we have to make ourselves realize we’re in a fake world?”
“Of course, we don’t have to prove that these virtual worlds are false; we also could try to prove they’re real.
Either positive or negative proof is okay.
If there was a way to prove the world you’re in is real, that would obviously be more comforting.
Anyway, we must come up with a method that allows us, lost and confused inside, to find an accurate answer—”
“[Is this world real or false, virtual, a fabricated filming studio?]”
Lin Xian finished his lengthy exposition.
Chu Anqing’s eyes widened in shock, her brain already starting to smoke:
The situation you’re describing, I can understand it, after all, there are many movies on the market with similar plots, so I know what you’re hypothetically talking about.
In ‘The Truman Show,’ the protagonist only discovers the falsehood of his world because of the show crew’s mistakes, which led him to spot the flaws and therefore, to doubt.”
“From your description, if we rule out the possibility of mistakes by the director or the enemy, then I really can’t think of a way to solve it.
Isn’t there a saying, ‘One can’t see the true face of Lushan Mountain because one is in the mountain.’ If you’re always standing within Lushan Mountain, you naturally can never see its entirety.
Just like what you said, being in a fake world…
How can one prove its falseness when in it?”
Lin Xian nodded and continued:
“The director and enemy aren’t infallible, so let’s assume there’s a [safe], which due to their oversight, provides us the only hope.
You can place an object or a small note in it in the known reality; then in that suspected virtual world, you can see this safe, open it with a code, and verify the contents.”