Chapter 6 Two Hypotheses_1

In a conference room within the quadrangle courtyard, all doors and windows were tightly closed. Only strands and wisps of sunlight could enter, leaving the room quite dim.

At the center of the room, there was a long conference table, yet the dozen or so scholars in the room didn't sit by the table. Instead, they all sat along one side of the room, opposite Shen Yufei who stood at the other side. Behind her, a white wall was adorned with a projected PowerPoint presentation.

Facing the beam of the projector, Shen Yufei showed no discomfort as she skillfully said to the seated scholars, "Before we begin our discussion, let me propose two hypotheses."

"One of which we call the Shooter Hypothesis. Its general premise is this: there once was a marksman who could always hit the bullseye with every shot. However, one day, after shooting the bullseye, he didn't continue as before but moved and made a hole in the target at intervals of 10cm. Imagine that if a two-dimensional intelligent life form lived on this target, its scientists, after observing their 'universe,' would conclude a great natural law: that every 10cm, there would inevitably be a hole. They mistook the marksman's whimsical actions for an ironclad rule of their universe."

The room was very quiet, the audience composed of high-quality scholars and scientists. They tacitly remained silent, attentively listening as only Shen Yufei's voice could be heard, so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

Cao Ge felt the atmosphere in the room was strange. The diverse expressions on the faces of the surrounding scholars, their tacit silence, and lack of even slightly exaggerated movements, made sitting among them feel awkward.

Although he liked mingling with the big shots, these were big shots falsely led to a state of intellectual deficiency, and he found it somewhat boring.

He had great respect for scientists, but their current behavior was somewhat insufferable, because he knew that some of the scholars in this room would commit suicide in the not-too-distant future.

Of course, this wasn't their fault. After all, to make a staunch atheist, a materialist, believe they were just a turkey, that physics didn't exist, and that their life's work was a joke, was indeed a bit much to accept.

Cao Ge, because he knew about the Trisolarans and how they locked down humanity's technology, wasn't troubled by this, but these scholars didn't know. They only knew their research had suddenly entered the realm of metaphysics and couldn't explain why. Moreover, according to their experimental results, their conclusions always reached a bizarre outcome: that physics did not exist.

This, admittedly, was difficult to accept. Those with a bit more emotional intelligence might accept it, but the extremists, especially those scientists who lived only for science and not for life, might find such a result acceptably suicidal.

Cao Ge looked around at the expressions of all the scholars seated around him and then turned his attention back to Shen Yufei.

It was evident that Shen Yufei had spoken about these two hypotheses more than once or twice. She had now reached a point where she could speak expressionlessly about anything.

However, it seemed that all the scientists in ETO were like this.

They all wore a look as if you had wiped out their entire family, utterly despondent, as if determined to drag all of humanity down with them.

Cao Ge didn't quite understand—was modern society really so dark as to breed so many scientists hostile to humanity?

Cao Ge shook these miscellaneous thoughts from his mind and continued to listen to Shen Yufei.

"The second hypothesis is called the Farmer Hypothesis. Its specifics go like this: in a farm, there was a group of turkeys. Every day at 11 a.m., the farm's owner would come to feed them. One of the turkeys, a scientist, observed this phenomenon for nearly a year without exception and thus claimed to have discovered a great law of its universe: every morning at 11 a.m., food would arrive. On the morning of Thanksgiving, it announced this law to everyone, but instead of food arriving at 11 a.m. that day, the farm owner came and took them all away to be slaughtered."

After presenting the two hypotheses, Shen Yufei stopped speaking and looked across the conference table at the many scholars, including Cao Ge.

"The hypotheses have been stated. After hearing them both, does anyone have anything to say?"

"Aside from a few, most are new to this gathering, so everyone is welcome to share their perspectives," Shen Yufei calmly added after scanning the room.

"This is absurd, Dr. Shen. I thought you had invited me to this meeting to discuss solutions to the recent problems in foundational physics. Had I known that I was here only to hear these tired hypotheses, which we've all heard before, I would never have come. This is a complete waste of my time," a balding middle-aged man in front of Cao Ge suddenly stood up from his chair and exclaimed loudly and angrily.

The irate middle-aged man didn't wait for Shen Yufei to respond before firing off questions: "If you expect me to accept these hypotheses, you need to tell me, what are your arguments? If we are all turkeys, who is the farm owner? If we are two-dimensional beings, then who is making the holes? Where are the boundaries? And what lies beyond them?"

"Can you tell me? You can't, because you simply don't know, you just don't know," the middle-aged man continued vehemently.

The man sat down after speaking, still waiting for Shen Yufei's response.

In stark contrast to the middle-aged man, Shen Yufei remained unusually calm.

She responded evenly, "I indeed cannot give you an immediate answer, but the two hypotheses I've shared are a possible explanation for the problems encountered in current foundational physics. Whether this possibility becomes a reality, I believe it is inevitable, but proving them will require a collective discussion."

"If Professor Liu Xiangsi Guang has any other ideas, he is welcome to put them forward. Any insight provided it is reasoned and evidenced, should be put on the table for exchange," said Shen Yufei.

The middle-aged man was clearly somewhat persuaded by the two hypotheses, hence his impulse to so urgently refute them, as he couldn't accept such a reality.

Shen Yufei's reply to Professor Liu's questions was highly suggestive. Although she didn't offer evidence or means of proof, her words were implicitly saying, "You are all just a bunch of turkeys."

Cao Ge watched the exchange between the two, remaining silent but contemplative.

Shortly after the middle-aged man, several other scholars posed questions, and Shen Yufei addressed each one in turn.

The meeting lasted for over two hours.