The text is part of a complete science fiction story. Before reading this article, please read Descriptors at the End of the Universe (PART 1). Happy reading!
By the time they arrived at Dr. Lu’s psychological clinic, it was already past 3 p.m.
“This clinic is so fucking grand!” Dashi plopped down on the sofa in the reception room. The sofa creaked reluctantly, but finally held on.
“Of course, this psychological clinic is actually a very large chain enterprise. The clinic’s owner, Dr. Lu, is said to be a doctor studying in the United States who returned to China two years ago to start his own business. Now the somebody else is the star enterprise on gem board.” Zhang took a cup from the automatic coffee machine nearby and handed it to Dashi. “What do you think is wrong with people nowadays? Life is good, but the spirit always love problems.”
Da Shi didn’t answer him. He looked down at the pages zhang had prepared.
They waited for more than half an hour when Dr. Lu, dressed in a suit and tie, finally appeared.
Zhang xiang gives Lu a detailed description of the case and the purpose of his visit. He asks to see Charles’ medical records.
Sure enough, Lu refused. “Excuse me, officers. We have a privacy agreement with each of our patients that promises not to disclose patient information to third parties. This is what our clinic lives on. I hope you understand.”
“How much is privacy worth?” Da Shi, who was sitting aside, said, “You are a well-known entrepreneur, and you must be responsible for public safety.”
“The officer, if it was a matter of public safety, would trust the police to come up with a clear search warrant. I will certainly help.” In the face of Dashi’s rudeness, Dr. Lu kept his composure and spoke slowly.
He was a formidable character, Zhang xiang thought. There is no direct causal link between Charles’ disappearance and his medical records, and a search warrant would require more evidence, and it could take a long time.
“Of course, we believe in Dr. Lou.” Oshi suddenly changed his tune and began to imitate Dr. Roh. “Dr. Roh goes to great lengths to protect his clients’ privacy,” he said. But, uh, can you make sure that all your people are just like you? Can you guarantee that no one’s getting paid to leak client information? There is an old saying that good ah, called what in clear water do not raise fish or what again……”
Da shi to Zhang Xiang cast eyes for help. “Team History, it is’ clean water, no fish ‘.” “Zhang Xiang whispered.
“Yes, that’s it! After da Shi finished, he picked out two pages from the materials in his hand and handed them to Dr. Lu, “Dr. Lu, you see, the patient information of your clinic has been leaked out.”
Dr. Lu took the pages and frowned, his face getting worse. “Where did you get this?”
Zhang Xiang knew best. Before he and Dashi parted in the morning, Dashi gave him some QQ contact information and asked him to “buy” some data. He had no idea there was such a black market in data that he could easily buy some internal data from Dr. Lu’s clinic at a low price, including a handful of client profiles and several other pieces of data.
“Dr. Lu, you don’t have to worry about that. We have our own sources of intelligence.” “Even if we don’t come to you, I’m afraid we can get Charles’s medical records.”
Dr. Lu jumped to his feet. “Then what do you want with me? I’m busy, if you’ll excuse me!” With that, Dr. Lu stepped out the door.
Oshi jumped up from the sofa. “Wait! I don’t think Dr. Roh wants this kind of negative information to be out in the open.”
“Are you threatening me?” Dr. Lu turned and said slowly, “I don’t believe you cops can do whatever you want!”
“Of course. The average policeman would not dare.” “But to tell you the truth, STRONG has been suspended several times. What else does strong dare not do?”
Dashi’s shrill laughter filled the reception room.
Dr. Lu, probably frightened by one of Dashi’s scoundrels, stood there a little confused.
Mr. Shi finally stopped laughing. “Dr. Lu, if we’re on that point, we’ll keep it to ourselves. Yeah, I bought these files off the black market, but in addition to that, there are your clinic’s tax records, bank transactions, pre-IPO capital transfers. It is highly unlikely that the financial experts of the police will be unable to find any flaws.
Then to Zhang Xiang’s surprise, he suddenly picked up the remaining pages, tore them into pieces in a couple of clicks, and threw the paper into the trash can.
Da Shi’s tone softened, “But then again, we can all understand the difficulties of being an enterprise. Looking at Charles ‘medical records was also a way to get to the truth faster and clear his name. If this happens to be an invasion of privacy, it can’t be helped. We really don’t want that.”
Shi shi saw Dr. Lu hesitating a little and took two steps closer. “I promise you, after reading Charles’ information, we will keep it absolutely confidential!”
After a while, Dr. Lu sighed. “Forget it, I’m out of luck. You can’t take Charles’ information with you or copy it out.”
“Sure!
It turns out that Charles is a senior member of the clinic. The main component of his case file is some recorded conversations between him and Dr. Lu.
They closed the doors and Windows of the reception room and began to play a recent recording. Dr. Lu sat across from them, staring at them unblinking.
Charles: Dr. Lu, did you get the email I sent you the other day? Dr. Lu: Yes. And I read your email carefully. Charles: It must have taken you a long time. Dr. Lu: It’s my job to know what my patients are thinking. Charles: Do you still insist that my idea is a personal delusion? Dr. Lu: Not really. The way you see the world, philosophically speaking, is all right. Charles: The point is, I’m not talking about philosophy, I’m describing the so-called real world. Dr. Lu: So you have new evidence? Charles: You could say that. Dr. Lu, do you know how many different types of cell phone devices exist around the world? Dr. Lu: Ah…… Honestly, I don’t know. Let me guess, for every phone manufacturer, there’s at least one phone device. Five hundred? Or a thousand? Charles: Much more. Dr. Lu: Are there ten thousand? Charles: More than 300,000. Eighty percent of those are Android devices. Dr. Lu: Oh…… Not really. What does that mean? Charles: That’s an unreasonable number. It’s too many. I discovered this a few years ago when I was working as an Android programmer. Over the years I’ve wondered, where did all that extra equipment come from? Dr. Lu: And because of that, you’re convinced that the extra equipment came from outside this world? Charles: More than that. Dr. Lu, do you believe in artificial intelligence? Dr. Lu: Artificial intelligence? You mean the ones that can play chess and Go? Charles: That’s not really artificial intelligence. Dr. Lu: What does real artificial intelligence look like? Charles: A program or system becomes truly artificial intelligence when it can be programmed autonomously. Dr. Lu: I’m not an expert in this area, so I can’t evaluate your judgment. But what does that have to do with what we’re talking about? Charles: The world we live in is actually an implementation of an artificial intelligence system, and it’s an optimized implementation. Dr. Lu: You mentioned that in your E-mail. But what does that mean? Charles: Vernor Vinge wrote a science fiction novel called Cycle. It describes a plot in which a powerful person uploads the personalities of other people into a computer, and the uploaded people, unbeknowningly, toil day and night in the virtual world to serve their virtual masters outside. We have a similar situation, but on a much larger scale. Dr. Lu: So, you’re saying that our world exists to provide services to those who exist outside our world? Charles: Yes, and the signs are growing. Dr. Lu: Why do you say that? Charles: Since the advent of cloud computing, we can no longer tell which servers our code is running on or which devices it will be loaded and executed on. The concept of the cloud extends beyond our world. Dr. Lu: Maybe you just think that way because of your work environment. My job, for example, is to talk to my patients and try to figure out what’s wrong with them. This has nothing to do with coding or cloud computing. Charles: But from a system designer’s point of view, programming is the only activity that truly generates value, with all other social activities supporting it. Especially in the future, everything can be programmed, and it can be programmed in the cloud. Dr. Lu: So…… Okay… In fact, doubts about the objective world have been advocated since Descartes’ time. However, if Occam’s Razor is followed, anything superfluous in the theory that does not affect the conclusion should be eliminated. I have to say, Charles, that your account of the real world contains so many of these seemingly superfluous elements. Charles: If Occam’s Razor were true, many of the fundamental laws of the world would have to be eliminated. This includes some of the most authoritative theories in modern physics, such as relativity and quantum mechanics. None of these theories appear in their most natural form. Dr. Lu: You know physics? Charles: Ever since I began to doubt the whole world, I have taught myself some theories of physics. Dr. Lu: Tell me about your learning achievements. Charles: Relativity first. It imposes a limit on the speed of light on the world, which is very unnatural and very purposeful. This rule is far more succinct than nonexistence, and its purpose is to confine human beings to a narrow space. According to the famous Drake equation, humans are probably the only advanced civilization left in the Galaxy. Given that humans crawl through space at less than the speed of light, we will never be able to travel beyond the Milky Way, let alone reach other parts of the universe, contact other civilizations, and discover the truth about the universe. Dr. Lu: What about quantum mechanics? Charles: Since the days of ancient Greek philosophy, philosophers have wondered whether our world could be subdivided indefinitely, and quantum mechanics has finally brought us to that end point. When it comes to the quantum scale, the uncertainty principle tells us that we can never accurately measure the velocity and position of a microscopic particle. This means that we have reached the smallest granularity of composition of the world, at which it is no longer capable of providing us with the illusion of continuity. In addition, the quantum effects that cause collapse are observed, much like lazy loading in computer engineering. Dr. Lu: Charles, you seem to have thought very systematically about how to reinterpret the world. I’m not going to look for flaws in these details. But, as an engineer, you’re bound to appreciate a pragmatic point of view, and if your explanations don’t produce practical results, why should we stick with them? Charles: Dr. Lu, you really hit the nail on the head. So I keep trying. Dr. Lu: Try what? Charles: Trying to connect with the world outside us through programming. Dr. Lu: Oh? Any progress? Charles: Not yet…… In fact, I was bored with a lot of ideas, but I was determined. .
After coming out of Dr. Lu’s office, Zhang xiang felt as if he had just had a dream that was not his own.
The sunset cast long shadows on him and Dashi. The cars speeding by the side of the road, roaring from far and near, and then fading away. Were the warm, moist air around them, the solid earth beneath them, the blue sky and the white clouds overhead, even the distant stars peering through the expanse of sky, all, as Charles said, false?
“Xiang, what do you think of Charles’s statement?” I heard Dashi’s thick voice.
“HMM… It was fun, “he said, as his conversation with Shi brought him back to reality.” But it’s all bullshit!”
The two men looked at each other and laughed together.
Early the next morning, Zhang Xiang was awakened by a telephone ring.
He opened his sleepy eyes and looked laboriously at the clock on the bedroom wall. It was not yet five o ‘clock.
‘Hello, who is it?
“It’s me, Dashi! His voice sounded agitated.
“Oh, Steve, why are you up so early?”
“Charles’ last Internet log has just been decrypted.”
Zhang Xiang suddenly sat up in bed, “what’s the result?”
How can I say…… It’s kind of weird. It’s hard to describe on the phone. Let’s meet at the station.”
When they arrived at the police station, it was not even 6 o ‘clock, and only a few colleagues on the night shift were waiting to be relieved.
Da Shi opened his computer and showed zhang Xiang an email. “Look, this is what they decrypted. I did visit the legendary Google site, but the search was a bit strange. Your English is good. See for yourself.”
“What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?” Zhang murmured, “What is the answer to life, the universe and everything? The answer was 42…… What the hell is 42?”
“I don’t know what 42 is, but it seems to be a mathematical puzzle. Remember that number the Kings said?” “Da Shi suggested.
“Yes, 4398046.”
“Math puzzles are my biggest headache.” Big history patted his forehead, “I go up primary school when mathematics rarely pass…… We must call for help.”
“Stevie, who’s invited?”
“Ding Yi.”
“What does this man do?
“He is one of the top physicists in the country, with two PHDS in philosophy and quantum physics and a master’s in mathematics. Was famous for the discovery of macroatoms.”
“Oh. Unfortunately, we can’t bring Charles ‘records from yesterday. That recording is really quite complicated, I slept last night, I don’t know if I can describe it clearly today.” Zhang Xiang said anxiously.
“Don’t worry,” Shi said with a sly smile as he pulled a recorder from his pocket. “I recorded it all.”
It was just after 7 o ‘clock when they arrived at Ding yi’s house.
Dashi rang the doorbell.
“Come in! Just push the door.”
Oshi pushed open the door. The living room floor was so covered with paper that it almost covered the floor. Some were filled with strange designs, others with formulas.
A man was kneeling on the floor, his back to them. He was holding a pen in his hand and writing something on the paper.
Da shi shouted at him outside the door: “Professor Ding, so early up to work?”
Ding Yi stopped her work and turned slowly around. “Who said that? I’m going to bed soon.”
“You were up all night?”
“So I only have five minutes left to talk to you.” Ding yi covered her mouth with her hand and yawned.
Professor Jeong, we are…… May I come in?” Dashi pointed to the papers on the floor.
“Don’t move. I’ll clean it up.” Ding Yi slowly moved some papers and cleared out a path. “I put these calculations in order. If you mess them up, you’ll be in trouble.”
Da Shi and Zhang Xiang walked along the path to the house. They could only stand in front of each other because the place was so small.
“Professor Ding, we have a mathematical puzzle in one of our cases, and we would like you to solve it.” Zhang Xiang found that the history of ding Yi speak quite polite, a change in the usual rude tone.
“Math? That you seek medium student enough!”
Zhang Xiang couldn’t help feeling angry. How could this man be so arrogant? “Professor Ding, what is the relationship between 4398046 and 42?”
“What? 4398046?” Ding Yi did not know where to take out a calculator, in the above continuous press a few times, “this number is incomplete!”
“What do you mean?” Zhang Xiang asked.
“Two to the forty-second power is 4398046511104, which matches the first digits of your number.”
Zhang Xiang was so surprised that he could not say a word. Oshi turned around and smiled at him.
“Well, did I get it right? If I’m right, I’m going to bed.” He got up and was about to go into his bedroom. “When you leave, please shut the door for me.”
“Professor Ding, wait.” “What we have here is not just a mathematical puzzle, but perhaps the ultimate question of physics.”
Next, Da Shi told Ding Yi the whole story in detail.
Ding Yi’s eyes radiate a hungry Wolf like light, “don’t sleep first, I immediately go with you to see.” As he spoke, he gathered up the calculation papers on the floor and piled them on one side without paying the least attention to order.
The three of them came to the long – term world company. Ding yi went into Charles’s office and worked for two days and nights, eating takeout boxes when she was hungry.
Two days later, Ding yi ran out of her office with a tired face and heavy black circles under her eyes.
“How’s it going?” “Oshi asked urgently.
“I found a boot program on Charles’s Mac book, hidden from view. The main code is written in PHP!” Ding complained, “Who said PHP was the best language in the world? The resulting code is really poorly readable. I should have deciphered it long ago, if it hadn’t taken me half a day to sort out all the tangled logic.”
“So you figured it out?”
“You could say that. But we’d better run an experiment to find out.”
The environment for the experiment was quickly set up.
Zhang xiang helps Da Shi install a cloud camera in his office and a chair with a dummy on it where Charles used to sit.
Zhang Xiang, Da Shi, Ding Yi, Manager Liu, Xiao Bai, and some other company employees who are watching the fun gather around a computer outside the office. Through the cloud camera, the computer screen shows what’s going on in the office.
Ding picked up her mouse and pointed to a large button on the screen. “To be safe, I reprogrammed the original program and took the control part of the startup program outside,” she explained.
With that, he gently clicked the button. Then an input box popped up and Ding typed in the number – 4398046511104.
Slowly, the picture on the screen began to change. On the top left side of the Mac, a spherical shape looms. The color of the sphere looks black, but not quite; It looks transparent at first glance, but if you look at it closely, you will feel a little dizzy. It was as if a supernatural being were there, out of time.
“A black ball of lightning! I wonder who shouted.
Then the black ball of lightning began to move in the direction of the dummy, while the dummy and the chair, even the bookcase behind the dummy, vibrated violently, as if attracted by the black ball. In a matter of seconds, the black sphere vanished again, along with the dummy and chair.
All the people present opened their mouths in surprise.
“Professor Ding, what’s going on here?” “Everyone asked.
“Today is meant to be a special day. The universe has once again laughed at us with its absurdity.” Ding yi stood up and faced the crowd. “Charles has long believed that the world we live in is virtual, so he wanted to find a way to program to connect with the outside world. Most of you are programmers, so to make it easier to understand, LET me use the language of the program as an analogy. But remember, this is just a metaphor. There’s a deeper physics behind it.
“If our world is a program, then the only way we can communicate with the outside world is through peripherals. Only external devices can act directly on the external world. For software code, to be able to manipulate peripherals, we first need to get a file descriptor. A file descriptor takes the form of a string of numbers.
“Charles did find such a descriptor after years of calculation and experimentation, mostly by luck. This is the number 4398046511104, which is exactly 2 to the 42nd power. Properly programmed and supported by the appropriate hardware, Charles’s program really opens up a space-time singularity through this descriptor. He recorded the number in a book on his computer desk, and then captain Wang of the police department came across the number and accidentally started the program. You can guess the rest.”
“That…… Is our world really virtual?” Zhang Xiang asked eagerly.
“Like many philosophers throughout history, I can’t answer that question. But at least I can say with certainty that our world is no more real than it used to be. As I said, from a procedural point of view, this is just a metaphor.
“And I just happen to have made a new discovery in physics. This is a theory of space-time singularities. Our space-time is full of extinct singularities. They’re the embers of the big Bang. With enough energy applied, these singularities can be reignited. But there are different kinds of singularities, each of which implies a different warping structure of space-time, which can essentially be expressed as a string of binary numbers. Now this string of numbers has a name — I call it the singularity descriptor. Different space-time warping structures determine that they need different excitation energy intensities.
“But my findings are theoretical at the moment. Thanks to my poor engineering skills, I always thought that the energy required to ignite these singularities was too great to excite them in the laboratory anytime soon.”
“Professor Ding, you mean Charles did it?” The inquirer is the little white who is watching.
“Charles took a particular approach, but he did it.”
“And he did it with software?” Small white continue to ask.
“No. The key part of the program is actually the hardware.” With that, Ding Yi walked quickly into the office. You see him emerge from the screen and unplug a small device from the USB port on the left side of the Mac. No one noticed. They thought it was just a USB flash drive.
Ding yi emerged from her office clutching the device and continued, “Charles, from an engineer’s point of view, has realized a special case of the singularity of space-time. The type of singularity represented by 2 to the 42 requires less excitation energy. Of course, this is also a very special singularity, unlike other kinds of singularities that can be connected to a coordinate in the current universe, or to parallel universes. In fact, it does not connect to any knowable real space. Here Charles made a serious mistake. It’s an empty singularity.”
“What is an empty singularity?” The crowd wondered.
“Let’s use a programming analogy: it’s the /dev/null equivalent of a system.”
Ding Yi of this answer let in the side to watch the programmers, a stunned.
“I must run home and get some sleep. For those of you who want more theoretical details, look back at my published papers.”
Say that finish, Ding Yi strides out of the public line of sight.
“Team, we can go back to the station.” Zhang Xiang whispered to dashi who was in a daze.
Da shi did not speak, quietly go out with Zhang Xiang, take the elevator, out of the office building.
It was sunny outside, as always. But they see the world differently. Like fireflies, countless ephemeral cosmic singularities flit around them. It is clear to every visionary that the ever-expanding ambition and blind confidence of mankind will one day rekindle these extinguished “fireflies”. At that point, the fire of creation will burn through the universe. And all it takes to do that is a little tinder.
(after)
Postscript:
The story was finally finished. I believe you have copied that sentence into Google search box ^-^. Also, there are some terms mentioned in the story that you’ll want to look up right away. That’s ok, Tie Lei has created a little dictionary for you to explain these words:
- Occam’s razor
- Drake equation
- Uncertainty principle
- 42
- Ball lightning
- The singularity
- File descriptor
- dev null
- PHP
Use of small dictionary:
Scan the qr code below to follow the wechat official account (Zhang Tielei), and then send the above keywords to get an explanation.
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