three-body problem

past and present

There's a strange contradiction revealed by the naïveté and kindness demonstrated by humanity when faced with the universe: On Earth, humankind can step onto another continent, and without a thought, destroy the kindred civilizations found there through warfare and disease. But when they gaze up at the stars, they turn sentimental and believe that if extraterrestrial intelligences exist, they must be civilizations bound by universal, moral constraints, as if cherishing and loving different forms of life are parts of a self-evident universal code of conduct.
- Post-script to Three-Body Problem

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I finished watching Three-Body and I’m a little jittery with how much I like it.

I’d read the book in 2018, and looking back at the review I wrote at the time, I was struck by some of the same things then—

The prominence and interestingness of science

So many ideas beautifully conveyed: flying knife, turkey and shooter hypothesis, the 3-body problem, intergalactic travel…

But the one I’m really swooning over is the idea of folding and unfolding a proton into different dimensions— the portrayal of a proton in 2 dimensions being large enough to cover a planet, and etching circuits on it to create a supercomputer and folding it back while somehow keeping all that information intact. It’s kinda mind-blowing to consider everything that could be possible if we kept learning more.

I don’t know how realistic this is in real physics, but I’m interested in learning. That’s the highest compliment I can give the book and the TV adaptation.

Ye Wenjie’s life-story and the choices she makes

One thing that’s different in the 2018 review vs. now is my reaction to Ye Wenjie. In 2018, I was a very surprised to realize that someone could make a choice as damning as Ye Wenjie’s. But now I can understand it. To live is to suffer. It might be impossible to suffer and still retain a heart filled with grace. (Which is exactly why it is considered an admirable quality.) The difference in reaction to Ye Wenjie in 2018 (surprise) and now (understanding) is tangible evidence of psychological growth.

That said, the actresses portraying both the young and old Ye Wenjie acted masterfully to bring the character to life: so stoic on the surface, but seething underneath; her loneliness and suffering; her curiosity and passion for physics. It’s tragic how she could have been happy, but was snagged off that path by her curiously and crossed the point of no return due to her hatred.

Shi Qiang’s character

Hard to articulate why I find him interesting, but here’s my best attempt:

• He doesn’t take himself too seriously but is surprisingly wise and filled with an enviable amount of common sense

• In contrast to the head (intelligence) of all the other characters, the scientists, he represents the heart (courage). Somehow, he’s not brought to despair when the scientists are. Partly because he doesn’t understand why, but mostly because he has the correct attitude.
  He’s a man of action in some sense. He acts more than he thinks, but he’s guided by something (Instinct? Common-sense? Long experience being in the military/police?) that doesn’t make his actions foolish.

• He laughs a lot, enjoys eating and smoking. He has an appetite for life. He enjoys the small things living entails.

• He’s cheeky and enjoys annoying people. But is also very companionable and thoughtful in his interactions with other people.

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Closing thoughts: Past-me and present-me are completely different people psychologically, but the core interests, surprisingly, remain unchanged.

Maybe this is how it is: you’ll always be interested in the same things. But as you grow older, you uncover more nuance, see the same things from different perspectives and with more layers of understanding.

Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash

Calculating happiness:

• people do the most wonderful things, and i’m glad they share so i can continue seeing how the world’s much bigger than i know.