warring states careerist

Chapter 704 On the Eve of the Chaos ([-])
Shu Qinghou nodded, shook his head again, and asked with a smile: "From ancient times to the present, it is called the universe, and the four directions are called the universe. Time and space are the universe, and they cannot exist alone in the real material world, but they are completely different in the imagination. In the real world, we have no way to imagine that there is only space but no time."

"Take this Fei Shi Fudo as an example, or famous people call it Bird Fudo and Shadow Fudo. Let's talk about Fei Shi first."

"Since it's a flying arrow, it must have speed, right?"

The students below nodded one after another, and Shu Qinghou said: "What is speed? It is distance divided by time. In other words, for the existence of a flying arrow, there must be universe and universe, and time and space must exist at the same time, so that it can be a flying arrow." Even if the arrow is not moving, then you can say that the speed of the flying arrow is zero."

"Assuming that time is still now, then time is zero. Does a number divided by zero exist? Can it be compared? Or can you think that a number divided by zero is zero? When time is still, space does not exist , then space does not exist, you said you can know whether the arrow is moving or not?"

"It's like the imaginary number I just said. Does it exist? Does it not exist? In the real material world, there is no imaginary number that can be concreted. Now draw me an imaginary root sign minus two? No need. Speaking of imaginary numbers, now you can draw me a line segment whose length is minus one?"

"That is something that can exist in another universe, but it cannot exist in our material world. If the immobile flying arrows exist, then our material universe does not exist, and we do not exist either. So we don't know if it's moving or not."

"Didn't you also learn it? Consciousness comes from objective reality, which is matter."

The students half-understand the saying that objective reality determines consciousness. They have learned it, but they only have a little contact with it.

Shu Qinghou was already prepared. He had asked similar questions before, and said: "Zi Mozi said, thick, but big. We are in reality, and things must be tall, so the thinnest and thinnest thing , is also high, and the infinitesimal is not zero."

"Now, suppose we all live in a world without heights, like your drawings on paper."

"Then, close one of your eyes."

After all the students closed their eyes, Shu Qinghou took out a cube used for teaching, twirled it in his hand, and asked: "If your world has no height, only length and width. Then what do you see about the cube? Rotation, what should it look like?"

"What you see is the shadow of the cube on the paper under the light. It is a weird change from the side length being one to the side length being the square root of two. One will be a square, and the other will be a rectangle, but you can imagine a Are there no tall cubes?"

"For us, this cube exists in reality, and in our consciousness, it is a cube."

"But for people in the world without heights, in their consciousness, this is a strange existence that is square for a while and rectangular for a while."

"They are right, and we are also right. Because the objective world is different, there is a huge difference in consciousness. Consciousness originates from objective reality, that's what it means."

Speaking of this, a knowing smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, thinking of the answer he heard when he first heard someone explain this question, so he continued to pick up the cube.

"If there are people in that universe without height, they also have priests and star officials. One day they observe the starry sky and find this rotating cube in my hand. They will use their own consciousness to sum up the law."

"What is this law? It is the 'moon' in the sky, which will constantly change in the form of a triangular sine table. At its largest, it is a rectangle whose length is twice the side length of the square root, and this transformation may It goes back and forth like we look at the moon, so their priests summed up the calendar and used it to guide the people there to live."

"If I put some food into that world every time I turn to the maximum sine value, they will think that the food has a certain connection with the sine table of the 'moon'."

"Are you saying that they are wrong? You can't say that they are wrong, they just have consciousness according to the objective laws of their world."

"Their consciousness is right in their world, wrong and ridiculed in our world."

"That's why we Mohists say 'in'. Yao's policy at that time was good governance, which was aimed at that time. If Yao's policy is put into the present, it is bad governance and cannot govern the world."

"Did the people in the Yao and Shun era change? Or did the material basis change in the Yao and Shun era? What caused Yao's government to be good in the past and evil in the present?"

"It's like we observe the moon in the sky, discover the moon's waxing and waning, and discover the cycle of cloudy and sunny waxing and waning, and determine the month. This is called respecting objective laws."

"On the basis of respecting objective laws, we use this law to choose the middle of the month instead of the end or beginning of the month when driving at night. This is called exerting subjective initiative."

"The world is not benevolent, and all things are regarded as dogs. The objective laws will not actively meet people's needs. This requires us to use the laws and conditions to create a better life after mastering the objective laws."

"The difference between us and the Taoists of Chu State is here. They believe that all things are self-transformed, deny the role of subjective initiative, and believe that the natural evolution of objective laws will make the world a great order of nature. We call it mechanism. They recognize the existence of Tao. , recognized the existence of objective laws, but did not give full play to the role of human consciousness, did not realize the difference between the way of heaven and the way of humanity, and did not realize that after obtaining consciousness from matter, people can use consciousness to use objective laws to seek profits.”

Speaking of this, all the students below laughed, and Shu Qinghou laughed too, and said with a smile: "Don't laugh, that's what the giant said. I'm just what kind of jujube he feeds me, and I spit it out I'll feed it to you again, you really want to think about this, after answering all the arithmetic questions I assigned correctly, go to the next door to listen."

When the students heard this, they immediately looked bitter. There were so many problems assigned by Mr. Xindao, and they couldn't complete the daily calculations. How could they have time to listen next door?
After laughing, another student raised his hand and asked, "Sir, you must have heard the saying about Achilles and the tortoise. I tried to answer this question, but the conclusion I got was a bit weird."

"The speed is fixed, and the distance is halved each time, so each time is one plus one-half, plus one-quarter, plus one-eighth, plus one-sixteenth..."

"And so add up, endlessly, until at last it is almost infinitely small."

"If the infinitesimal is not zero, then the time for Achilles to finally catch up with the tortoise is definitely not an integer, but it is obviously an integer by arithmetic."

"Also, it is the same reason to take an infinite half point of a tree, and it will last forever. The time is halved each time, but the number is infinite. The addition of this infinite time halved each time, why is it not infinite?" , but just a fixed value?"

"Take half of the remaining wood and continue for generations. After an infinite number of times, the sum of this infinite number of woods will eventually be less than the length of that wood. Since it is already infinitely many, how can it be less than the length of that wood?" What about the length of the wood?"

"For another example, a line segment with a length of one foot has infinitely many points on it. A line segment with a length of two feet has infinitely many points on it. Then, the infinite number of points on a line segment with a length of two feet is one foot long. double the infinitely many?"

"For another example, Juzi said that he knew the calculation of the volume of a sphere. He had seen two gentlemen calculate it. He said that he used the infinite division method. If a sphere is infinitely sliced, then the infinite is sliced, and the thickness of each slice is infinite. Small. Zi Mozi said, thick can only be big. Only when there is height can we find the volume, so why is the sum of the infinitely small and the infinitely large equal to the fixed value of the volume of a sphere?"

"Infinitely large and infinitely small, how are they calculated?"

"Is infinity a number? The addition of infinitely many numbers that gradually approach infinitesimals is not infinite. Achilles' tortoise and the wooden half can prove to be a fixed value. Can this be calculated?" ?”

Shu Qinghou patted his forehead and said with a smile: "I think of a sentence that the giant said back then. I also asked a similar question, and he said he couldn't, and said that if he knew everything by himself, he would be able to master all the ambitions of heaven. If you can answer it, then why do you still accept disciples?"

"You should take care of these questions yourself and don't give up. Remember the words in "Encouraging Learning", blue is better than blue, and ice water is colder than water. I hope that after you have completed your studies, you can find me one day and tell me How to calculate the infinitely large and infinitely small. As the saying goes, what you know is what you know, and what you don’t know is what you don’t know. Now I’m still telling you what the giant said back then.”

"If I understand everything and comprehend all the will of heaven and earth, what do you need? I hope that you are better than blue than blue."

"Now! get out of class is over!"

Once get out of class was over, the disciples got up one after another, and after Shu Qinghou left, the student who asked the question wrote down the incomprehensible question on paper, thinking about the words that blue comes from blue and is better than blue, thinking that one day, I will know this infinite How big and infinitely small should be counted.

Shu Qinghou got rid of these students who he liked, but often asked many questions that made him rack his brains but couldn't get an answer.

When I returned to my dormitory, I received two letters.

One was about his sweetheart who lived not far from him and studied astronomy because he hid in Xiangxu and intensively studied mathematics instead of asking about affairs of the world, so the two of them hardly spoke.

The two have been communicating through letters over the years, because once they meet, they will argue about the policy of benefiting the world, so they simply don't meet.

Shu Qinghou opened the letter very happily, looking at the thin font on it, he didn't really care about the content of the letter.

The letter said a big event, they really saw the "moon" of the Tai Sui star, and only saw one for the time being, revolving around the Tai Sui star, even if the multiples of the telescope were not large enough, they could still see them orbiting the Tai Sui star The rotation of stars is the same as the hypothesis of the moon and the earth.

And I think that if those mirror-grinding craftsmen can make the telescope better, maybe they can really use the cloudiness and waxing of the Tai Sui star "Moon" to survey and draw an accurate map of the entire Kyushu with latitude and longitude.

In addition, they also observed the phase change of Venus, or Chang Gung Star, which is enough to prove that Venus does not revolve around the earth, but revolves around the sun. In any case, the theory of the round sky and the earth cannot explain these two. question.

At the end of the letter, I asked him some questions about the ellipse, and asked him a lot about the focus of the ellipse, but he didn't say what it was used for.

He unfolded the second letter, which was written by his elder brother, King Shuqing, and the content of this letter was much simpler.

Tell him that his nephew got married in Gaoliu, and he will be transferred back to Sishang soon, and let him go home after the Chinese New Year, so that the family can get together.

Nothing else was said.

Shu Qinghou looked at the second letter, finally picked up the pen, took a piece of paper, and wrote a reply to the first letter.

"The knowledge of the elliptical focus originates from Zi Mozi's eight optical methods for the reflection of concave-convex mirrors. Whether the round point is an extension of the focus discussion is not clear in a sentence or two."

"I am thinking about the solution of the cubic equation in one variable, and my students are asking me for the answer to the problem of infinitesimal summation. I am afraid that I don't have time to write a whole set of problems about ellipses in my hut."

"My nephew is getting married. I want to go back to Sishang, and I will hold a wedding in Sishang. At that time, I will go back. At that time, I won't have to think about the cubic equation in one yuan and the superposition of infinitesimals for the time being. If we go by the canal , and then take the post road back, it happens to be in the shape of an ellipse, and the line connecting the two focal points is the shortest distance from here to my home, but there is no road."

"That would be a great opportunity to talk about the ellipse together, if you will."

After writing the reply in a short time, Shu Qinghou opened his daily notepad and recorded everything that happened in class today.

And at the end of this daily note, Shu Qinghou wrote like this.

"Imagine numbers and three-power equations; discussions on the focus of ellipses and curved surfaces left by Zimozi's eight optical methods; artillery requirements for curve operations; whether infinitesimals are zero; cut sphere method to calculate the volume of a sphere; whether infinitesimals can be calculated; in operation Can the infinitesimal be regarded as zero..."

"It can be foreseen that the study of nine numbers will lead to great chaos within a hundred years. A hundred years can be said to be two lives for a human being, but it is only a moment for the vast universe. Its way is infinite. My life has a limit. This is the first regret in life."

Before closing the notepad, he took a piece of paper that was two fingers wide, and wrote down the words "big chaos is coming" heavily, and sandwiched it in today's record about whether the infinitesimal is zero and whether the calculation including the infinitesimal is zero or not. Reasonable on that page of the diary.

　PS: Why are you obsessed with Jupiter?Because Callisto can actually be seen with the naked eye if the weather is good, there is no myopia, and there is no light pollution.

　　The four moons of Jupiter are the best solution to many difficult problems.

　　Accurate clock time difference measurement of longitude requires the accumulation of materials science, a flash of genius, and the development of precision mechanics. There may be no results in a hundred years.

　　The star map and moon phase method is almost impossible without a hundred years of observation records and a mathematical genius who can do mental calculations and calculus.

　　Both of the first two require geniuses. Only the Jupiter satellite method can be solved without the need for geniuses.It is also the only feasible means at this time that the land can be used as a clock to measure longitude.The Mohists have an optical foundation and a grinding foundation of the East China Sea crystal cup, which is the closest way.

　　Without the observation of the starry sky, without the discussion of the center and focus of the Mohist's eight optical methods, there would be no doubt that the orbit of Mars is an ellipse.If it is not discovered that the orbit of Mars is an ellipse, it will not be found that the velocity is uneven and the area is uniform, thus providing the basis for the calculation of universal gravitation.

　　Some progress does not require a genius, and a big leap forward can be achieved by purposefully accumulating people, accumulating money and accumulating time.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)