Chapter 005
Act IV - The Unique Coincidence
Update Time: 2011-OCT-13 19:11:25
In the afternoon, at 1:30 pm, at the agreed time and place.
"Please forgive my impudence," Sorano bowed politely, "May I ask what kind of relationship do Mr. Unabara and Oleg Dmitrievich[1] have?"
Originally, Sorano thought her teacher was just an introducer, but when they were both present, Sorano realized that the two were much more familiar with each other than she thought, which made Sorano a little confused.
"Unabara is my junior, and we have a long-standing friendship. It's just that he didn't devote himself to academia like me, so most of the time we don't have much interaction."
Sorano cutely tilted her head.
"It's just that I have more self-awareness. When I was in college, I knew I wasn't cut out for this. Although I was not willing to admit it, I had to admit that talent is very important in the academic field. I found that I didn't have this talent, so I gave up developing in this area. That's all. But Oleg Dmitri is still my senior, and that won't change."
"Really... no talent..."
Listening to the man's confession, Sorano lowered her head slightly, leaving others unsure of what she was thinking.
"But if we talk about talent, you're completely different," the director of the orphanage interjected, "You should have more opportunities for education, which we were unable to provide."
"Indeed, I don't deny that I have considered this aspect. After all, the essence of Academy City is like this. Creating an environment that is most suitable for development in all aspects is the mission of Academy City. After all, it is the fastest way to achieve goals."
"The so-called 'arriving at heaven's intent in an ungodly body'? Isn't it too extravagant just for this purpose? What if this goal is fundamentally unattainable?"
Sorano shook her head, and the three adults looked at each other in surprise that she would say such a thing.
"I think you may have misunderstood," in the end, Sorano's teacher spoke up, "For example, you know the famous 'three classical construction problems'[2] in ancient Greek history, right? With your mathematical background, I don't think I need to explain much. The three geometric construction problems were eventually proven to be impossible. Did mathematicians waste their time? No, they didn't. As you know, great achievements in the field of mathematics were made during this process, including conic sections and transcendental curves, whose significance far outweighs these few problems themselves. Indeed, 'arriving at heaven's intent in an ungodly body' is the goal of Academy City. Whether it is students or those of us who study scientific theory, we are essentially serving this goal. But the goal is absolutely not the purpose. In my opinion, the goal is just a reason. What is important is not the goal as a result, but what is gained from the process. The reason why the technology of Academy City is about 30 years ahead of the outside world is not based on the unattainable goal, but on what was gained during the pursuit of that goal, which is the real purpose."
"Is it like 'science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it'?"
Poof!
The director of the orphanage, who was drinking tea, heard Sorano's words and spewed out his tea on the spot.
The man looked at Sorano's teacher strangely — in his opinion, the only way for a little girl like Sorano to know this quote was through his old schoolmate. He suddenly felt that this guy seemed to have a serious suspicion of teaching bad things to children.
Although this was indeed a famous saying in physics, and the person who said it was quite prestigious.
"Although what you said is not wrong," even Sorano's teacher seemed a little embarrassed, and he didn't remember introducing the origin of this quote to Sorano, "But at your age, it's better not to quote Feynman's words casually."
Sorano nodded her head apologetically.
"So, can I ask Mr. Unabara one last question?"
"Yes, don't be too restrained."
"Mr. Unabara's father is the chairman of Tokiwadai, right? Based on what you said earlier, creating an environment that is most suitable for development in all aspects is the mission of Academy City. So why does an elite school like Tokiwadai still exist?"
(Can it be that coincidental?)
The man frowned and took out a stack of materials from his bag, handing them to Sorano.
"What is this?"
Sorano flipped through the materials page by page, gradually becoming surprised, which became the only expression on her delicate little face.
"It is all the scientific research institutions, educational institutions, and even commercial institutions related to Tokiwadai. Or to put it more clearly, it is the entire system centered around Tokiwadai on the surface, and the huge structure driven by this system. Similarly, the achievements of this system are also listed here. You can imagine the cost of creating such a structure solely by one's own power."
This detailed information was unbelievable and could not have been prepared without careful preparation over a certain period of time. Moreover, compared with this information, the fact that the man prepared this information itself was the most amazing thing. Obviously, Sorano also realized this, and she looked surprised and incredulous.
"Although I gave up physics, I learned some other things as a result. Among them, I personally think that the most important thing is that the change of variables will increase the final quantity in the form of a multiplication factor and acceleration. This is the mathematical expression of the 'multiplier effect'. In the field of chaotic dynamics in physics, there is also the concept that 'the system will accumulate errors and exhibit nonlinear amplification'[3], right? Indeed, creating an environment that is most suitable for development in all aspects is the most ideal. But since it is the most ideal, it also means that we currently cannot rely on our own strength to achieve it. So we have to rely on this method to let the needs of reality drive the entire system, rather than relying solely on our own power. That is not our intention, but we do not have the ability to get rid of it."
"But... is this model really beneficial in the long run?" Sorano looked a bit bewildered for the first time.
"Unfortunately, 'in the long run we are all dead,'[4]" the man replied decisively.
"Sorano," Sorano's teacher interjected, "Although I don't know much about Unabara's words, let me add something. Tokiwadai at least adheres to an unbreakable bottom line. Not long ago, we even rejected an imperial daughter from enrolling, and almost caused a diplomatic dispute because of it. You should know about this, right?"
"Oleg Dmitri pointed out the key to the problem. Reality cannot be so idealized, so the way to achieve the ideal cannot be detached from reality. We are powerless in the face of reality, and we can only rely on reasonable rules to prevent reality from derailing and to make it a driving force. Don't try to think of long-term solutions to short-term problems, that is a fatal deception. This is a compromise, and I hope you can understand. Moreover, logically, there is not much problem with this, as the long-term is the result of countless short-term accumulations."
Wait, what's going on? Why is this happening?
The director of the orphanage was stunned. In his years of work, he had never encountered such a strange scene. He was the oldest among everyone here, but he was also the only one who didn't understand anything from start to finish. Was he attending a lecture?
"So, now tell me, what is your answer?"
Sorano stood up straight and bowed deeply to the man.
"Thank you very much for your guidance," she paused for a moment, "father[5]..."
"You worked hard, Unabara," said Sorano's teacher as he handed him a cup of coffee on the sofa in the director's office.
"Thank you. I just feel really tired."
"Haha, that's just how that child is. Did you know that when I first met her, she spent an entire afternoon arguing with me about the results of perturbation calculations? I don't even know where she learned all of that."
"Well, I think she should have accepted it a long time ago. Her actions are probably just looking for a reason to convince herself," the man said, stirring his coffee.
Sorano's teacher sat down beside him.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know what's on her mind, but I can probably guess her thoughts. Before I decided to give up physics, I also had a period of stubborn persistence, even though I knew that the future was not very bright. It wasn't because I lacked self-awareness, but people are often not so easily convinced, even if they just hope to have a good enough reason to accept it. For me at the time, that reason was you. When I realized that I could never catch up with you, I could accept that choice more calmly. I feel like she's the same now, although she probably can't have a similar experience like me. Who knows?"
"So, you really have a father-daughter relationship. But Unabara, I have to remind you of some things."
"What's the matter, Oleg Dimitri?"
"It's just a hunch of mine. That child may indeed just be looking for a reason to convince herself, but I don't think it's just that. You must have felt it too, right? You created a theory that she could choose to believe in, but if this theory ultimately fails in reality, what are you going to do?"
"To be honest, there's nothing I can do. This is not my theory, but the wisdom of a great person. Everyone who tried to challenge this theory ultimately failed. Do you think I can do anything?"
"Well, that's really a problem," Sorano's teacher took a sip of his coffee. "By the way, you really scared me with this material related to Tokiwadai. What's this about?"
Sorano's teacher picked up the material and shook it gently.
The man's expression was a bit strange.
"What's wrong? Did I say something strange?"
"No, it's not you who's strange." The man said, "This material was prepared by my father, and he deliberately asked me to bring it. I don't know why, but he seems to have guessed that this situation would arise a long time ago."
"Come on, how could such a thing happen? You're thinking too much. The chairman probably just wants you to introduce more things to her, haha..."
"Is it really impossible?" the man covered his mouth with his coffee.
If a coincidence happens repeatedly, it must be inevitable.
At least, that's what the man thought.
[1] Footnote by the author: The way Sorano addressed her teacher was to combine his given name with complete patronymic name, which is a more formal and respectful honorific, but not as intimate as an abbreviated patronymic name with the given name. This form of address is usually used when speaking to elders and superiors.
[2] Footnote by the translator: The original text reads "four classical construction problems", which is a typo. In fact, there are only three famous straightedge-and-compass construction problems proposed by the ancient Greeks: trisecting the angle, doubling the cube, and squaring the circle.
[3] Footnote by the author: The mathematical expression of the "butterfly effect".
[4] Footnote by the translator: This quote is from John Maynard Keynes, the founder of macroeconomics.
[5] Footnote by the translator: The word Sorano used here to address her adoptive father is "chichiue-sama", written in Japanese as "父上様", which is a honorific term used to show the highest respect and reverence.