4 ms·

This is a tangent, but it reminds me of the plot of The Three Body Problem. The story begins with a series of suicides from top physics researchers because phys

by bko 3y ago

This is a tangent, but it reminds me of the plot of The Three Body Problem. The story begins with a series of suicides from top physics researchers because physics just stops working for some mysterious reason which is revealed later in the book. I loved that series of books and this highlights why I like it so much. It's an "optimistic" view of humanity. People are serious in the book so its entirely plausible that physicists are so distraught at the futility of their efforts to understand the universe that they end their life if the universe is broken. And government officials are worried and dig into the issue. The book follows that theme as humanity puts forward a strong centralized effort to combat a threat. Human's aren't just a joke or a stepping stone. It's really a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of sci-fi that makes humans out to be idiots or malevolent. I don't know if it has to do with the book being from a Chinese author

tedivm 3y ago
> It's really a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of sci-fi that makes humans out to be idiots or malevolent. Did we read the same book? A huge portion was devoted to the cultural revolution, and it definitely made humans look pretty "malevolent" there. I don't think the book really tries to be optimistic, just realistic, which means it calls out a lot of good and bad.
- bko 3y ago
  It's been a while since I read it, but I think the cultural revolution served as character development and how the trauma effected some of the characters in the story. It also served as an analogy for suppressing scientific research. It's something that has been overcome and is (somewhat) overcome in the rest of the book and the subsequent novels from the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. It's not that people are all good, but they are serious, as are the governments involved. It might be more obvious from books 2 and 3. Compare that to something like "Don't look up" (humans stupid) or "Avatar" (human bad)
  - tedivm 3y ago
    I guess my point- which I think we're mostly in agreement with- is that the trilogy was really complex, rather than being "humans stupid" or "humans bad" (or even "humans good"). I love my space opera (Peter Hamilton gets my love) but I also love those really good complex scifi stories such as this.
pjc50 3y ago
> I don't know if it has to do with the book being from a Chinese author The "knowledge being suppressed by semi-omnipotent aliens" plot is a fairly heavy analogy with the Cultural Revolution and its horrors in suppressing truth and inquiry. The book even mentions it near the start in case you were to miss it. In that context the suicides are probably direct analogies for those who killed themselves in despair during that time.

by bko 3y ago

tedivm 3y ago

> It's really a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of sci-fi that makes humans out to be idiots or malevolent. Did we read the same book? A huge portion was devoted to the cultural revolution, and it definitely made humans look pretty "malevolent" there. I don't think the book really tries to be optimistic, just realistic, which means it calls out a lot of good and bad.

bko 3y ago
It's been a while since I read it, but I think the cultural revolution served as character development and how the trauma effected some of the characters in the story. It also served as an analogy for suppressing scientific research. It's something that has been overcome and is (somewhat) overcome in the rest of the book and the subsequent novels from the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. It's not that people are all good, but they are serious, as are the governments involved. It might be more obvious from books 2 and 3. Compare that to something like "Don't look up" (humans stupid) or "Avatar" (human bad)
- tedivm 3y ago
  I guess my point- which I think we're mostly in agreement with- is that the trilogy was really complex, rather than being "humans stupid" or "humans bad" (or even "humans good"). I love my space opera (Peter Hamilton gets my love) but I also love those really good complex scifi stories such as this.

pjc50 3y ago

> I don't know if it has to do with the book being from a Chinese author The "knowledge being suppressed by semi-omnipotent aliens" plot is a fairly heavy analogy with the Cultural Revolution and its horrors in suppressing truth and inquiry. The book even mentions it near the start in case you were to miss it. In that context the suicides are probably direct analogies for those who killed themselves in despair during that time.