As a staunch pessimist, the apocalypse is now. It is not that the world is about to be destroyed, but that it exudes the breath of old age, tearing out pink flesh from its wounds.
The Inevitable Apocalypse#
In the blink of an eye, the world population has reached 8 billion. How many humans can the Earth sustain in the near future? I do not know.
"The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but humanity cannot live in the cradle forever." (Konstantin Tsiolkovsky)
A Withering World#
The Continuous Dissipation of Energy in the World#
A world full of energy and conservation. The trend from high energy to low energy is an irresistible force I can comprehend, until all imbalances are filled.
The sun naturally emits energy, from high energy to low energy, radiating its energy. But there are often many exceptions. Water flows downward, yet a pump can make water fly upward. This is because the energy contained in electricity exerts a tremendous impact on the small system that originally releases energy from "high energy to low energy," reducing the entropy of this small system and increasing its energy. Water not only does not flow downward but instead flows upward.
Biological Acceleration of Energy Dissipation#
From an energy perspective, the existence of life also helps energy flow from high energy to low energy. Life exists because it conforms to the law of energy transitioning from high energy to low energy. Moreover, this existence has excellent benefits for energy dissipation; as long as they exist, they continuously dissipate energy. They are like siphons; as long as there is energy, they will continue to exist. To maintain this existence, they continuously utilize energy dissipation. Although there will ultimately be a limit, that is, all energy will reach equilibrium, this is not something to consider while they exist.
This set of contradictions is that human survival relies on the dissipation of high energy, yet this dissipation will disappear as humans depend on it. Just like in a closed environment, one person and one loaf of bread, eating the bread itself is a process of approaching death.
Those Outside the Withering World#
In the days of human existence, within humanity, there must be a manifestation of anti-law. That is, the pursuit of survival. Survival is inherently anti-law; to be born means to ultimately face death. There is no concept of the group here, only the individual and the universe. The individual makes a deal with the universe: you let me exist, and I will help you consume energy. Of course, this deal can be terminated at any time, as long as you do not continue to consume energy.
As for why life clings to survival, this is determined by aspects of thought and instinct. I refer to the thing that determines the persistence of life in survival as the "nucleus of desire." Perhaps this is something akin to "soul" or "thought" or "instinct"!
Thus, from an energy perspective, the individual and all other life forms are in a state of opposition. This is because human existence is inherently at the cost of energy consumption, so as long as one does not abandon this contract with the universe—survival, everything, including the high-energy forms of life, can be consumed.
The most important point is that the dissipation of high energy in this world, that is, the world is not determined by the life forms whose energy has already dissipated, nor by the living life forms, but by the contract of survival and consumption signed between the individual and the universe. As long as the survival contract exists, it will not hesitate to extinguish all life forms.
Energy always spreads outward, from high energy to low energy. Humanity acts as a catalyst, allowing high energy to dissipate faster, accelerating this process. In a closed system, when all energy has dissipated to an unusable extent, the apocalypse arrives.
Human Choices#
When the "cradle" can no longer sustain the existing population, "leaving" and "staying" are the two paths before humanity. "Leaving" implies uncertain risks and rewards, while "staying" means comfort and foreseeable destruction. "Leaving" requires the ability to leave; if human infants in the cradle do not grow into a civilization capable of escaping the cradle, then only the forced option of "staying" remains.
Will humanity be "left behind"?
Even if humanity "leaves," there will always be a time of being "left behind" under any "system." Let us first discuss the situation where one cannot leave the "cradle." At this point, the cradle becomes a grave.
Staying in the Cradle#
According to research, the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, which occurred about 66 million years ago, was the most recent mass extinction, with 75% of species going extinct. The previous extinctions were even more severe, with 95% of species going extinct. After this, the era of large organisms as the rulers of Earth was "gone forever."
A few days ago, while contemplating the apocalypse, I thought of dinosaurs. From an energy perspective, dinosaurs required more energy, making the difficulty of sustaining their populations greater compared to mammals of the same number. Mammals at that time were smaller and required less energy, so they were more likely to survive and sustain their populations in the face of crises.
So, when human "infants" perish, will Earth see a group of smaller civilized beings? Perhaps this is the mystery of the "ant tribe." From the beginning, they did not aspire to be the rulers of the Earth, nor have they ever been enslaved by others. Faced with the dilemma of life, they neither wish to go out nor stay, their smallness being their greatest weapon.
Of course, if new humans shrink from 2 meters to 0.2 meters, the dwarfs may not be a means of survival for the "left behind" humans. Could a 20 cm tall person be like the Monkey King in the hands of Buddha?
However, discussing such new species is not particularly enjoyable. It is merely starting a new civilization-building game, where good luck may lead to "leaving" the cradle, while bad luck means becoming the nourishment for the next civilization.
Leaving the Cradle#
Some people will certainly choose to leave the cradle. Just as Columbus did not discover the New World merely for the sake of discovery, humanity's purpose in leaving the cradle is not necessarily to leave Earth.
The New and Old of the Apocalypse#
The Allure of the Apocalypse#
"New Era," this political phrase is rich in meaning and does not belong to just one entity. When we see some obscure new things suddenly rush onto the historical stage, we already know that a "new era" has arrived.
As the apocalypse unfolds, everything withers, and energy becomes sparse. There is water, but no clean water; there are people, but no young people; there is sky, but no clear sky... The apocalypse has everything because it once had civilization; it has nothing because civilization is about to decline.
Generally, the apocalypse signifies destruction; but it also signifies rebirth. This is the eternal topic of new and old, and the reason the apocalypse is so alluring.
The Present is the Apocalypse#
And in today's world, it is still an apocalypse. Whether it is the godfather in movies, communism, or the declining capitalism... even an individual's cancer can be tinged with the flavor of the apocalypse.
The criteria for judging the apocalypse lie in the destruction of old things, but it is the destruction of this world. Therefore, discussing the core of the apocalypse involves discussing destruction, while making the story of the apocalypse stimulating revolves around the alternation of the new and the old.
The Apocalypse and the Avoidance of Destruction#
Nowadays, some people often say, "We must do something for future generations," "One cannot reincarnate after death," etc. (I can't recall too many at the moment). I dislike these sentiments. It is like many old mothers in the village who believe in Christianity and talk about the apocalypse... Many people cannot accept destruction; to escape the idea of destruction, they conceive many eternal hallucinogens. At the root of their pursuits, there are always many thoughts of escaping destruction.
I might be the same; I just tell myself that destruction is destruction, nothing more.
This refusal of destruction, on the contrary, hastens the arrival of destruction. Or rather, this refusal of destruction is destruction itself. From an energy perspective, refusing destruction requires more energy than accepting it, exacerbating energy dissipation. From the perspective of the object of destruction, new things will not be destroyed; old things must be destroyed. Most people who think about how to refuse destruction daily are, in fact, already outdated.
The Standards of New and Old Things#
But how do I know if I am a new thing or an old thing? As a pessimist, I assume I am an old thing. New and old exist under certain dimensions. In other words, there is no such thing as new or old; it is merely that the times have changed, and the world has changed. Although I do not know what "sequence" means, the standards between new and old are absolutely objective. As individuals, especially in terms of concepts, there is nothing new or old. If based on the spiritual world, nothing can be destroyed, just like faith.
Assuming myself to be an old thing is because, in this world, renewal and change are endless, the energy consumed is increasing, and the environment is becoming increasingly harsh. Once anything enters this world, it is already old; it is merely a matter of how outdated it is. In reality, the principle of the alternation of new and old has little to do with understanding and little to do with the new and old things themselves; it is merely the choice of this world. Therefore, there is no need to worry about becoming new or old.
In today's world, blood and fire, rising and falling. New things are constantly being born in this world and within our bodies. When we discover new things, our bodies often tremble continuously, genuinely marveling at their novelty. Various political events erupt, various economic and technological shifts often leave us bewildered, also making us realize that the original world has been completely destroyed. In this sense, it is the apocalypse.
Tombstone Technology and Tombstone Civilization#
I had this grand title in mind from the beginning. This is not a name I coined, but it fits the apocalypse best.
All human technology is born from the repeated deaths of humanity, giving rise to new technologies. Airplanes matured after many crashes; cars and ships were designed anew after many lives were lost. "The Three-Body Problem" also mentions that the Earth Civilization Museum is a tombstone built for humanity.
In contemporary life, death is the most significant matter. Certainly, there is creation within civilization, but death is the greatest breeding ground for creation. Death defines the boundaries of human existence; this clear purpose not only guides humanity but also injects motivation into it.
However, the apocalypse is an extreme condition; humanity has not overcome difficulties, only death. Perhaps in the pursuit of innovation at the cost of life, humanity has ultimately gained some knowledge, yet has lost the ability to bring it into reality. At this point, perhaps only a tombstone remains, along with the ultimate technology that humanity has not had the chance to use.
How many civilizations have been born in this universe? Where are their boundaries? Zhuangzi's "Free and Easy Wandering" states, "The vastness of heaven, is it its true color? Is it distant and has no ultimate limit?" What is the essence of civilization?
From an energy perspective, everything left behind by civilization is merely the excrement of parasites that have lived off it. Until the universe, this great cake, is filled with pests, civilization will truly come to an end. If civilization brings anything to this world, it is only the traces of its existence; this is the most splendid aspect of a civilization. Culture, history, technology... one story after another.
The highest realm of the apocalypse is to leave the last tombstone in this exiled world.
It does not have to be a three-dimensional tombstone, nor does it have to be a chip that records all information of civilization, but rather the information itself that has been ultimately excavated by civilization.
I firmly believe that when a piece of information, text, or code emerges from the void, it has already become eternal.
Publishing it, or recording it through a medium, is merely a presentation of this more mysterious "information" in the three-dimensional world.
Perhaps this is the magic of thought, turning into a demon or a Buddha! It is also the wonder of "thought."
The Feeling of the Apocalypse#
What kind of feeling does the apocalypse give?
The Ease of the Apocalypse#
A garbage dump covering the sky, swirling sandstorms, murky and foul waters, silent and deserted villages, incomplete and dilapidated buildings...
Whether it is the apocalypse or the present world, there is plenty of garbage and ghost towns, but that is not the flavor of the apocalypse. Everything in the present world exists in the apocalypse, just in a fragmented form. The flavor of the apocalypse, amidst despair, carries a hint of ease.
The death of an individual is a predetermined event, while the decline of a group may be a kind of ease for the individual. The apocalypse is relative; what humanity considers the apocalypse may be the rise of a new race. Therefore, the apocalypse is not about how broken it is; as long as it is unsuitable for human survival, it can be considered an apocalypse. In relation to the individual, the apocalypse is more about the decline of the group. The individual may be living quite well.
Humanity has come a long way from primitive civilization, experiencing gathering civilization, agricultural society, commercial society, to today's capitalist society, creating countless wealth and culture, but also distorting human nature step by step. Humans have transformed from a group of free savages into farmers, fishermen, merchants, and workers, being devoured by the group into parts that have lost their potential.
Although the apocalypse is cruel, before a new civilization is established, it carries a hint of possibility and ease that is not controlled by the group.
Once the apocalypse arrives, establishing a large group becomes very difficult. This is because the era of abundant resources has passed, and the remaining resources are very scattered. With a decrease in population and scarcity of resources, the power of the individual relatively increases. Without large resources to control, and no large power above it, there is no large group.
Of course, specific situations may vary, but the tone should be one of ease amidst despair.
People in the apocalypse may not feel it, but readers in the present world can sense it.
Bone-Chilling Cold—The Root of the Tone#
The novel "The Three-Body Problem" terrifies me the most with its dark forest theory. Whenever I think of "The Three-Body Problem," I envision silent deep space, distant stars, and the cold laws of the forest...
Thus, an atmosphere can seep into the bones, not through various images, but through a tone of thought. Something that can mobilize inner emotions.
The fear in "The Three-Body Problem" is the eternal tone of the apocalypse—cruel and desperate internal strife brought about by resource scarcity. No matter what means of relief, what discoveries of new civilizations or new continents, it is difficult to cover this bone-deep cold.
From this bone-chilling cold begins, all plots have already been constructed, for this cold is the framework of this world, the truth of this world. (With every sentence I write, I feel exceptionally cold.)
"The Three-Body Problem" takes this cold to the extreme—the "dark forest law," the unspoken secret that all civilizations adhere to.
In "The Three-Body Problem," there is no concept of the apocalypse. The apocalypse is an inevitability, while the present world is merely a coincidence.
Beyond the Starry Sky, Beyond the Cold#
In the past, I despised the "dark forest"; I thought it overlooked a possibility. I am not watching "The Three-Body Problem"; I am observing it through the eyes of others. I do not wish for others to boast about the dark forest, objectifying the human heart. However, "The Three-Body Problem" is pure and real. In this world of matter and energy, the dark forest is a reasonable inference.
However, I believe even more in and cherish the things beyond the starry sky, beyond the cold.
Gazing into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you. I believe many people do not lack the ability to gaze into the abyss; rather, they are attracted to it, captured by it. I acknowledge the abyss still exists, but I do not accept that it is the only reality.
Zhuangzi's "Discussion on Equalizing Things" states, "The four directions above and below are called the universe; the past and present are called the cosmos." Beyond the space-time of the universe, beyond the dark forest, there are still other things.
What are they?
Perhaps they are the ease of the apocalypse. Perhaps they are warm things. Perhaps they are things that do not grow cold... In short, they are different from the decaying material world.
This is the inevitable path of all apocalypses; the apocalypse is the apocalypse, unchangeable. When the material world pronounces our death sentence, we are destined to die in the material world. But if there is only a material world, is that not too narrow?
The Despair of Entering the Apocalypse#
Those who die in the apocalypse may be happy. They die justly. Dying in the apocalypse seems to be the most legitimate reason.
Those who still live in the apocalypse are struggling. As long as they do not die, they must witness the destruction of this world and the rebirth of the world.
How much struggle is this?
Life and death, endings, destruction, are hidden in every novel, every work. It is easy for a work to start joyfully, but sadness must be deliberately created. At the end, sadness is hard to conceal, while joy is difficult to achieve. When people are young, it is easy to laugh genuinely and cry falsely; as they grow older, it becomes easier to cry genuinely and laugh falsely.
In everything, when it comes to the end, sadness is hard to hide.
So, is dying in the apocalypse not a kind of happiness? The deeper the struggle goes, the less joy remains. No matter how good the ending is, it is still a bad ending.
My World is Not the Apocalypse#
To be honest, sharing my writing brings a sense of loss. The original article is a constant, an eternal plaything of mine; but once shared and published, it becomes a variable that does not belong to me. The article is like a wound-up toy; you provide it with energy, it stores your energy, and then it runs forward until the moment you let go, completely separating. Using childbirth as an analogy may be more accurate. Once a child is born, it no longer belongs to the mother. Any defect in the child is an eternal pain for the mother.
What is the apocalypse? A world that consumes energy but cannot generate it internally is the apocalypse.
Is my world the apocalypse?
I would certainly admit directly that my world is the apocalypse.
If my world is declining, then I will not struggle but enjoy the last few beautiful minutes of my world's demise.
An objective world, a real world, will one day head towards decline.
Will the human spiritual world collapse?
I want to say it will collapse, but from my current understanding, it will not.
The existence of thought is like a ghost, unaffected by the laws of energy in the world.
Tagore's bird wings will forever remain in the sky.
If my world is not the apocalypse, then it would indeed be torturous for me. How much effort would I need to build it into a beautiful place? This is my eternal world, my eternal cage!
My barren imagination will likely turn my world into hell. That is true desolation. A land of darkness.
Suicide is like the wind, always accompanying me. I am not someone who readily accepts suicide, but I cannot help but think about it. When my world is filled with despair, I find it easier to contemplate.
I think suicide is an ultimate problem, not a worldly one. So do not commit suicide for worldly reasons, but it is acceptable to do so for ultimate reasons.
I do not like to hear others say that suicide cannot lead to reincarnation; I also do not like to hear others say that they do not even have the courage to commit suicide.
If one must die, at least give me a reason for death! An ultimate meaning.
Because the trivialities of life in reality are truly unworthy of the word "suicide." Nationality, country—these grand and hollow terms are equally unworthy of the word "suicide."
Everyone has worries and despair, but they are not worthy of suicide.
Can the apocalypse series add some color to my world?
What is the relationship between suicide and the apocalypse?
There is no relationship; the previous articles have discussed the decline of the external world, while this article talks about my own world.
As for suicide, it is an eternal hurdle for my world not to be the apocalypse. Unless my thinking becomes materialistic. I do not want to use this term because even this term is not materialistic.
If I do not believe that thought is neither born nor destroyed, I would not build my world for the long term.
Nor would I be stacking these words like building blocks! This is a very expensive toy.
Complete despair should allow one to enjoy the most extreme hellish pleasure!
The external apocalypse, the spiritual desolation. The end but not the end, the end and not the end.
Published on December 29, 2022, organized on [[2024-03-06]]