The Wallfacer: Everyone wants to break through my wall.

That person was Ding Yi. Only then did Lin Feng notice that Ding Yi had also participated in this meeting of core members of the Taylor Group.

"Of course, Dr. Ding."

Lin Feng smiled as he took the document from the elderly Ding Yi.

"This is... a quantum state human civilization?" Lin Feng immediately understood the message the document was trying to convey.

This was the Wallfacer plan that someone within ETO had secretly revealed to him.

To make human civilization a quantum state, thus becoming an indestructible civilization, because a civilization that has already been destroyed and extinct cannot be destroyed and extinct again.

“Yes, we can use macro-electrons to quantize human civilization,” Ding Yi said.

Chapter 229 The Boundary Between Life and Death

One attendee pointed out, "Dr. Ding, strictly speaking, quantum-state humans are not human at all. They violate the most basic definition of life. If life is likened to a sun, then quantum-state humans are like stellar matter that has spread outward after the sun explodes. They can also emit light and heat, but they are no longer considered stars."

Lin Feng was taken aback. He remembered that before hibernation, whether quantum-state humans could be considered life was still a matter of debate.

"Wait, wait a minute, humans in the quantum state aren't considered life? When did this happen? Can anyone explain this to me?" Lin Feng asked.

The core member sitting to Lin Feng's right said, "It's normal that you don't know. The discussion about quantum-state humans came to a conclusion fifty years ago, when you were still in hibernation."

"That's right. Based on the development of biological theories, the scientific community has redefined the traditional standard of life: 'All life is a low-entropy body, and low-entropy bodies feed on negative entropy.' That is, life relies on taking in negative entropy from the external environment to maintain and develop, and gives back the increased entropy to nature."

"From the smallest microorganism to the largest civilization, all need to follow this law."

Lin Feng was stunned. He understood every word the other person said, but he didn't understand them when they were put together. What did low-entropy bodies and negative entropy have to do with life?

"...I don't really understand, could you explain it more plainly?" Lin Feng said.

The core member who was explaining to Lin Feng pondered for a moment before explaining.

“Let’s take the example of sheep eating grass. After eating grass, the sheep digests and excretes, simplifying the grass and excrement into organic matter. Compared to the grass before it was eaten, the degree of entropy in the excrement has increased. This process is called entropy increase.”

"If we consider the entropy of grass to be zero, and now the entropy of grass has increased to '1', then there must also be a corresponding '-1'. Where did this '-1' go? It was ingested by the sheep that ate the grass. The sheep can maintain their 'living' state by increasing the entropy of grass."

"Do you understand now? This is the essence of living things constantly eating. Food is just the surface, and the energy that powers civilization is also just the surface. Beneath the surface lies negative entropy. Life itself is a phenomenon that exacerbates the increase of entropy in the universe, and civilization is a further extension based on this."

Lin Feng nodded knowingly. He understood as soon as it was explained so bluntly. Who knew what those low-entropy bodies and negative entropy were referring to?

Although Lin Feng understood that life feeds on negative entropy, he couldn't see any essential connection between it and quantum-state humans not being life.

“But what is the necessary connection between this and ‘quantum-state humans are not living beings’? Quantum-state humans possess the same subjective initiative as living organisms and can also think,” Lin Feng said.

One attendee explained, “That is the afterglow of life. Just like the example before, the remnants of a sun explosion also emit light and heat. That’s what biological quantum states are all about.”

"Does a person in a quantum state need to obtain any form of negative entropy from the outside world? No."

"Quantum-state humans are in a superposition of being both alive and dead. Their life and death are determined by probability, not by entropy increase. Therefore, quantum-state humans do not need to obtain negative entropy from the outside world. They directly jump out of the law of entropy increase and become a series of matter waves that are governed by probability."

Lin Feng now understood why quantum-state humans are not considered life.

Life feeds on negative entropy, maintaining its low-entropy state by constantly acquiring negative entropy from nature. When its own entropy becomes too high, the life system collapses, and then it dies.

Quantum-state humans do not need to acquire negative entropy; their life systems are both collapsing and not collapsing.

What determines whether their life system collapses is not entropy, but probability. If probability says their life system hasn't collapsed, then they are alive; if probability says their life system has collapsed, then they are dead.

Therefore, a quantum-state human could live without relying on anything from the outside world, but this would violate the definition of 'life feeds on negative entropy'.

Quantum-state humans are no longer human, or even life, but something else entirely—this is the prevailing scientific view today.

Ding Yi, with a pipe in his mouth, exhaled a cloud of smoke and said, "I know that quantum-state humans cannot be defined as 'life' in a system centered on entropy increase, but... quantum-state humans do indeed fully meet all of Mr. Taylor's requirements."

"Humans in the quantum state are in a state of being both alive and dead. That is to say, such humans cannot be killed, at least according to current human technology, because they are already dead, but as dead people, they still have a certain probability of being alive."

Ding Yi's words were met with skepticism from the attendees. "Dr. Ding, we must remind you that the current topic of discussion is how to make all civilizations in the universe believe that humanity 'does not exist,' like roadside grass, stones, air, or even the void. Even the Trisolarans don't care about the quantum state fleet, so please don't assume that ancient alien civilizations don't have the power to annihilate quantum state humans."

The universe is vast, and ancient civilizations since the beginning of the universe are like gods. The core members of the Taylor system have reason to believe that there is a way to kill the quantum ghost in this universe, but humans are unaware of it.

If it weren't for the fact that Ding Yi was old and his bones couldn't withstand a beating, the attendees would definitely have accused him of some unfounded crime.

Ding Yi glanced subconsciously at the core member who still had dark circles under his eyes, put down his pipe, and explained.

"I'm not saying this to imply that quantum-state humans are absolutely indestructible, but rather to show that quantum-state humans have a relatively high tolerance limit when it comes to dying from external forces. If humans happen to be on the battlefield where two powerful civilizations are clashing head-on, and they happen to be unable to escape in time, this superposition of being both alive and dead can be a lifesaver, at least preventing them from being destroyed by the aftermath of the war between the two civilizations."

"In the universe, there may exist very powerful civilizations that can interfere with the probability of quantum humans and create an absolute zero probability. In this way, they can truly kill quantum humans. So what I want to explain next is the stealth of the quantum state."

"Quantum states are affected by observation, and this effect is instantaneous. Like quantum entanglement, when other observers observe us, our state is death. A dead person naturally does not exist, and this is true for any intelligent life."

"No one cares about a group of dead people; a dead civilization will not be considered a threat by other ancient civilizations."

The attendees looked at each other, and indeed, whether quantum states could be considered life was temporarily set aside.

The life form of quantum ghosts is indeed a good way to 'not exist', as quantum states have mechanisms to evade observation, and quantum collapse is instantaneous, just like quantum entanglement.

The best way to detect quantum ghosts is through indirect observation and other methods to confirm their existence.

The problem is, who spends all their time using sideways observation to check if there are any quantum ghosts around them?

Ding Yi's idea aroused great interest among the attendees, and someone raised the following question during the meeting.

"If humans can transform quantum-state humans back into non-quantum-state humans, then could these quantum-state humans, who possess subjective initiative, experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, and even communicate, be considered life?"

"If it were possible, it would be like 'coming back to life,' but is that even possible?"

"It doesn't seem very feasible. That's 'resurrection,' which belongs to the realm of God."

The meeting discussed many issues related to quantum states. Some people thought this direction of development was good, while others questioned Ding Yi's proposal.

“Dr. Ding, life feeds on reverse entropy, and civilization is an extension of this. Now that these quantum-state life forms no longer feed on reverse entropy, can this civilization still be considered a civilization? Can such a civilization continue to develop? You must understand that if the sacrifice of the continuation of civilization is the price of its ‘non-existence,’ this solution will be meaningless to humanity,” one of the attendees said.

This is both a question and an inquiry: Is a civilization composed of quantum ghosts still a civilization? And what form does this civilization take? Perhaps only Ding Yi, an authority in this field, can provide the answer.

Ding Yi pondered for a moment, then said, "Because the basic unit of civilization consists of people who are in a superposition state of being both alive and dead, and no longer feed on reverse entropy, this civilization should also be in a state of being both alive and dead."

"For such a civilization to develop to a higher level of technology, it is speculated that it will still need to acquire negative entropy from the outside world, because although humans in the quantum state do not need to acquire negative entropy to maintain their state, technological exploration still requires negative entropy."

Lin Feng asked with a strange expression, "Isn't this strange? A civilization composed of humans in a quantum state that doesn't need negative entropy still needs negative entropy to develop to a higher level."

Civilization is an extension of life, and life feeds on negative entropy; this is a basic definition.

The basic units that constitute civilization no longer need negative entropy to maintain themselves, and are therefore no longer 'life', but the development of civilization still requires negative entropy.

"Perhaps we can look at quantum-state humans from a different perspective. We can consider the spread of the probability waves of quantum-state humans throughout the universe as the complete death of quantum-state humans. If there is a way to constrain the spread of this probability wave, then quantum-state humans would still belong to the category of 'life forms that feed on negative entropy'. In this way, the fact that the development of civilization still requires negative entropy can be explained."

"Thinking about it carefully, it does make sense. If quantum-state humans can interfere with matter regardless of the law of entropy increase, wouldn't they have an endless source of energy? Perhaps everything that quantum-state humans do is directly proportional to the diffusion of their quantum state..."

The meeting had covered a lot of topics, and Lin Feng brought the participants to a halt to their enthusiastic discussion.

"Alright, let's pause for a moment, everyone. I have a basic, preliminary concept of the 'non-existence' development direction of human civilization."

Lin Feng's gaze swept over everyone present as he spoke.

One attendee cautioned, “Mr. Taylor, while quantum states may seem wonderful to us, they are not necessarily as we think. We don’t know much about the quantum world.”

"Moreover, this solution cannot completely eliminate the possibility of being destroyed by powerful civilizations in the universe, nor can it completely prevent other civilizations from discovering it. Since humans can detect the existence of quantum ghosts, other civilizations must also have ways to detect them," another participant added.

Lin Feng waved his hand, silencing the core members who had advised him against making a decision so early.

"What are you thinking? I didn't say I would only use one approach. I plan to combine all the good ones together."

Under the surprised gazes of the attendees, Lin Feng spoke.

"The collapse effect of quantum states greatly reduces the possibility of human civilization being discovered. Then comes self-modification and micro-microscopy and transparency. Micro-microscopy and transparency can, to a certain extent, ensure that even if it is discovered, some observers will not think it is a civilization, but will only think it is something else."

"Self-modification means that the technology of civilization can be transferred to quantum humans. Human science and technology will be displayed in quantum-state humans. Quantum-state human civilization will get rid of its dependence on non-quantum-state matter. Without weakening the technological level, it will greatly increase its stealth."

"In my vision, this quantum-state human is very similar to the gods in ancient myths, possessing strong individual abilities and displaying methods that seem magical to us today."

According to the development direction proposed by Lin Feng, the ultimate result of human civilization is to become a kind of ubiquitous 'particle' in the universe, which may be regarded by some civilizations as the ubiquitous dark energy particle in the universe.

However, there is a problem here: the quantum ghost cannot modify itself.

Once a person is quantized into a quantum ghost, he is 'determined', and any external changes to him are meaningless; everything about the quantum ghost is determined by probability.

As for what probability is, it means that no matter how you toss a coin, there is a 50/50 chance of getting heads or tails.

"How can we modify ourselves? It's pointless for humans in a quantum state to modify themselves," one attendee asked.

"My idea is to achieve the conversion between quantum state and non-quantum state. When it is time to modify itself, it will revert to a normal human state, and after the modification is completed, it will revert to the quantum state," Lin Feng said.

"Of course, this method is not a 100% guarantee that we will not be discovered by a technologically advanced civilization. Humans will definitely think while they are alive. If we are facing a super civilization that can ignore species barriers and information barriers, they will know that we are a human civilization with just one look."

"So there's one last method I want to add, which is to hide inside a black hole as a last resort," Lin Feng said.

"The black hole collisions mentioned earlier could theoretically not affect human civilization in the quantum state; human civilization in the quantum state inside a black hole would be very safe."

"Even if a black hole completely evaporates and a singularity erupts someday in the future, human civilization will not be destroyed, because human civilization is a quantum superposition state. It exists even when it is destroyed. The eruption of a singularity cannot fundamentally shake the probability basis of the existence of human civilization."

Chapter 230 Perhaps it's because he's taken too many drugs.

Early in the morning, Lin Feng was awakened by a commotion outside. Then, he saw Edith come in carrying breakfast.

"What's going on outside? Why is it so noisy?"

Lin Feng ate his breakfast while asking Edith questions.

“They are a protesting crowd,” Edith said.

"Protests?"

Lin Feng was taken aback, raised an eyebrow, and Edith nodded.

"Yes."

"I'm thinking, I haven't taken any action against the outside world recently, so what are they protesting against me for?"

Lin Feng pondered with a strange expression. He hadn't taken any action against the outside world or instructed the Taylor system to do anything during this period. He hadn't even attended the joint meeting of the solar system fleet.

During this period, Lin Feng was mainly busy reviewing the documents sent to him by the Taylor Group headquarters regarding the development direction of 'non-existent'.

Lin Feng wanted to establish the basic framework of human civilization before heading to the Trisolaran system, so that he could be a hands-off manager and simply fly his spaceship to the Trisolaran system.

After thinking for a while, Lin Feng finally understood what he had done to warrant a protest, which only made him more curious.

Lin Feng said to Edith, "Edith, have you found out what those people are protesting for? If it's just a gathering that was instructed by someone, then follow the usual procedure. Let the Taylor Group help you find the mastermind behind it. You don't need to ask for my opinion. Just punish them severely."

Edith said, "They hope that you will not lead human civilization astray, and ask the Taylor system to abandon the concept of 'non-existent' civilization development, and actively compete with extraterrestrial civilizations in the universe in a 'real' way, so that humans can stand tall in this galaxy and bring order to the universe with axioms and justice."

"They want to transform the chaotic and disorderly dark forest into a bright ocean full of love and order."

Lin Feng was stunned. "...Are they crazy?"