Trisolaris Term Analysis

“What is your impression of the Aztecs?”

“Dark and bloody,” the author said. “Blood-drenched pyramids lit by insidious fire seen through dark forests. Those are my impressions.”

The philosopher nodded. “Very good. Then try to imagine: if the Spanish conquistadors did not intervene, what would have been the influence of that civilization on human history?”

“You are calling black white and white black,” the software company vice president said. “The Conquistadors who invaded the Americas were nothing more than murderers and robbers.”

“Even so, at least they prevented the Aztecs from developing without bound, turning the Americas into a bloody, dark great empire. Then civilization as we know it wouldn't have appeared in the Americas, and democracy wouldn't have thrived until much later. Indeed, maybe they wouldn't have appeared at all. This is the key to the question: no matter what the Trisolarans are like, their arrival would be good news for the terminally ill human race.”

“The big moon. When I was little it was still hot. When it rose to the middle of the sky, I could see the red glow from the central plains. But now it's cold…Haven't you heard about the great rip?”

“No. What's that?”

Einstein sighed and shook his head. “Let's not speak of it. Forget the past. My past, civilization’s past, the universe’s past—all of it too painful to recall.”

The ETO had once tried to develop membership among the common people, but these efforts all failed. The ETO concluded that the common people did not seem to have the comprehensive and deep understanding of the highly educated about the dark side of humanity. More importantly, because their thoughts were not as deeply influenced by modern science and philosophy, they still felt an overwhelming, instinctual identification with their own species. To betray the human race as a whole was unimaginable for them. But intellectual elites were different: Most of them had already begun to consider issues from our perspective outside the human race. Human civilization had finally given birth to a strong force of alienation.

The metallic Trisolaran spirit has infiltrated each of our cells and solidified. You really believe it can melt again? I'm an ordinary man living at the bottom of society. No one would pay any attention to me. My life is spent alone, without wealth, without status, without love, and without hope. If I can save a distant, beautiful world that I have fallen in love with, then my life has not been wasted.

“Even in nature, the destruction of universes must be happening at every second—for example, through the decay of neutrons. Also, a high energy cosmic ray entering the atmosphere may destroy thousands of such miniature universes…You're not feeling sentimental because of this, are you?”

“You amuse me. I will immediately notify the propaganda console and direct him to repeatedly publicize the scientific fact to the world. The people of Trisolaris must understand that the destruction of civilizations is a common occurrence that happens every second of every hour.”