How The Three-Body Problem Changed Me
How my life / behaviour / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.
Three-Sentence Summary {Feynman's Technique}
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Notes
🔖 Page 197
I’m not sure how it happened, but I’m already halfway through the book. I guess when a story is this engaging, you just can’t stop reading. What’s even more surprising is that I already know how this first installment will unfold since I watched the first season of the Netflix series. I expected to lose interest at some point, but I’m glad to say that hasn’t been the case.
The story grips you from the very beginning with its depiction of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Speaking of which—holy shit—that was horrendous. I remember briefly studying it in high school, but the details have faded, especially since Western education doesn’t focus much on Eastern societies. I can’t say to what extent this is a faithful snapshot of what happened in China in the 1960s, because the author seems to blur the line between reality and whatever the hell his mind conjures up. To be honest, this kind of literary work requires a great deal of self-awareness. It’s commendable, to say the least.
That said, it’s fascinating to see how social movements, at their core, behave the same way no matter where in the world you are. I can absolutely imagine the public execution of professors at the hands of self-entitled revolutionary students in today’s universities. Given the right incentives and contextual motives, murder wouldn’t just be understandable—it would be justifiable. This hypocrisy and contradiction, driven by humanity’s collective cognitive dissonance, are laid out throughout the book. And it’s not just the immature and reckless youth—the author also seems to express a certain distaste for our primal cognition through the scenes inside the video game Three Body, which serves as both a metaphor and an explanation of the world of Earth’s future invaders.
This in-game storytelling is probably one of my favorite narrative devices in the book, even if it feels slightly offbeat compared to the overarching mystery of high-ranking scientists dying by apparent suicides. It’s amusing to think that even Galileo Galilei might have burned someone at the stake for their ideas—again, given the right incentives and context. I also loved how, in the particular section where the player (whom I’d consider the main character for now, though I know this book doesn’t really follow that structure) finally discovers the solution to the Stable-Chaotic Eras dynamic in Three Body, the only historical figure who doesn’t immediately doubt Wang (as Copernicus) is Leonardo da Vinci. That makes me wonder—why did the author make that choice? Given the impression I’m getting of him, he probably has a deep admiration for Leonardo, as many prolific and multidisciplinary thinkers do. And rightfully so—Leo is undeniably one of the top five GOATs.
Now, things are about to start boiling. Until now, the tension has been steadily rising, but with the Three-Body Problem solution on the horizon and the Red Coast Project explanation unfolded, I think the inevitable “It’s aliens!” moment is coming before Part III begins. The book has been oscillating between an overwhelming dread—caused by this unexplainable mystery—and a breath of fresh air whenever another piece of the puzzle falls into place. So far, there’s still a glimmer of hope for humanity, but I can’t shake the feeling that things are about to get much, much, much darker. As the character about to solve the Three-Body Problem said:
This particular character gives me strong Mersault from L’Étranger and 人間失格 (Ningen Shikkaku) vibes, especially in the way he reflects on his own life. His recollection would actually make a great excerpt to test as a pilot for the Diegetic Tapes project, by the way.
I also love how the author integrates Chaos Theory into this book. This might be one of the most creative sci-fi showcases of the Butterfly Effect I’ve ever seen, because all of it circles back to the Chinese revolution, as if to say that revolutions suck. Well played, Cixin Liu.