Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 90 - 92: Seeking Inspiration from the Unknown
Chapter 90: Chapter 92: Seeking Inspiration from the Unknown
After Ye Kaifu left, Zhang Yuan’s restless heart gradually calmed down.
Actually, it didn’t matter. It would be foolish to let a ranking of entertainment nature disturb one’s mind.
Academic research relied on coincidence, talent, luck, and diligence. Not producing results in half a year or even a year was completely normal.
Ye Kaifu was just joking; there was no real malice.
However, doing research was a truly painful task. The moment one achieved results, they shone brightly, attracting the attention of the world with various honors as if spotlighted.
But what about when results weren’t achieved?
...
One could only sit quietly, daydream, or read other people’s papers, searching for that elusive glimmer of inspiration.
It was Zhang Yuan’s first time experiencing such anguish, seeing others achieve while he gained nothing, which inevitably led to some envy and self-doubt about his chosen path.
He had pondered for many months, had discussed several times with Academician Ding, only to find his ideas too ordinary and promptly rejected.
He had plenty of energy, but didn’t know which direction to channel it toward, or what lay ahead on the path, so he remained idle.
Three months were not enough; it could likely take three years, or perhaps thirty.
The pain involved, only those who had experienced it could truly understand.
…
In his spare time, Zhang Yuan grew fond of the hidden Star Library at the Observatory.
He finally understood why a library was situated in such a remote corner. It lacked any superfluous noise, the lighting exceptionally dim, offering the enjoyment of pure solitude.
“… Mr. Zhang, I have a question. In Euclidean Space, is a local homeomorphism, a continuous surjection, always an injection?”
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“This is a challenging question. Broadly speaking, it should not be.” Zhang Yuan reflected for a while.
“Let me give a simple counterexample. Suppose the function F(z) is entire, and its derivative is F'(z)=e^(z^2), hence F is locally a homeomorphism. On the other hand, F(0)=0, F(-z)=-F(z); assume z0≠0 is not in the range of F, then -z0 is not included either, which violates Picard’s little theorem… So, the major proposition is incorrect.”
“I see, thank you for your guidance.” The young man named Yamamoto Ichiro habitually wanted to bow.
However, due to the lack of gravity, he accidentally floated upward.
He struggled for a while, then aimed an infrared probe at an electromagnet, and pulled himself back down.
Inside the Star Library, many researchers gathered, sympathizing with Zhang Yuan’s plight.
They wanted to solve certain problems, but suffered from lack of inspiration and direction, forced to think hard and endure the torment of their struggles.
These individuals quickly became more familiar with each other.
Sighing, Yamamoto Ichiro said, “Mr. Zhang, such a strong person like you, with such solid mathematical foundations, also can’t solve the turbulence problem?”
“It’s very challenging, I still don’t have any good ideas. Such issues, it’s normal not to solve them.”
Zhang Yuan responded, “Mr. Yamamoto, you seem anxious.”
Yamamoto sighed, “Because I simply can’t seem to achieve any results…”
Yamamoto Ichiro was studying the field of bionic electronic eyes, aiming to research techniques that could restore sight to the blind.
According to current theories, making electronic eyes wasn’t difficult, but translating electronic eye signals into biological signals the brain could recognize was a globally challenging problem.
Yamamoto said with a wry smile, “After boarding the spaceship, we don’t even have lab rats for biological experiments anymore, so I don’t know how to proceed with my research. Hence, I might as well learn more mathematics during this opportunity; after all, good knowledge of mathematics won’t be a wasted effort…”
Though he said so, the anxiety on his face could hardly be concealed.
“Persisting in our heavily invested yet unyielding pursuits is actually a kind of sunk cost fallacy. I don’t want it to be this way, yet I don’t want to give up…”
Zhang Yuan considered his words, not being good at comforting others, he could only offer what others often told him, “Perhaps, you could take a break, find a life partner.”
There was a sudden calm. Coming from Zhang Yuan himself, the suggestion seemed less persuasive.
“Thank you, I already have a girlfriend.” Yamamoto chuckled bitterly. “She’s a doctor, very kind, takes great care of me in daily life, so you don’t have to worry about me. However, she still struggles to understand the anxiety I feel, and doesn’t know how to comfort me.”
“Yes, different professions, indeed difficult to comprehend.”
“Mr. Zhang Yuan, do you think being idle all day long could be seen as laziness?”
Zhang Yuan paused, “It shouldn’t be seen that way. You don’t need to think like that.”
Since the Fourth World War, relations between Xia Country and Mu Country had grown increasingly friendly. However, with their economic scales differing by more than tenfold, there naturally arose suspicions of dependency.
Perhaps due to the deep influence of their own culture, people from Mu Country on these ships always sensed a vague inferiority complex. They even subconsciously believed that the spaceship belonged to people from Xia Country, and useless foreigners would be thrown out…
Yamamoto then asked, “So, how should one define the boundary for laziness among scientific researchers? Is it up to personal conscience, or should we follow Earth Civilization’s old methods, judging by the number of papers one writes?”
“Actually, one or two years are not enough to solve a world-class problem, yet being overly eager for quick success may drive people towards easier, less valuable areas for research, squandering plenty of intelligent minds.”
A professor under the traditional system would find it difficult to decide to tackle such major challenges, because investing three to five years, or even ten, might end up fruitless, ultimately unable to meet the assessments.
The more renowned a person, the more they guarded their reputation; possessing great capabilities, yet they dared not tackle significant issues, essentially a vicious cycle.
Zhang Yuan shook his head, “The phenomenon you mentioned, I don’t know how it should be resolved. If you have good ideas about this, you could even write a decent paper on it!”
“That might be… one of the key considerations in building the New Civilization.”
“Yes, I really want to engage in this line of work!” At the crucial moment, Yamamoto impulsively jumped from the ground and floated in midair again.
“Perhaps, I could join the New Civilization School, instead of remaining idle like this… Being unproductive now, I feel I’m truly letting society down.”
Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, silently thinking, “Another one’s gone mad.”
He kindly suggested, “There aren’t many public works from the New Civilization School; you could finish them in a few days. It’s just an idealistic school… If the pressure is too much, you could also take a break, no need to force yourself to achieve results.”
