Chapter 19: The Trisolaran Brainwave Shielding Project_1

Trisolaran Leader: "Next, let's discuss Logic's last three work plans. Does any of them conceal other motives?"

Strategy Governor: "Regarding Mind Empathy, the superficial objective is to find our mental flaws or shortcomings by studying our thought patterns, targeting weaknesses in the way we think.

For example, the mental shortcomings of humans lie in their calculation speed—we are a thousand times faster than them. They also suffer from significant delays and even ambiguities in their information communication.

Our mental shortcomings are in imagination. In fact, what we find hardest to understand is not what humans consider 'strategy', such as 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', which we can comprehend after extensive simulation and calculation—it is still essentially model reasoning and computation.

The most difficult for us to understand is poetry. Its rules and atmosphere are beautiful, but why are they beautiful? We have no sensation of that. I believe that to study human strategems, one might start by studying their poetry."

Sophon Governor: "Beauty is the accumulated history of humanity; poetry is the repository of human spiritual culture. Human poetry can communicate across a thousand years. This is a thought conveyed to me by Sophon Monitor No. 7, and it is also the conclusion he has drawn from observing humans for 100,000 Trisolaran years (since the Sophon arrived two years before the Crisis Era and it is now the seventh Crisis Year)."

Trisolaran Leader: "This is not of import; for those things we do not understand now, let us set aside and study them in the future. We must only invest our resources in the optimal solutions."

Strategy Governor: "Understood, Leader.

Their nanotechnology research is something they are on the verge of breaking through, and we cannot restrict it. Logic's hidden plan is surely linked to the space elevator; he wants to enter space as soon as possible. We don't care about any other plans, as long as they're not about escaping.

Controlled nuclear fusion is another topic the human governments are doing everything to overcome, and according to the current progress, it won't be long until they achieve it, but establishing this department really serves no purpose. I believe his objective lies in high-energy particle research, which is a technology we are determined to keep locked down; they cannot possibly make a breakthrough there.

Actually, we hope they pour all their resources into this research, which would delay their mainstream defense plans and the establishment of the Space Force; we also don't care about their Space Force.

For now, we cannot analyze the reason behind his actions; we can only rely on later observations to make judgements."

Sophon Governor: "Sophon Monitor No. 7 has submitted a report to me that I think makes sense. He speculates that Logic wants to become independent from the PDC, which fits with the human model of political intrigue."

The Leader then read the report, and much of it was speculation by Sophon Monitor No. 7, devoid of any reliable logical proof.

Leader: "Do not engage in meaningless speculation; everything must be based on the verification of reliable data.

Everything about Logic is bestowed by the PDC; he cannot possibly become independent from the PDC. The PDC also has supervisory authority over the Wallfacers and can terminate some of their actions.

It seems that human influence on you is too great. If this happens again, you will not be suitable for this job."

Sophon Governor: "Understood, Leader. The apparent plans of Logic must have deeper meanings, but I am yet unable to fully grasp them. We will monitor every move of Logic and Lin Sen, integrating all their actions into our models for calculation.

Logic's every move must not be revealed to the ETO; only we can be his Wallbreakers, only we can penetrate the maze of Logic's thoughts."

Strategy Governor: "I propose a plan:

Since our stratagems are temporarily at an impasse and humans are using Mind Empathy Technology to study our mental models, we too can study humans in the same way.

This could lead to a significant breakthrough in our level of strategy."

Leader: "That is a good proposal; elucidate further."

Science Governor: "We have existing technology that could be used to develop Brainwave Blockers. The reason they haven't been developed is that it would be a meaningless waste.

We use brainwaves for communication, transmitting information that is akin to a series of thought images, with each image containing a wealth of information for rapid exchange.

Once thought to be an advantage, this form of communication now seems to limit our imagination—we don't even need to process the information we exchange.

Our brains are accustomed to taking the thought images transmitted by others for secondary thinking. The secondary images are not much different from the primary ones. We even believe these to be our own thoughts, which is also a reason why we lack imagination.

To avoid this, we could use Brainwave Blockers to shield our own thoughts from others, making them unreadable.

During communication with others, all thought information would appear on the Brainwave Blocker and we can choose or modify some of the information to transmit. The recipient receives processed information.

Those who receive the information cannot directly use these thought images to think; they need to complete or modify the information, combining it with their own brain for secondary thinking, thus enhancing our imagination."

Once we became adept at it, our communication was like conversing with a slow-thinking person, with no discomfort, and even so, we were 400 times faster than human communication.

Then, by compiling all human behaviors and communicative interactions through computers, we were able to study the models of thought under the brainwave blocker.

I will learn many valuable strategies from it, and at the same time, we need to intensify our research on the human brain.

Our current research on the human brain is quite superficial, as the data we have is primarily the result of humans studying themselves.

Violently cracking every neuron structure in the human brain to study thought is unfeasible because thought involves quantum levels, unless we could obtain a real human brain!

I believe that with a human brain, we would definitely unlock the secrets of the human brain."

Strategy Governor: "We must obtain that human brain sent by the humans, even though it has now gone off course. We've tracked it using Sophons and dispatched probes to capture it. Including the return journey, we estimate it will take 220 Earth years for us to obtain it.

I was previously uninterested in capturing a human brain. The arrival of The Waterdrop in the human world signifies our final battle with humanity. As long as Logic is killed, we win.

Now, I deeply feel our arrogance. Their strategies exceed the limits of our imagination. If we continued as per the previous plan, we might lose due to inferior strategizing.

The impact of Logic's Mercury-sun collision plan on me was profound, and we must not underestimate any opponent."

Regarding this proposal, all the other Governors unanimously agreed, believing that it would enhance the Trisolarans' strategic level.

Trisolaran Leader: "I agree with this plan. Henceforth, the Strategy Governor, Sophon Governor, Military Governor, and their respective teams, along with selected Trisolaran volunteers, can all be equipped with the Brainwave Blocker."

The Trisolarans communicate through the transmission of cerebral wave-imagery. In the original text, Sophon mentioned, "In fact, in our world, there are also forms of communication that do not rely on the display of thought," indicating that they communicate via thought display.

They think through cerebral imagery, and a modified version of this tool for communication is the Brainwave Blocker.

The Trisolarans do not use this technology, and as Sophon has said, "Thought transparency has formed the culture and societal habits of the Trisolarans," which has nothing to do with whether they possess the technology, but small-scale experiments are still possible.

We find it difficult to understand the Trisolaran social structure, just as the Trisolarans struggle to understand our social structure.

...

If Lin Sen knew that the Trisolarans would do such a thing, he would probably be delighted for a long time. The Trisolarans are indeed a lovable bunch.

For the Trisolaris, the Brainwave Blocker is Pandora's box. Once this box is opened, the extreme survivalism of the Trisolaran world would be replaced by extreme individualism.

The Trisolarans will have lost the most precious aspect of themselves!

Once the Brainwave Blocker is put on and they experience the thrill of hiding thoughts, it will attract them as deeply as a drug, and they will likely never take it off.

In normal times, they might have the chance to correct this mistake, but in the face of a final battle with another civilization, such an error would be catastrophic.

Human civilization is not that fragile; there is still a possibility of defeating them. The Trisolarans' calm and absolute rationalism in survivalism allows them to stop at nothing and choose the best solution, committing resolutely to the plan they set.

But what if they make a mistake? They are not without emotions; rather, they are bound at all times by the pressure for survival. As highly socialized individuals driven by duty and obligation, they push forward by any means necessary, but who cares for their souls?

They can sacrifice personal interest for the collective good, but this also leads to a lack of personality and independent thought. Wearing the Brainwave Blocker, they would gain independent thought, they would care for someone, themselves.

They would inevitably form an "ego," a "possessive ego," a "delusional ego"... Without the guidance and practice of a social system, it would be difficult for them to transcend their own limits, and they would ultimately foster only "self-benefit."

The moment they take off the Brainwave Blocker could be the moment of their own death; perhaps the Trisolaran Earth Organization (TEO) would emerge in the Trisolaran world.

Lin Sen had not imagined that his proposed Mind Empathy Technology would lead the Trisolarans to counter with the Brainwave Blocker plan. This could be the greatest achievement humans have ever made, although Lin Sen is not yet aware of it.

If the Trisolarans had consulted with the Earth-Trisolaris Organization (ETO), ETO would surely have analyzed the pros and cons for the Trisolarans, who would probably have used the Brainwave Blocker cautiously.

Unfortunately for ETO, there was no opportunity to do so. It must be said that the Trisolarans' strategies and their prevention of strategy are incredibly naive; strategy is never just logic and mathematics.