"… Predict the future?"
Perelman rubbed his chin and frowned. "What does this have to do with mathematics?"
Schulz also nodded and looked at Albert, who stood up from the sofa. He said, "With all due respect, this sounds like a concept from a Hollywood blockbuster."
"Of course it's related!" Albert replied in an excited tone, "Predicting the future through mathematical methods, this is the topic we are working on!"
The apartment fell into silence again.
Krugman reached out and pulled Albert, but the latter did not listen to his reminder. Instead, he shook off his hand and continued to stare at Perelman, hoping to get his approval.
However …
His hopes were obviously dashed.
This time, it wasn't just Perelman, even Schulz had a strange expression on his face.
It was like he was looking at an idiot …
"I think you guys are thinking too much."
Schulz coughed lightly and broke the silence in the room. He continued to speak his thoughts.
"Predicting the future is no longer within the scope of mathematics. I don't think it's even physics. I think this is the field of philosophers. After all, you see, there are so many uncertainties that affect our thoughts, and we ourselves are often uncertain. For example, if it had rained today, perhaps I wouldn't have appeared here — "
"But the weather is predictable! It is difficult to predict the itinerary of a person, but the itinerary of a group of people can be predicted. The traffic data and weather forecasts in New York City over the past five years can support my opinion! "
Albert interrupted Schulz's words and continued in a firm and excited tone, "Humans are actually no different from dust suspended in water. We are in motion most of the time. The only difference is that the disturbances we receive are not small and invisible atomic collisions and field interference, but invisible neuronal vibrations that transform into a series of tasks, responsibilities, and motivations!
"We have many tools that can track human activities, such as the Internet and our mobile devices … We can calculate all the data that we can predict. As long as we can analyze it, we can do more than just give them targeted advertisements. We can even predict ten minutes, ten days, and even further into the future!"
"Don't you think this sounds exciting?"
Professor Krugman applauded.
However, he seemed to be the only one applauding …
Whether it was Perelman or Schulz, their thoughts were written all over their faces.
However, even though Lu Zhou's thoughts were similar to theirs, he suddenly remembered that last time in Shanghai, Professor Krugman seemed to be discussing this problem with him.
Through establishing mathematical models, modeling large-scale human social behavior and production life, the goal of predicting the future can be achieved.
"This sounds interesting." Even though Lu Zhou didn't applaud, he still said with interest, "Your statement reminds me of Asimov's' psychohistory '… Did you copy this theory from' Base '?"
"No! I'm explaining my theory from a scientific point of view … Okay, I admit that Asimov inspired my theory a little, but what I'm going to discuss here is not the point of view in a science fiction novel, but a serious academic problem! "
"Okay, let's assume that collective human behavior can be predicted, but … What can we do?" Schulz frowned and said, "Any of your actions, even the observation itself, will have an unpredictable impact on the results of the experiment. Not only is it meaningless, but it's also very difficult to do. "
"Whatever! Jesus Christ, are we studying the wave-particle duality of light to command photons to do something? Don't you think predicting the future is an exciting topic in itself? Even if we only prove that this thing is feasible, our names will be recorded in history! "
Obviously, Albert and Professor Krugman chose to come to St. Petersburg in order to convince Perelman to join their plan.
First of all, only a scholar of Perelman's level could complete their huge plan. Most importantly, in the academic community, Perelman was the type of person who was easy to talk to.
The reason why he solved the Poincaré conjecture was because he was talking to Hamilton on his way to the United States. He heard Hamilton talk about a type of "cigar" singularity and complained that this problem had been bothering him for many years …
However, because of the continuous refutations, Albert became more and more emotional, and his persuasion began to change into an argument.
Krugman tried to remind his friend, but it was useless.
The final result was predictable. Perelman rejected them on the spot.
Although he didn't look at them like they were idiots, he still used a firm tone to express that he didn't see anything interesting, and he didn't think mathematics was used for such boring things.
As for Schulz, he was committed to achieving higher achievements in mathematics. Of course, he wouldn't be interested in this kind of unorthodox topic. Therefore, he just politely expressed that he might consider researching it when he had time.
As for when that day would come, perhaps only he himself would know.
As for Lu Zhou …
Honestly, he was a little interested in this kind of novel idea.
Unlike Schulz and Perelman, he was in favor of actively radiating the influence of mathematics to other disciplines and using mathematics to change other sciences.
Just like Professor Krugman said, predicting the future itself was a romantic topic.
Even though he wasn't interested in economics, and he wasn't interested in social science research, he surprisingly didn't reject this kind of research topic that seemed to be built on a floating attic.
However, he didn't immediately agree to the two.
"I need a little time to think about it. Before I solve the Riemann conjecture, I don't plan on researching other problems."
However, after hearing this, Albert's shoulders drooped, and the expression on his face turned into a deep disappointment.
In his opinion, this was probably the same as what Schulz said. It could even be said that Lu Zhou didn't have a euphemistic rejection …
"After solving the Riemann conjecture … Jesus, I've never heard a more euphemistic rejection!"
Krugman's expression was also full of regret. He looked at Perelman, then looked at Lu Zhou, and sighed.
"Regardless, I still hope you can seriously consider it."
Lu Zhou: "Actually, I have a question that has been puzzling me."
Krugman: "… What question?"
Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "If the future can really be predicted, is this really a good thing for us?"
Krugman went silent for a bit and said, "It's hard for me to answer this question, this is outside of academia. Just like Mr. Albert, I believe that when he wrote his book, he didn't expect that his theory would be used by Silicon Valley's Internet giants and advertisers to squeeze consumers' wallets … "
Upon hearing this, Ebert was instantly displeased, and he grumbled.
"Hey, don't say that, okay? The use of big data isn't just for advertising! We enjoy the benefits of this technology in anti-terrorism, medical, urban planning, etc. Why do you always want to talk about this? "
Professor Krugman ignored Albert and spoke.
"… One day, he suddenly came to me and said that he wanted to turn the theory in 'Outbreak' into reality. My first reaction was that this guy was definitely up to no good, but in the end, I still accepted his invitation."
Lu Zhou: "Why?"
"Because whether it's theoretical research or applied scientific research, scholars shouldn't be the ones to determine whether a technology is evil or not. Is nuclear fission technology evil? Thinking about it from 1945, perhaps most people would think so, but looking back from today's perspective, perhaps it is because of such a superweapon that our world can still maintain peace even when a superpower is on the verge of collapse. This is unimaginable half a century ago. "
"Therefore, I think we're only discussing an academic problem. We're only researching the theoretical possibility of predicting the future, not using it to do anything.
"As for whether or not to use this technology, or even to define this technology, our civilization will naturally make a choice."
After listening to this, Lu Zhou looked at Professor Krugman's sincere eyes. He went silent for a while and gently nodded.
"I understand what you mean.
"If there is a chance in the future, let's talk about this again."
Krugman nodded. Albert, who was sitting next to him, shrugged and said, "I hope there is a chance, and I hope I can wait until that day comes."
Even though he was a physics researcher, he had heard about the difficulty of Riemann's conjecture.
Other conjectures were difficult, but at least there was a way to solve the problem.
Riemann's hypothesis, on the other hand, was like a lonely mountain, standing there by itself.
No one knew how many more centuries it would stand …
Whether or not he would still be around at that time was a question.
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