civilwarnovels Chapter 208 Information Theory
Chapter 208 Information Theory
Chapter 208 Information Theory
The driver from last time wasn't lying; once autumn arrives, travel efficiency will greatly improve.
Compared to the time spent going there, the return trip took significantly less time.
Lola sat on the speeding snowmobile, while the ice dogs rode side by side, flapping their four paws as they quickly skimmed across the snow.
Even though it's only autumn, the permafrost continent is already cold enough.
Several heavy snowfalls have already occurred, and the white, fluffy snow has submerged the roads, making them passable only by sleds.
In some places, a layer of clear, smooth ice has even formed.
Not only are they faster, but sleds are also much smoother than horse-drawn carriages.
Although there was still some up-and-down bouncing, the swaying from side to side was not significant, so Lola did not feel any dizziness.
However, she found it difficult to fall asleep. The snowmobile had no windbreak, and the cold wind blew directly onto Lola's face without any obstruction, making her feel as if she were being cut by a knife.
Lola could only lie on her side on the sled, wrapped in a wool blanket, and bury her entire head in it.
That's why Lola doesn't like riding in sleds.
Fortunately, the agonizing time was about to end. She had just seen tall, malaria-covered trees rushing towards the back of the sled.
This means she has returned to the Ghost Forest in the Southern Community, which means she is not far from the Phantom Society.
Sure enough, the snow stopped not long afterward.
The driver told Lola that they had arrived at the Tree Square.
The Tree Shade Square is not the "square" that the people of the kingdom call it, but the city closest to the Phantom Society. However, the people of the Frozen Continent seem to be used to calling cities squares.
Lola paid the money and jumped off the sled.
But before leaving, she squatted down in front of the sled and made eye contact with one of the ibex.
"Woof?" the dog whimpered.
Lola sniffled, but kept staring at the dog.
The driver grew impatient and finally forced the dogs away.
A hint of melancholy flickered in Lola's eyes, and she even began to bark softly like a dog.
"Woof woof," goodbye.
He then decisively turned around and walked towards the wizarding school.
He secretly decided that when he went into seclusion in the future, he would find a furry terrier to accompany him.
Anne said that most women are afraid to walk alone at night.
But Lola wasn't afraid. She didn't understand why she would feel scared when it was the same road, just at a different time.
Lola walked through the eerie and silent Ghost Forest, the branches of the miasma trees baring their claws above her head.
She just walked along, looking around listlessly, and even yawned because it was so boring.
After a while, Lola finally returned to the Phantom Society.
She was no longer an apprentice here, but had become a true wizard.
She will continue her activities at the school that expelled her, as Lolotti's assistant.
Lola arrived at the cottage she shared with Lolotti, took out her key, opened the door, and found the house empty.
Although it was already late, Lola wasn't surprised. Lolotti always left early and returned late, and Lola could guess where Lolotti was right now.
Lola immediately set off for the Phantom Society's library.
She quickly reached the mother tree, passed through the mucous membrane, and then entered the library.
With just one glance, she spotted Lolotti sitting in a chair, engrossed in writing.
Lola walked over and sat down silently opposite him.
When Lolo looked up, she seemed startled, exclaiming "Ah!" and calling out in confusion, "Little Lola?"
"Um."
"You're back?"
Lola nodded.
"Was the journey smooth? Did you encounter any danger?"
Lola shook her head.
"That's good--"
As Loloti spoke, he squinted his eyes.
"So, you saw my old friend?"
Laura nodded again.
"Where are the others?"
"He didn't want to come, but I relayed all your questions to him."
"What did he say?"
"I found your vulnerability and fixed it," Laura replied truthfully but briefly.
Lolotti, however, couldn't wait to ask, "Tell me in detail, don't miss any details."
Lola doesn't like to talk, especially at length, but now that she's Lolotti's assistant, she probably won't be able to escape this long speech.
Therefore, before speaking, Lola first let out a deep sigh:
"throat-"
However, upon seeing this, Lolotti revealed a mocking smile, as if he had succeeded in his prank.
Laura organized her thoughts and first summarized Nate's core ideas:
"Distance does exist, but it is not an original property of the world."
Upon hearing this, Lolotti immediately fell into deep thought, and he speculated:
"So, Nate first disproved my point of view, and then revised it?"
"He told me in this order," Laura nodded.
"Then, let me explain where I went wrong."
"You believe that energy transfer takes an extremely short time but can cover a very long distance. Therefore, you speculate that either action at a distance occurs, or distance does not exist in the world. However, you cannot explain action at a distance, so you choose to believe the latter."
"Yes,"
Loloti nodded.
"I really can't imagine what the process of achieving instantaneous response regardless of distance is like."
The answer, "The world has no distance," while completely overturning my understanding, is at least still within my comprehension.
“And Nate also proposed a thought experiment,” Laura repeated, “Nate said that distance is a relativized position.”
Lolo nodded in agreement: "The distance can only be calculated after the two locations are determined."
"So Nate's line of reasoning is that if we can prove that two distinct locations exist in the world, we can prove that distance exists."
As she spoke, Lola stood up and pulled the glowing potion in front of her closer. "His idea was simple: to use light."
"Light?"
Lola nodded and picked up the bottle of alchemical potion:
"Imagine I have a special light source that can emit two kinds of light, positive light and negative light. Both kinds of light are born at the same time, and if one is destroyed, the other is destroyed; that is to say, they will share each other's annihilation."
"Two beams of light are moving in opposite directions, and when one of them encounters the source of annihilation, the other is continuing along its original path. What do you think will happen?"
"You're asking me?" Lolo asked back.
Laura shook her head: "It wasn't me. That's what Nate asked back then. You were the one who said not to leave out any details."
Lolo laughed: "I really regret not finding a woman when I was young. Maybe I could have had a well-behaved and lovely daughter or granddaughter like you."
"Alright, since Nate asked that question—thought experiments must be ideal enough. You mentioned shared annihilation, so the other ray of light must also be annihilated."
"Yes, Nate said the same thing," Laura nodded, "and then he said that this proves that in two different locations,
They all experienced annihilation.
"Now, use a beam of ordinary light to shine on the location where there is no source of annihilation. Annihilation has occurred at that location, and assuming that distance does not exist in the world, this beam of light should annihilate upon reaching it."
Lolotti couldn't help but interrupt, "But in my opinion, that beam of light shouldn't be extinguished."
"Nate thinks so too, so distance does exist."
"Wait a minute," Lolo frowned, "There's a problem with this thought experiment. Since there's no annihilation source there, yet light annihilation still occurred, it means the energy that annihilated the light came from somewhere else."
"But this all happened in an instant, so it still can't be explained by distance!"
Laura replied, "Nate's explanation is that positive and negative light rays have always been a single ray from the very beginning."
"A ray of light?"
"Yes," Laura nodded, "they are a whole; they just operate within the system, which is why they can respond instantly."
Upon hearing this, Lolotti considered it for a moment and then retorted:
"That's not right. You should have told him that the reason I thought of this problem was because of the fundamental theorem, and that supernatural power and the source are definitely not a whole that was separated from a certain position in advance."
"So Nate came up with a concept."
"What does that mean?"
"information."
"information?"
"Nate believes that even a tiny point is a collection of countless pieces of information, and information is conserved," Laura said. "Once a piece of information changes, the information at another location must also change accordingly in order to remain constant."
"What do you mean?"
"For example, if someone uses witchcraft in a certain location, that is an information change, and the root of witchcraft will produce an information change."
"And the root cause is that this change in information affects another change in information, and this change in turn affects a certain information contained in the wizard."
"It is this change in information that allows wizards to perform their magic. And this is Nate's conclusion: distance is not the original nature of the world; information is."
Upon hearing this, Lolot could no longer sit still.
He stood up from his seat and began pacing back and forth in the library.
Lolot, hunched over with his eyes fixed on the floor, suddenly looked up, walked towards Lola, and placed his hands on the table, asking:
"So, location is information, distance is information, lifespan is information, energy is information, everything is information?"
"Yes, that's what Nate thinks. He says that supernatural powers aren't transmitted, but rather modified directly."
After hearing this, Loloti stood there dumbfounded, clearly deeply shocked.
He seemed to want to refute the theory, his lips moving several times, but he didn't come up with any answer.
Finally, he sat down again, feeling ashamed.
"So, we're all just information?"
"To be precise, it is a collection of information."
"Ugh—good heavens, this is so far-fetched! I want to refute it, but it seems to satisfy the notion that everything has been discovered, for example, it perfectly fits and explains the fundamental theorem!"
Nate made no mention of verifying "information theory".
Since that's the case, Lola naturally chose to remain silent; she didn't want to say anything unnecessary.
Lolot sat down and thought for a long time before asking Lola:
"So, you understood what you just told me?"
Laura pondered for a moment: "Pretty much."
“Nate is a genius,” Loloti said. “I have not admired many people in my life, but he is one of them. Sometimes, I even feel jealous of him.”
"Not only did he cultivate his witchcraft to its highest level, but he also went to the Far East continent, where he learned all kinds of knowledge and technology, and he was able to master and even become proficient in everything."
"Even in the fields I've been studying diligently, I sometimes feel enlightened when I hear his views."
"Look, this is proof that he could never understand a problem, but he easily gave me a view that overturned my understanding."
Laura could not deny this.
Although she had only spent a few days with Nate, she could sense from his focused expression that he had an unyielding yearning and pursuit of the unknown and knowledge.
And Lola was indeed defeated by Nate. The tea trees that Nate cultivated, which could grow in the snow, also gave Lola's taste buds a new stimulation.
After Lolo mentioned it, she also felt that Nate was a genius.
But he didn't finish his sentence: "But, little Lola, you're the same."
"I?"
"That's right," Lolo nodded, "You're the one who explained information theory to me."
"I was just repeating what I said."
"A complete retelling requires thorough understanding," Lolo replied. "However, this is an academic exchange between Nate and me, and not just anyone can understand it."
"You've only been exposed to witchcraft for a year, excluding the first few months of learning the language of ice, or even less, yet you can understand our communication, proving that you are also a genius."
Lola didn't think it was anything special. Back when Anne was only eleven or twelve, she often discussed profound things with Aaron.
Therefore, someone like Anne is a true genius.
She only learned a little bit through exposure and observation.
Laura isn't good at independent thinking and problem-solving, but she excels at understanding.
Of course, she didn't intend to explain to Lolo.
Whether he thinks Lola is a genius or an idiot is his own opinion and has nothing to do with Lola.
Therefore, Lola chose to remain silent.
Loloti said:
"Lola, information theory is bound to be a profound theory. Although it emerged from the intellectual exchange between Nate and me, I feel that neither of us had the opportunity to perfect it."
Why?
“We’re all old men with one foot in the grave, we don’t have much time left,” Lolot shook his head, “but I feel that this theory might be correct, it might be the truth of the world!”
"But, little Laura, once we are both dead, this theory is very likely to disappear. Therefore, Laura, I hope you can inherit it, fix its flaws and loopholes, and perfect it."
Laura wasn't interested and wanted to refuse.
Just as she was about to speak, Lolotti pushed what he had been writing in front of Lola:
"And this is my reward."
"What is this?"
"I just finished tidying it up, and I'm not going to hand it over to the Phantom Society. Little Lola, it's yours now."
Loloti said,
"This is my entire set of mind magic."