1 00:00:00,307 --> 00:00:02,025 From the detailed design of the universe, 2 00:00:02,027 --> 00:00:03,891 can we deduce the preferences of its Creator? 3 00:00:04,267 --> 00:00:06,352 If the universe truly has a designer, 4 00:00:06,466 --> 00:00:09,592 can we appreciate it like an architect's portfolio, 5 00:00:09,707 --> 00:00:11,226 using the design details 6 00:00:11,227 --> 00:00:12,772 to work backward to their aesthetic preferences? 7 00:00:13,346 --> 00:00:14,571 I'm not asking if they exist, 8 00:00:14,987 --> 00:00:15,746 but rather, 9 00:00:15,746 --> 00:00:16,611 if they do exist, 10 00:00:16,907 --> 00:00:18,012 what is their taste? 11 00:00:18,466 --> 00:00:18,771 Hello, 12 00:00:19,146 --> 00:00:19,611 everyone. 13 00:00:19,946 --> 00:00:20,952 I'm Wang Lijie. 14 00:00:21,306 --> 00:00:23,472 Today, I want to conduct a thought experiment. 15 00:00:23,786 --> 00:00:26,231 Let's assume a Creator actually exists, 16 00:00:26,507 --> 00:00:28,231 and then, like a detective, 17 00:00:28,347 --> 00:00:30,992 extract clues from the blueprints of the universe. 18 00:00:31,266 --> 00:00:33,631 When you look at an architect's work collectively, 19 00:00:33,786 --> 00:00:35,792 you can definitely see their stylistic preferences. 20 00:00:36,106 --> 00:00:37,252 What about the designer of the universe? 21 00:00:37,746 --> 00:00:39,985 In this 13.8-billion-year portfolio, 22 00:00:39,987 --> 00:00:41,652 what design languages are used repeatedly? 23 00:00:42,146 --> 00:00:43,591 I've found at least five. 24 00:00:43,906 --> 00:00:44,692 The first preference: 25 00:00:45,106 --> 00:00:45,991 Self-similarity. 26 00:00:46,347 --> 00:00:47,951 When you break off a piece of broccoli, 27 00:00:47,987 --> 00:00:49,551 that small piece 28 00:00:49,587 --> 00:00:52,591 looks almost exactly like the entire head. 29 00:00:52,987 --> 00:00:54,746 If you break off an even smaller piece, 30 00:00:54,746 --> 00:00:56,311 it still has the same shape. 31 00:00:56,707 --> 00:00:58,432 This phenomenon is called a fractal, 32 00:00:58,707 --> 00:01:02,311 where the parts and the whole are structurally similar. 33 00:01:02,587 --> 00:01:04,471 But broccoli is just the beginning. 34 00:01:04,746 --> 00:01:06,072 Zoom out further: 35 00:01:06,387 --> 00:01:08,512 the way a tree's branches fork 36 00:01:08,626 --> 00:01:11,671 is almost identical to how the main trunk forks. 37 00:01:12,106 --> 00:01:13,871 The shape of a river's tributaries 38 00:01:13,906 --> 00:01:16,432 is nearly the same as the shape of the entire river. 39 00:01:16,906 --> 00:01:18,552 The bronchi inside your lungs 40 00:01:18,626 --> 00:01:20,191 branch out twenty-three times, 41 00:01:20,626 --> 00:01:24,751 each time following the same rules for angles and ratios. 42 00:01:25,066 --> 00:01:27,072 It's the same with your vascular system. 43 00:01:27,227 --> 00:01:29,391 From the aorta down to the capillaries, 44 00:01:29,546 --> 00:01:33,231 the entire structure repeats the same branching pattern. 45 00:01:33,626 --> 00:01:36,031 Now, let's zoom out to a cosmic scale. 46 00:01:36,387 --> 00:01:37,632 Astronomers have discovered 47 00:01:37,746 --> 00:01:40,391 that galaxies are not distributed uniformly, 48 00:01:40,466 --> 00:01:43,231 but instead form massive filaments and voids, 49 00:01:43,387 --> 00:01:44,552 known as the cosmic web. 50 00:01:44,947 --> 00:01:46,311 The structure of this cosmic web 51 00:01:46,346 --> 00:01:48,706 and the structure of the neural networks in your brain 52 00:01:48,706 --> 00:01:51,152 are strikingly similar in their statistical characteristics. 53 00:01:51,227 --> 00:01:54,560 In 2020, Italian astrophysicist Franco Vazza 54 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,932 and neuroscientist Alberto Feletti 55 00:01:58,147 --> 00:01:59,231 conducted a study. 56 00:01:59,507 --> 00:02:02,019 They compared simulated images of the cosmic web 57 00:02:02,019 --> 00:02:04,512 with microscopic photos of neural networks in the brain. 58 00:02:04,746 --> 00:02:07,731 They found that in terms of power spectrum density, node distribution, 59 00:02:08,026 --> 00:02:11,352 and connectivity density, they almost overlap. 60 00:02:11,706 --> 00:02:14,032 The scale of the universe is tens of billions of light-years; 61 00:02:14,067 --> 00:02:16,186 the scale of a brain is about a dozen centimeters— 62 00:02:16,187 --> 00:02:17,831 a difference of 28 orders of magnitude. 63 00:02:18,067 --> 00:02:20,271 Yet, their network structures are almost identical. 64 00:02:20,507 --> 00:02:24,586 If you put a photo of the cosmic web next to a brain slice, 65 00:02:24,586 --> 00:02:25,705 without labels, 66 00:02:25,706 --> 00:02:28,991 many people couldn't tell which is which. 67 00:02:29,266 --> 00:02:31,346 If you think about this carefully, 68 00:02:31,347 --> 00:02:33,072 it is truly incredible. 69 00:02:33,347 --> 00:02:37,271 The brain is a biological organ evolved over billions of years; 70 00:02:37,426 --> 00:02:40,120 the cosmic web is a large-scale structure sculpted by gravity 71 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,632 and dark matter over billions of years. 72 00:02:42,866 --> 00:02:45,026 There is no causal relationship between the two; 73 00:02:45,026 --> 00:02:46,792 neither one is imitating the other. 74 00:02:46,866 --> 00:02:48,231 Yet, they look the same. 75 00:02:48,387 --> 00:02:51,145 This implies a deeper organizational principle 76 00:02:51,146 --> 00:02:53,231 that independently produces the same network topology 77 00:02:53,306 --> 00:02:55,792 across completely different physical processes. 78 00:02:56,187 --> 00:02:56,931 What does this show? 79 00:02:57,306 --> 00:02:59,831 It shows the Creator has a strong preference: 80 00:02:59,947 --> 00:03:02,551 Scaling the same template over and over again. 81 00:03:02,866 --> 00:03:05,512 He doesn't design a separate solution for every scale. 82 00:03:05,627 --> 00:03:07,105 He uses a simple rule 83 00:03:07,106 --> 00:03:09,431 and lets it unfold automatically across all scales. 84 00:03:09,706 --> 00:03:11,051 You could call this laziness, 85 00:03:11,347 --> 00:03:13,472 or you could call it ultimate elegance— 86 00:03:13,747 --> 00:03:16,391 generating maximum structure with minimum rules. 87 00:03:16,627 --> 00:03:17,451 The second preference: 88 00:03:17,787 --> 00:03:18,551 The spiral. 89 00:03:19,026 --> 00:03:20,105 If you ask me 90 00:03:20,106 --> 00:03:21,931 what the universe's favorite shape is, 91 00:03:22,507 --> 00:03:23,611 my answer isn't the sphere; 92 00:03:24,026 --> 00:03:24,912 it's the spiral. 93 00:03:25,347 --> 00:03:26,171 Look at the Milky Way, 94 00:03:26,586 --> 00:03:28,271 it's a spiral galaxy. 95 00:03:28,667 --> 00:03:29,331 Look at a typhoon, 96 00:03:29,667 --> 00:03:31,111 viewed from space, 97 00:03:31,187 --> 00:03:32,431 it's a spiral. 98 00:03:32,907 --> 00:03:34,792 Look at the arrangement of sunflower seeds: 99 00:03:35,026 --> 00:03:37,551 34 spirals clockwise, 100 00:03:37,586 --> 00:03:39,912 55 spirals counter-clockwise. 101 00:03:40,026 --> 00:03:43,431 34 and 55 are adjacent Fibonacci numbers. 102 00:03:43,467 --> 00:03:44,491 Look at a nautilus shell, 103 00:03:44,907 --> 00:03:46,391 it's a logarithmic spiral. 104 00:03:46,507 --> 00:03:47,252 Look at DNA, 105 00:03:47,507 --> 00:03:48,632 it's a double helix. 106 00:03:48,907 --> 00:03:50,731 The vortex of water going down a drain? 107 00:03:51,026 --> 00:03:51,991 Also a spiral. 108 00:03:52,467 --> 00:03:53,012 In 2025, 109 00:03:53,426 --> 00:03:55,151 a very interesting study 110 00:03:55,187 --> 00:03:56,872 was published in a physics journal. 111 00:03:56,907 --> 00:04:00,385 Researchers proposed that spirals are ubiquitous 112 00:04:00,387 --> 00:04:04,151 because they are the optimal path for energy dissipation during entropy increase. 113 00:04:04,426 --> 00:04:05,792 In plain English: 114 00:04:05,866 --> 00:04:08,792 When energy flows from high to low density, 115 00:04:08,907 --> 00:04:11,352 the spiral is the most efficient path. 116 00:04:11,627 --> 00:04:13,711 Like water flowing downhill, 117 00:04:13,826 --> 00:04:15,225 if terrain permits, 118 00:04:15,227 --> 00:04:16,132 it won't go in a straight line; 119 00:04:16,466 --> 00:04:17,552 it will spiral. 120 00:04:17,747 --> 00:04:21,791 Because spirals distribute energy through the widest space in the shortest time. 121 00:04:22,187 --> 00:04:23,831 Think about what this means. 122 00:04:24,107 --> 00:04:25,625 From the fingerprints on your hand 123 00:04:25,627 --> 00:04:27,192 to the whorl on your head, 124 00:04:27,346 --> 00:04:28,711 the typhoon beneath your feet, 125 00:04:28,867 --> 00:04:30,291 to the galaxy above your head— 126 00:04:30,547 --> 00:04:31,591 they are all spirals. 127 00:04:31,947 --> 00:04:34,791 The spiral isn't a specific phenomenon of one field; 128 00:04:34,867 --> 00:04:39,232 it's the fundamental geometric language the universe repeats at all scales. 129 00:04:39,466 --> 00:04:42,471 This means the spiral isn't a stylistic choice by the Creator, 130 00:04:42,507 --> 00:04:44,512 but an inevitable product of the laws of physics. 131 00:04:44,786 --> 00:04:46,151 But look at it another way: 132 00:04:46,187 --> 00:04:48,951 If the Creator is the author of those physical laws, 133 00:04:48,987 --> 00:04:52,425 then designing them to produce spirals 134 00:04:52,427 --> 00:04:54,372 is itself a preference. 135 00:04:54,987 --> 00:04:57,711 Even more intriguing is the Fibonacci sequence. 136 00:04:58,067 --> 00:05:00,831 Why don't sunflowers arrange their seeds randomly, 137 00:05:01,026 --> 00:05:03,451 instead of strictly following the Fibonacci spiral? 138 00:05:04,026 --> 00:05:08,512 Because this allows the most seeds to be packed into the smallest area. 139 00:05:08,947 --> 00:05:11,252 The angle between each new seed 140 00:05:11,266 --> 00:05:14,271 is approximately 137.5 degrees. 141 00:05:14,466 --> 00:05:16,471 This is called the Golden Angle, 142 00:05:16,666 --> 00:05:18,672 the golden ratio of a circle. 143 00:05:18,987 --> 00:05:21,312 This angle has a magical property: 144 00:05:21,466 --> 00:05:24,591 It is the angle least approachable by any rational number. 145 00:05:24,786 --> 00:05:25,492 What does that mean? 146 00:05:25,947 --> 00:05:28,545 It means seeds arranged at this angle 147 00:05:28,547 --> 00:05:30,552 will never line up in a straight path; 148 00:05:30,826 --> 00:05:33,552 they fill the space most densely and uniformly. 149 00:05:34,346 --> 00:05:34,891 It seems 150 00:05:35,107 --> 00:05:37,232 the Creator dislikes gaps; 151 00:05:37,346 --> 00:05:39,192 he likes to pack space full. 152 00:05:39,427 --> 00:05:40,451 The third preference: 153 00:05:40,826 --> 00:05:41,552 Nesting. 154 00:05:42,026 --> 00:05:43,252 Planets orbit stars; 155 00:05:43,627 --> 00:05:45,232 moons orbit planets; 156 00:05:45,427 --> 00:05:47,271 stars orbit the galactic center; 157 00:05:47,507 --> 00:05:50,192 galaxies move around even larger galaxy clusters. 158 00:05:50,427 --> 00:05:52,791 This orbital structure is layered, 159 00:05:52,867 --> 00:05:54,192 like Russian nesting dolls. 160 00:05:54,507 --> 00:05:55,492 What about the microscopic view? 161 00:05:56,026 --> 00:05:57,091 In the Bohr model, 162 00:05:57,387 --> 00:05:59,112 electrons orbit the atomic nucleus. 163 00:05:59,387 --> 00:06:02,831 This image is strikingly similar to planets orbiting the sun. 164 00:06:03,107 --> 00:06:03,451 Of course, 165 00:06:03,747 --> 00:06:05,992 I must immediately mention a crucial difference. 166 00:06:06,187 --> 00:06:07,711 Quantum mechanics tells us 167 00:06:07,786 --> 00:06:10,872 that electrons don't actually orbit in circles like planets do. 168 00:06:11,026 --> 00:06:13,591 An electron's movement is described by a probability cloud. 169 00:06:13,706 --> 00:06:17,711 The Bohr model has been replaced by more precise quantum mechanics. 170 00:06:17,747 --> 00:06:19,512 But one thing remains true: 171 00:06:19,826 --> 00:06:23,232 Both gravity and electromagnetism follow the inverse-square law. 172 00:06:23,307 --> 00:06:26,591 Meaning, the force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. 173 00:06:26,747 --> 00:06:29,391 Because this mathematical structure is identical, 174 00:06:29,466 --> 00:06:31,271 from the macroscopic to the microscopic, 175 00:06:31,307 --> 00:06:36,031 a structure emerges where small things are bound by large ones to specific regions. 176 00:06:36,187 --> 00:06:37,451 Gravity binds planets; 177 00:06:37,867 --> 00:06:39,632 electromagnetism binds electrons. 178 00:06:39,867 --> 00:06:41,291 The nature of the forces is completely different, 179 00:06:41,627 --> 00:06:43,151 but the mathematical skeleton is the same, 180 00:06:43,187 --> 00:06:45,591 resulting in the same geometric structure. 181 00:06:45,906 --> 00:06:46,732 The Moon orbits the Earth; 182 00:06:47,146 --> 00:06:48,346 the Earth orbits the Sun; 183 00:06:48,346 --> 00:06:49,791 the Sun orbits the galactic center. 184 00:06:49,867 --> 00:06:51,031 This is no coincidence. 185 00:06:51,226 --> 00:06:53,586 It is a geometric necessity of the inverse-square law. 186 00:06:53,586 --> 00:06:54,512 But think about it: 187 00:06:54,586 --> 00:06:56,612 Why are the two most important forces in the universe— 188 00:06:56,947 --> 00:07:00,172 gravity and electromagnetism—both inverse-square forces? 189 00:07:00,547 --> 00:07:02,351 It's not logically inevitable. 190 00:07:02,507 --> 00:07:04,572 You could design a universe where force intensity 191 00:07:04,666 --> 00:07:07,432 is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance. 192 00:07:07,666 --> 00:07:08,692 But in that universe, 193 00:07:08,906 --> 00:07:10,512 stable orbits would not exist. 194 00:07:10,867 --> 00:07:15,831 The inverse-square law is the only decay form known to produce stable, closed orbits. 195 00:07:15,947 --> 00:07:16,932 That is a mathematical theorem, 196 00:07:17,146 --> 00:07:18,192 not a conjecture. 197 00:07:18,507 --> 00:07:20,752 The Creator chose the inverse-square law, 198 00:07:21,026 --> 00:07:22,771 and the direct consequence of this choice 199 00:07:23,146 --> 00:07:26,872 is a universe full of things orbiting other things. 200 00:07:27,187 --> 00:07:29,312 From subatomic particles to superclusters, 201 00:07:29,427 --> 00:07:32,151 the entire universe consists of layers of orbits, 202 00:07:32,187 --> 00:07:33,791 layers upon layers of nesting. 203 00:07:34,067 --> 00:07:36,391 He seems to really love this structure. 204 00:07:36,586 --> 00:07:37,745 You could even say 205 00:07:37,747 --> 00:07:41,911 the entire universe is a symphony written with orbits and nesting, 206 00:07:42,187 --> 00:07:44,992 where different movements use different forces. 207 00:07:45,266 --> 00:07:46,091 The fourth preference: 208 00:07:46,427 --> 00:07:47,432 Near-symmetry, 209 00:07:47,507 --> 00:07:48,872 but not perfect symmetry. 210 00:07:49,226 --> 00:07:51,512 A very interesting feature of the universe is 211 00:07:51,627 --> 00:07:54,072 that it is nearly symmetrical at all scales, 212 00:07:54,187 --> 00:07:55,672 yet never perfectly so. 213 00:07:55,947 --> 00:07:57,752 Your face is almost symmetrical, 214 00:07:57,906 --> 00:08:00,752 but if you mirrored the left half 215 00:08:00,826 --> 00:08:02,706 to create a perfectly symmetrical face, 216 00:08:02,706 --> 00:08:04,432 it would look very strange to you. 217 00:08:04,747 --> 00:08:06,672 Perfect symmetry feels unnatural. 218 00:08:06,906 --> 00:08:08,791 The same is true in particle physics. 219 00:08:09,146 --> 00:08:10,471 During the Big Bang, 220 00:08:10,627 --> 00:08:13,711 matter and antimatter should have been produced in equal amounts. 221 00:08:13,786 --> 00:08:14,791 Perfectly symmetrical. 222 00:08:15,146 --> 00:08:16,331 If it were truly perfectly symmetrical, 223 00:08:16,627 --> 00:08:18,031 they would have all annihilated each other, 224 00:08:18,067 --> 00:08:20,312 leaving an empty universe of only photons. 225 00:08:20,627 --> 00:08:22,065 But at that moment, 226 00:08:22,067 --> 00:08:24,632 a tiny break in symmetry occurred. 227 00:08:25,026 --> 00:08:27,105 For every billion antimatter particles, 228 00:08:27,107 --> 00:08:28,711 there was one extra matter particle. 229 00:08:28,906 --> 00:08:31,031 This one-in-a-billion asymmetry 230 00:08:31,067 --> 00:08:33,052 constitutes all the galaxies in the universe today, 231 00:08:33,346 --> 00:08:35,432 all the stars, and all of life. 232 00:08:35,787 --> 00:08:38,392 If perfect symmetry equals death, 233 00:08:38,466 --> 00:08:40,871 then a tiny asymmetry equals everything. 234 00:08:41,226 --> 00:08:43,511 The Creator doesn't like absolute symmetry; 235 00:08:43,706 --> 00:08:45,711 He likes being 'just slightly off.' 236 00:08:45,947 --> 00:08:48,066 This 'offness' is not a flaw; 237 00:08:48,067 --> 00:08:49,432 it is the ultimate secret. 238 00:08:49,746 --> 00:08:51,552 Like syncopation in music, 239 00:08:51,787 --> 00:08:54,066 it is that rhythm shifted by half a beat 240 00:08:54,067 --> 00:08:55,831 that gives the melody its soul. 241 00:08:56,147 --> 00:08:59,111 This pattern repeats in many more places. 242 00:08:59,947 --> 00:09:01,711 Snowflakes have hexagonal symmetry, 243 00:09:01,947 --> 00:09:04,951 but no two points on a single flake are identical. 244 00:09:05,547 --> 00:09:07,471 Leaves are bilaterally symmetrical, 245 00:09:07,626 --> 00:09:09,871 yet the two halves never perfectly overlap. 246 00:09:10,386 --> 00:09:12,251 Galaxies exhibit rotational symmetry, 247 00:09:12,667 --> 00:09:14,672 but their spiral arms vary in length. 248 00:09:15,226 --> 00:09:17,511 The DNA double helix is symmetrical, 249 00:09:17,626 --> 00:09:20,711 but the base sequences of the two strands are completely different. 250 00:09:21,106 --> 00:09:22,912 Think about your own body. 251 00:09:23,067 --> 00:09:24,052 Your heart is on the left; 252 00:09:24,346 --> 00:09:25,591 your liver is on the right. 253 00:09:25,866 --> 00:09:28,511 Your left hemisphere excels at language and logic; 254 00:09:28,667 --> 00:09:30,871 your right hemisphere excels at space and intuition. 255 00:09:31,147 --> 00:09:33,192 If your brain were perfectly symmetrical, 256 00:09:33,346 --> 00:09:35,231 with each hemisphere doing the exact same thing, 257 00:09:35,267 --> 00:09:36,351 that wouldn't be an upgrade. 258 00:09:36,386 --> 00:09:36,971 It would be redundancy; 259 00:09:37,226 --> 00:09:38,072 it would be a waste. 260 00:09:38,626 --> 00:09:40,586 It is precisely because the halves are different 261 00:09:40,586 --> 00:09:41,491 that a division of labor occurs. 262 00:09:41,986 --> 00:09:43,751 Division of labor leads to integration, 263 00:09:43,986 --> 00:09:47,951 which creates a whole more powerful than the sum of its parts. 264 00:09:48,307 --> 00:09:50,312 Asymmetry is not a failure of symmetry; 265 00:09:50,506 --> 00:09:52,392 it is the evolution of symmetry. 266 00:09:52,826 --> 00:09:54,552 The Creator's taste seems to be: 267 00:09:54,586 --> 00:09:56,471 use symmetry to establish order, 268 00:09:56,586 --> 00:09:58,751 and asymmetry to inject vitality. 269 00:09:59,027 --> 00:09:59,932 The fifth preference: 270 00:10:00,307 --> 00:10:01,072 Emergence. 271 00:10:01,586 --> 00:10:04,192 We've discussed emergence many times on this channel. 272 00:10:04,307 --> 00:10:07,552 Here, I'll mention it only in terms of the Creator's preference. 273 00:10:07,907 --> 00:10:09,831 A single ant knows nothing; 274 00:10:10,147 --> 00:10:12,831 its brain has only 250,000 neurons. 275 00:10:13,226 --> 00:10:16,711 Yet, a colony can build sophisticated temperature-controlled nests, 276 00:10:16,866 --> 00:10:18,186 wage wars, 277 00:10:18,187 --> 00:10:19,951 and maintain fungal farms. 278 00:10:20,267 --> 00:10:23,751 No individual ant possesses the blueprint for the nest, 279 00:10:24,147 --> 00:10:26,631 yet the nest gets built. 280 00:10:26,986 --> 00:10:29,072 A single bee knows no geometry, 281 00:10:29,346 --> 00:10:32,532 but the hexagonal honeycombs they build are one of nature's 282 00:10:32,547 --> 00:10:35,312 most efficient space-filling structures. 283 00:10:35,947 --> 00:10:39,192 A starling's brain cannot perform complex calculations, 284 00:10:39,466 --> 00:10:42,951 but thousands of them flying in a murmuration 285 00:10:43,067 --> 00:10:45,392 create breathtakingly beautiful patterns— 286 00:10:45,626 --> 00:10:48,991 like a giant, living, constantly morphing sculpture. 287 00:10:49,267 --> 00:10:50,432 Emergence means that 288 00:10:50,506 --> 00:10:52,951 if you put enough simple individuals together, 289 00:10:52,986 --> 00:10:54,951 and let them interact according to simple rules, 290 00:10:54,986 --> 00:10:57,152 complex order will appear automatically. 291 00:10:57,267 --> 00:10:58,052 No blueprint needed. 292 00:10:58,267 --> 00:10:59,426 No commander needed. 293 00:10:59,427 --> 00:11:00,751 No design drawings needed. 294 00:11:00,866 --> 00:11:03,145 If you were an omniscient and omnipotent creator, 295 00:11:03,147 --> 00:11:05,392 you could design the universe in two ways. 296 00:11:05,626 --> 00:11:08,871 The first is to draw blueprints for everything in advance: 297 00:11:09,067 --> 00:11:11,892 how every river flows, the shape of every tree, 298 00:11:12,267 --> 00:11:14,231 how many arms each galaxy has— 299 00:11:14,267 --> 00:11:15,591 all preset in advance. 300 00:11:15,626 --> 00:11:17,351 This is top-down design. 301 00:11:17,626 --> 00:11:20,351 The second is to write just a few fundamental rules, 302 00:11:20,427 --> 00:11:22,111 then press the start button, 303 00:11:22,187 --> 00:11:23,871 and let everything grow on its own. 304 00:11:24,307 --> 00:11:25,991 The universe chose the second way. 305 00:11:26,427 --> 00:11:28,631 This is the Creator's deepest preference, 306 00:11:28,787 --> 00:11:31,272 and perhaps his most awe-inspiring taste. 307 00:11:31,586 --> 00:11:32,611 He doesn't design the results; 308 00:11:33,027 --> 00:11:34,272 he designs the rules. 309 00:11:34,506 --> 00:11:37,951 Then he lets the rules generate endless possibilities. 310 00:11:38,226 --> 00:11:39,392 He doesn't draw snowflakes; 311 00:11:39,626 --> 00:11:41,871 he writes the bond angles of water molecules. 312 00:11:42,106 --> 00:11:43,172 He doesn't draw the Milky Way; 313 00:11:43,547 --> 00:11:45,152 he writes the gravitational constant. 314 00:11:45,386 --> 00:11:46,131 He doesn't draw you; 315 00:11:46,547 --> 00:11:48,871 he writes the coding rules for DNA. 316 00:11:49,147 --> 00:11:52,471 This design philosophy has a chilling characteristic: 317 00:11:52,706 --> 00:11:55,471 when you only set rules and not outcomes, 318 00:11:55,706 --> 00:11:57,392 the results are unpredictable. 319 00:11:57,547 --> 00:11:59,392 Even if you know all the rules, 320 00:11:59,466 --> 00:12:01,831 you cannot calculate all the outcomes in advance. 321 00:12:02,027 --> 00:12:04,072 It's not due to a lack of computing power, 322 00:12:04,187 --> 00:12:08,552 but because some emergent phenomena are fundamentally unpredictable. 323 00:12:08,787 --> 00:12:12,032 Anderson's 1972 paper title is the answer: 324 00:12:12,187 --> 00:12:13,231 "More Is Different." 325 00:12:13,746 --> 00:12:16,392 If even the Creator cannot foresee emergent outcomes, 326 00:12:16,547 --> 00:12:17,946 then the existence of you and me 327 00:12:17,947 --> 00:12:20,351 is also a surprise to the Creator. 328 00:12:21,147 --> 00:12:23,991 He wrote a few rules about quarks and electrons; 329 00:12:24,106 --> 00:12:25,751 13.8 billion years later, 330 00:12:25,787 --> 00:12:30,631 these rules emerged into beings that can question the rules themselves. 331 00:12:30,947 --> 00:12:32,251 He sowed the laws of physics, 332 00:12:32,547 --> 00:12:33,871 but consciousness grew. 333 00:12:34,027 --> 00:12:37,272 This might be the most unexpected piece in his portfolio. 334 00:12:37,586 --> 00:12:37,772 Alright. 335 00:12:38,307 --> 00:12:41,032 Let's look at these five preferences together. 336 00:12:41,506 --> 00:12:42,552 Self-similarity: 337 00:12:43,147 --> 00:12:45,991 The same pattern repeating across all scales. 338 00:12:46,469 --> 00:12:47,269 Spirals: 339 00:12:47,787 --> 00:12:49,831 The optimal geometry for energy flow. 340 00:12:50,469 --> 00:12:51,269 Nesting: 341 00:12:51,746 --> 00:12:53,491 Small systems bound within larger ones, 342 00:12:53,866 --> 00:12:55,152 layer upon layer. 343 00:12:55,626 --> 00:12:56,871 Broken symmetry: 344 00:12:57,307 --> 00:12:59,751 Creating everything through tiny imperfections. 345 00:13:00,427 --> 00:13:01,231 Emergence: 346 00:13:01,746 --> 00:13:02,731 Defining only rules, 347 00:13:03,106 --> 00:13:04,272 not results. 348 00:13:04,586 --> 00:13:05,792 Have you noticed? 349 00:13:05,826 --> 00:13:09,572 These five preferences point to a deeper design philosophy: 350 00:13:10,147 --> 00:13:11,052 Using the least amount of things 351 00:13:11,466 --> 00:13:12,831 to generate the most. 352 00:13:13,307 --> 00:13:15,831 Economists would call it maximizing efficiency. 353 00:13:16,187 --> 00:13:18,951 Information theorists would call it optimal compression. 354 00:13:19,307 --> 00:13:22,192 Physicists would call it the Principle of Least Action. 355 00:13:22,386 --> 00:13:24,192 Mathematicians would call it elegance. 356 00:13:24,506 --> 00:13:27,432 And Buddhism has a term for it too: 357 00:13:27,706 --> 00:13:28,511 Dependent Origination. 358 00:13:28,826 --> 00:13:31,751 Things aren't manufactured individually; 359 00:13:31,907 --> 00:13:34,751 they arise naturally through a web of causes and conditions. 360 00:13:35,187 --> 00:13:36,672 The Creator doesn't create things; 361 00:13:36,947 --> 00:13:39,552 He creates conditions for all things to emerge. 362 00:13:39,866 --> 00:13:41,471 If you accept this premise, 363 00:13:41,506 --> 00:13:44,471 you reach an awe-inspiring yet unsettling conclusion: 364 00:13:44,866 --> 00:13:46,991 The Creator's preference is not control. 365 00:13:47,386 --> 00:13:48,392 Quite the opposite. 366 00:13:48,586 --> 00:13:50,312 His preference is letting go. 367 00:13:50,706 --> 00:13:51,652 He wrote the rules, 368 00:13:51,866 --> 00:13:53,032 and then stepped away. 369 00:13:53,267 --> 00:13:55,812 He let the universe generate and evolve on its own, 370 00:13:56,346 --> 00:13:59,032 letting things emerge that even he didn't foresee. 371 00:13:59,506 --> 00:14:00,672 So, the question is: 372 00:14:01,027 --> 00:14:03,265 If the Creator's preference is letting go, 373 00:14:03,267 --> 00:14:04,392 rather than control, 374 00:14:04,586 --> 00:14:08,172 why do you still expect an external force to arrange your life? 375 00:14:09,106 --> 00:14:13,072 Perhaps the Creator's greatest message is hidden in his design style. 376 00:14:13,346 --> 00:14:14,572 He has given you the rules; 377 00:14:15,147 --> 00:14:16,066 as for the rest, 378 00:14:16,067 --> 00:14:18,032 he trusts you to grow on your own. 379 00:14:18,307 --> 00:14:20,751 But there's one thing I'm unsure of. 380 00:14:20,986 --> 00:14:22,871 Did he choose to let go, 381 00:14:22,986 --> 00:14:25,892 or is letting go the only possible choice? 382 00:14:26,667 --> 00:14:29,072 If emergence is the universe's underlying logic, 383 00:14:29,187 --> 00:14:32,711 then control might never have been an option. 384 00:14:33,386 --> 00:14:35,385 Maybe it's not that the Creator prefers letting go, 385 00:14:35,386 --> 00:14:37,505 but that the mathematical structure of the universe dictates 386 00:14:37,506 --> 00:14:40,312 that letting go is the only way to produce complexity. 387 00:14:40,386 --> 00:14:40,851 This question... 388 00:14:41,187 --> 00:14:42,052 I've thought about it for a long time. 389 00:14:42,226 --> 00:14:43,111 There's no answer. 390 00:14:43,466 --> 00:14:44,392 I'll leave it to you. 391 00:14:44,826 --> 00:14:46,625 Do you think the design style of the universe 392 00:14:46,626 --> 00:14:47,905 is more like an artist, 393 00:14:47,907 --> 00:14:49,251 or more like a mathematician? 394 00:14:49,986 --> 00:14:50,851 Does he have taste, 395 00:14:51,147 --> 00:14:52,892 or is he taste itself? 396 00:14:53,787 --> 00:14:54,772 If you have thoughts, 397 00:14:55,067 --> 00:14:56,231 I'll see you in the comments. 398 00:14:56,626 --> 00:14:57,371 I'm Wang Lijie. 399 00:14:57,746 --> 00:14:58,532 See you next time.