1 00:00:00,386 --> 00:00:02,793 'Arrival': Foreseeing Her Daughter's Death 2 00:00:02,906 --> 00:00:04,333 Why did she still choose to give birth? 3 00:00:04,985 --> 00:00:06,593 This is a real choice, 4 00:00:06,746 --> 00:00:08,833 not just a thought experiment from a philosophy class. 5 00:00:08,945 --> 00:00:10,425 It is the dilemma Louise faces 6 00:00:10,426 --> 00:00:13,625 after learning the alien language in the film 'Arrival'— 7 00:00:13,625 --> 00:00:15,553 a life-defining choice. 8 00:00:15,906 --> 00:00:17,713 A viewer left a comment for me recently, 9 00:00:17,786 --> 00:00:21,632 saying that after watching our channel's series on consciousness and language, 10 00:00:21,705 --> 00:00:23,952 she rewatched 'Arrival'. 11 00:00:24,225 --> 00:00:24,573 She said, 12 00:00:24,986 --> 00:00:25,492 this time, 13 00:00:25,865 --> 00:00:28,152 she felt a deep shiver in her soul. 14 00:00:28,786 --> 00:00:30,593 I relate to that feeling deeply. 15 00:00:30,666 --> 00:00:32,659 Because this film touches on a core question 16 00:00:32,659 --> 00:00:35,073 we have been discussing repeatedly: 17 00:00:35,506 --> 00:00:37,704 Is language merely a tool for communication, 18 00:00:37,706 --> 00:00:38,732 or is it consciousness itself? 19 00:00:39,585 --> 00:00:39,932 Hello, 20 00:00:40,265 --> 00:00:40,732 everyone. 21 00:00:41,066 --> 00:00:42,152 I am Wang Lijie. 22 00:00:42,506 --> 00:00:44,465 Today, I want to use a Buddhist perspective 23 00:00:44,466 --> 00:00:46,545 to deconstruct the film 'Arrival' 24 00:00:46,545 --> 00:00:48,432 and the original novella it was based on, 25 00:00:48,466 --> 00:00:50,673 Ted Chiang's 'Story of Your Life'. 26 00:00:51,026 --> 00:00:51,692 You will discover 27 00:00:51,985 --> 00:00:53,273 that the themes in this story 28 00:00:53,386 --> 00:00:56,112 were taught by the Buddha 2,500 years ago. 29 00:00:56,386 --> 00:00:58,865 The only difference is that the Buddha didn't use mathematical formulas, 30 00:00:58,865 --> 00:01:01,832 but a philosophical framework called 'Dependent Origination'. 31 00:01:02,265 --> 00:01:05,072 First, a brief recap of 'Arrival's' plot. 32 00:01:05,465 --> 00:01:08,992 Twelve alien ships land simultaneously across Earth. 33 00:01:09,346 --> 00:01:13,673 Linguist Louise is recruited by the military to decode the alien language. 34 00:01:14,066 --> 00:01:14,893 These aliens, 35 00:01:15,266 --> 00:01:16,753 called Heptapods in the film, 36 00:01:16,986 --> 00:01:19,272 use a very unique writing system. 37 00:01:19,546 --> 00:01:23,072 It isn't written word-by-word from left to right. 38 00:01:23,146 --> 00:01:26,192 Instead, they draw a complete circular symbol in a single stroke. 39 00:01:26,506 --> 00:01:28,513 The entire meaning is presented all at once. 40 00:01:28,906 --> 00:01:31,472 As Louise learns this language, 41 00:01:31,585 --> 00:01:33,953 her consciousness undergoes a fundamental shift. 42 00:01:34,146 --> 00:01:35,593 She begins to see the future. 43 00:01:35,945 --> 00:01:38,072 She sees that she will have a daughter, 44 00:01:38,186 --> 00:01:40,412 and that this daughter will die at a young age 45 00:01:40,626 --> 00:01:42,753 from a rare disease. 46 00:01:43,146 --> 00:01:47,712 She also sees her husband eventually leaving her, unable to cope. 47 00:01:48,266 --> 00:01:51,153 Yet, she still chooses to walk this path. 48 00:01:51,626 --> 00:01:51,813 Now, 49 00:01:52,266 --> 00:01:53,072 at this point, 50 00:01:53,146 --> 00:01:54,513 most reviews would say 51 00:01:54,546 --> 00:01:57,313 this is a movie about choice and acceptance. 52 00:01:57,409 --> 00:01:58,209 That's true, 53 00:01:58,426 --> 00:01:59,373 but I want to tell you, 54 00:01:59,665 --> 00:02:01,233 if you stop there, 55 00:02:01,266 --> 00:02:03,912 you're only seeing the surface level. 56 00:02:04,225 --> 00:02:06,112 Let me take you deeper. 57 00:02:06,465 --> 00:02:08,752 Ted Chiang mentioned in his notes 58 00:02:08,866 --> 00:02:11,425 that the inspiration for this story wasn't aliens 59 00:02:11,425 --> 00:02:12,953 or linguistics, 60 00:02:12,985 --> 00:02:15,152 but a principle of physics: 61 00:02:15,265 --> 00:02:17,233 Fermat's Principle of Least Time. 62 00:02:17,385 --> 00:02:18,673 This principle states that 63 00:02:18,746 --> 00:02:21,752 when light travels from one point to another, 64 00:02:21,906 --> 00:02:24,992 it always chooses the path that takes the shortest time. 65 00:02:25,466 --> 00:02:28,992 For example, light refracts when passing from air into water. 66 00:02:29,145 --> 00:02:33,312 The angle of refraction is exactly what minimizes the travel time. 67 00:02:33,705 --> 00:02:35,504 From a human perspective, 68 00:02:35,506 --> 00:02:37,353 this looks like causality. 69 00:02:37,626 --> 00:02:39,272 Light hits the water, 70 00:02:39,346 --> 00:02:41,832 then refracts according to physical laws. 71 00:02:42,026 --> 00:02:42,652 Cause first, 72 00:02:42,985 --> 00:02:43,872 effect second. 73 00:02:44,265 --> 00:02:47,393 But Ted Chiang found a fascinating fact: 74 00:02:47,705 --> 00:02:49,104 This same path 75 00:02:49,105 --> 00:02:51,865 can be described in a completely different way, 76 00:02:51,866 --> 00:02:53,432 known as the variational principle. 77 00:02:53,665 --> 00:02:55,193 The variational principle implies that 78 00:02:55,306 --> 00:02:59,504 it's as if the light already knows its destination before starting, 79 00:02:59,506 --> 00:03:01,513 and then chooses the optimal path. 80 00:03:01,825 --> 00:03:03,784 It's not just making it up as it goes. 81 00:03:03,786 --> 00:03:06,193 It sees the whole picture from the very beginning. 82 00:03:06,665 --> 00:03:07,293 The effect comes first, 83 00:03:07,665 --> 00:03:08,513 then the cause. 84 00:03:08,985 --> 00:03:10,264 This is teleology, 85 00:03:10,265 --> 00:03:13,752 a way of understanding the world completely opposite to causalism. 86 00:03:14,186 --> 00:03:15,532 Humans are used to causality— 87 00:03:15,906 --> 00:03:17,752 causes lead to effects, 88 00:03:17,786 --> 00:03:19,393 and time is an arrow. 89 00:03:19,866 --> 00:03:21,913 But Heptapods are used to teleology, 90 00:03:22,105 --> 00:03:24,312 where cause and effect exist simultaneously. 91 00:03:24,346 --> 00:03:25,633 Time is a circle. 92 00:03:26,306 --> 00:03:27,212 Think about it. 93 00:03:27,545 --> 00:03:29,592 This is actually a very subversive idea. 94 00:03:29,945 --> 00:03:31,344 Physics tells us 95 00:03:31,346 --> 00:03:34,992 that causality and teleology are mathematically equivalent. 96 00:03:35,346 --> 00:03:36,173 For the same phenomenon, 97 00:03:36,466 --> 00:03:38,544 both descriptions are valid, 98 00:03:38,545 --> 00:03:39,212 both are precise, 99 00:03:39,586 --> 00:03:40,992 and neither is just an approximation. 100 00:03:41,506 --> 00:03:42,432 In other words, 101 00:03:42,466 --> 00:03:46,513 the universe doesn't care which way you choose to understand it. 102 00:03:46,786 --> 00:03:47,893 Causality versus purpose 103 00:03:48,145 --> 00:03:49,872 isn't a matter of right or wrong; 104 00:03:50,026 --> 00:03:52,992 it's about which coordinate system you're observing from. 105 00:03:53,506 --> 00:03:57,913 A detail from the original novella, not in the movie, really moved me. 106 00:03:58,346 --> 00:04:01,432 Ted Chiang uses two alternating narrative lines. 107 00:04:01,825 --> 00:04:05,112 One is Louise's interactions with the Heptapods; 108 00:04:05,385 --> 00:04:08,872 the other is her speaking to her unborn daughter. 109 00:04:09,306 --> 00:04:10,425 Throughout the story, 110 00:04:10,425 --> 00:04:14,673 she uses the future tense to recall a life that hasn't happened yet. 111 00:04:15,225 --> 00:04:18,992 This writing style is the literary realization of the Heptapod language. 112 00:04:19,386 --> 00:04:22,033 Reading it, you get a strange sensation, 113 00:04:22,146 --> 00:04:24,833 as if time has been folded within the words. 114 00:04:25,065 --> 00:04:25,533 At this point, 115 00:04:25,826 --> 00:04:27,793 I'd like you to pause for three seconds 116 00:04:27,906 --> 00:04:31,132 and recall a core concept from our previous videos 117 00:04:31,185 --> 00:04:32,992 discussing Wittgenstein. 118 00:04:33,266 --> 00:04:34,432 Wittgenstein said, 119 00:04:34,625 --> 00:04:37,372 "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." 120 00:04:37,985 --> 00:04:40,752 Language also participates in shaping consciousness. 121 00:04:41,026 --> 00:04:44,673 If a language lacks a distinction between past and future, 122 00:04:44,786 --> 00:04:46,704 then a consciousness using that language 123 00:04:46,706 --> 00:04:49,112 would not experience linear time. 124 00:04:49,466 --> 00:04:51,952 This is exactly what happens to Louise. 125 00:04:52,225 --> 00:04:54,673 She didn't gain a superpower to see the future; 126 00:04:55,065 --> 00:04:56,632 she adopted a new language, 127 00:04:56,906 --> 00:04:58,833 and her structure of consciousness changed. 128 00:04:59,185 --> 00:05:00,112 This process 129 00:05:00,185 --> 00:05:03,153 is known technically as linguistic relativity, 130 00:05:03,305 --> 00:05:05,392 or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. 131 00:05:05,906 --> 00:05:06,973 In simpler terms, 132 00:05:07,386 --> 00:05:08,872 the language you speak 133 00:05:09,026 --> 00:05:11,112 determines the world you live in. 134 00:05:11,189 --> 00:05:11,946 Now, 135 00:05:11,946 --> 00:05:14,952 let me translate this into Buddhist philosophy. 136 00:05:15,625 --> 00:05:18,833 In Yogācāra Buddhism, there is a core concept called "Lakshana-naman." 137 00:05:19,425 --> 00:05:20,252 "Name" and "Form." 138 00:05:20,586 --> 00:05:21,673 139 00:05:22,346 --> 00:05:23,432 Yogācāra teaches 140 00:05:23,466 --> 00:05:26,192 that the world we experience is not the world itself, 141 00:05:26,266 --> 00:05:29,233 but a projection constructed by consciousness through names and forms. 142 00:05:29,946 --> 00:05:31,713 The moment you name something, 143 00:05:31,745 --> 00:05:34,333 you simultaneously decide how you can understand it, 144 00:05:34,586 --> 00:05:37,072 how you feel it, and how you interact with it. 145 00:05:37,625 --> 00:05:40,072 Names and forms are not labels attached to things; 146 00:05:40,185 --> 00:05:42,192 they are your world. 147 00:05:42,625 --> 00:05:45,252 What did the Heptapod language in Arrival do? 148 00:05:45,786 --> 00:05:49,112 It broke the deepest name-form in human language: 149 00:05:49,185 --> 00:05:51,233 the linear structure of time. 150 00:05:51,545 --> 00:05:53,673 Once that linearity is broken, 151 00:05:53,826 --> 00:05:56,913 past and future are no longer two different things; 152 00:05:57,146 --> 00:05:59,872 they become different aspects of the same thing. 153 00:06:00,225 --> 00:06:01,512 Like a sphere, 154 00:06:01,545 --> 00:06:05,673 what you see at the North Pole is different from the South Pole, 155 00:06:05,826 --> 00:06:07,713 but it has always been the same ball. 156 00:06:08,225 --> 00:06:10,512 This is what Buddhism calls "Dependent Origination." 157 00:06:10,865 --> 00:06:15,312 It doesn't mean things happen in a sequential chain of cause and effect. 158 00:06:15,706 --> 00:06:16,692 Dependent Origination means 159 00:06:17,105 --> 00:06:19,992 all phenomena are mutually conditional 160 00:06:20,065 --> 00:06:21,312 and manifest simultaneously. 161 00:06:21,706 --> 00:06:24,552 The Avatamsaka Sutra contains a famous metaphor called Indra's Net. 162 00:06:24,706 --> 00:06:27,632 At every node of this net hangs a jewel. 163 00:06:27,786 --> 00:06:30,713 Each jewel reflects all the others. 164 00:06:30,826 --> 00:06:32,473 There is no first jewel, 165 00:06:32,505 --> 00:06:34,233 nor is there a last one. 166 00:06:34,466 --> 00:06:35,812 The world that the Heptapods see 167 00:06:36,105 --> 00:06:37,473 is Indra's Net. 168 00:06:37,826 --> 00:06:40,545 By learning the Heptapod language, 169 00:06:40,545 --> 00:06:42,593 Louise sees this net for the first time. 170 00:06:42,865 --> 00:06:45,153 But the most moving part of the story 171 00:06:45,225 --> 00:06:46,985 isn't what she sees, 172 00:06:46,985 --> 00:06:49,552 but what she does after seeing it. 173 00:06:49,906 --> 00:06:51,473 She chooses to step into it. 174 00:06:51,786 --> 00:06:53,992 She sees her daughter's brief life, 175 00:06:54,146 --> 00:06:55,713 the collapse of her marriage, 176 00:06:55,745 --> 00:06:57,312 and all the pain. 177 00:06:57,466 --> 00:06:58,173 And then she says, 178 00:06:58,545 --> 00:07:00,632 "I still choose to experience it all." 179 00:07:01,026 --> 00:07:01,653 What is this? 180 00:07:02,266 --> 00:07:03,213 In January 2017, 181 00:07:03,545 --> 00:07:05,105 right after seeing the film, 182 00:07:05,105 --> 00:07:07,992 I wrote an article about Arrival on my WeChat account. 183 00:07:08,146 --> 00:07:09,673 It can still be found today. 184 00:07:09,865 --> 00:07:12,473 I asked a question in that article: 185 00:07:12,826 --> 00:07:14,904 "If you could see your whole life, 186 00:07:14,906 --> 00:07:15,932 what would you change?" 187 00:07:16,386 --> 00:07:17,833 My answer then was, 188 00:07:17,865 --> 00:07:20,713 "The question itself might be wrong." 189 00:07:20,946 --> 00:07:23,432 Because if you truly saw the whole picture, 190 00:07:23,466 --> 00:07:26,593 you would understand why every moment happens. 191 00:07:26,625 --> 00:07:28,992 You wouldn't want to change a thing. 192 00:07:29,146 --> 00:07:31,793 Today, I want to take this answer a step further. 193 00:07:32,026 --> 00:07:32,773 In Buddhism, 194 00:07:33,026 --> 00:07:33,853 what is a Bodhisattva? 195 00:07:34,266 --> 00:07:35,872 A Bodhisattva is not someone ignorant of suffering. 196 00:07:36,105 --> 00:07:38,033 A Bodhisattva sees all suffering 197 00:07:38,146 --> 00:07:41,153 and yet chooses to enter Samsara to help all beings. 198 00:07:41,425 --> 00:07:44,093 Is this just "walking into the lion's den"? 199 00:07:44,548 --> 00:07:45,348 No. 200 00:07:45,665 --> 00:07:47,072 It’s not a matter of courage. 201 00:07:47,466 --> 00:07:48,913 It’s a shift in perspective. 202 00:07:49,346 --> 00:07:51,312 When you look from within linear time, 203 00:07:51,386 --> 00:07:54,473 suffering is something to be avoided and escaped. 204 00:07:54,706 --> 00:07:56,992 But from the perspective of Dependent Origination, 205 00:07:57,105 --> 00:07:59,312 suffering is not a problem to be solved. 206 00:07:59,625 --> 00:08:01,673 Pain is part of the texture of life. 207 00:08:01,865 --> 00:08:03,673 It isn't the opposite of joy; 208 00:08:03,745 --> 00:08:06,353 they are the front and back of the same fabric. 209 00:08:06,625 --> 00:08:07,572 Louise's choice 210 00:08:07,826 --> 00:08:08,745 is not endurance, 211 00:08:08,745 --> 00:08:09,413 nor sacrifice, 212 00:08:09,745 --> 00:08:10,872 and certainly not resignation. 213 00:08:11,105 --> 00:08:11,892 Her choice is: 214 00:08:12,225 --> 00:08:13,545 "I see it all, 215 00:08:13,545 --> 00:08:14,612 I understand it all, 216 00:08:14,865 --> 00:08:16,473 and so I embrace it all." 217 00:08:16,786 --> 00:08:20,353 This is similar to Stoic acceptance we discussed before, 218 00:08:20,466 --> 00:08:22,192 but there is a subtle difference. 219 00:08:22,466 --> 00:08:23,132 Stoicism says, 220 00:08:23,586 --> 00:08:25,273 "Accept what you cannot control." 221 00:08:25,505 --> 00:08:26,593 But Buddhism says, 222 00:08:26,665 --> 00:08:30,673 there is no independent "you" controlling anything at all. 223 00:08:31,065 --> 00:08:33,705 What Louise experiences in that moment 224 00:08:33,706 --> 00:08:37,352 is not a strong self choosing to accept fate. 225 00:08:37,706 --> 00:08:40,232 Rather, the very concept of "self" 226 00:08:40,306 --> 00:08:43,153 becomes transparent under that holistic view. 227 00:08:43,546 --> 00:08:45,192 She isn't making a choice; 228 00:08:45,625 --> 00:08:47,513 she is becoming the choice itself. 229 00:08:48,025 --> 00:08:52,712 This is the fundamental difference between Arrival and most sci-fi. 230 00:08:53,145 --> 00:08:55,753 Most sci-fi approaches the future as: 231 00:08:55,905 --> 00:08:57,232 "I know the future, 232 00:08:57,265 --> 00:08:58,793 so I must change it." 233 00:08:59,306 --> 00:09:01,273 Arrival's attitude toward the future is: 234 00:09:01,426 --> 00:09:02,873 "I know the future, 235 00:09:02,985 --> 00:09:07,153 so I can finally live fully in every present moment." 236 00:09:07,505 --> 00:09:10,673 My old article also mentioned an interesting story. 237 00:09:11,025 --> 00:09:13,712 When Captain Cook first reached Australia, 238 00:09:13,905 --> 00:09:16,072 he pointed to a kangaroo and asked the locals, 239 00:09:16,186 --> 00:09:17,113 "What is this?" 240 00:09:17,546 --> 00:09:20,192 The locals replied with a sound like "Kangaroo." 241 00:09:20,346 --> 00:09:23,232 Later, this pronunciation became the English word "kangaroo." 242 00:09:23,505 --> 00:09:26,860 But in the local language, that pronunciation actually... 243 00:09:26,860 --> 00:09:27,135 ...meant: 244 00:09:27,145 --> 00:09:29,472 "I don't understand what you're saying." 245 00:09:29,946 --> 00:09:32,153 The biggest chasm between two civilizations 246 00:09:32,186 --> 00:09:33,513 is not different answers, 247 00:09:33,586 --> 00:09:35,472 but questions that don't even align. 248 00:09:35,865 --> 00:09:38,232 This perfectly echoes the theme of "Arrival." 249 00:09:38,546 --> 00:09:40,033 The Heptapods arrive on Earth, 250 00:09:40,105 --> 00:09:41,993 and twelve countries each try to decipher their message, 251 00:09:42,025 --> 00:09:44,712 nearly starting a war due to a misunderstanding. 252 00:09:44,905 --> 00:09:46,544 It is like this between human civilizations, 253 00:09:46,546 --> 00:09:48,393 between humans and aliens, 254 00:09:48,466 --> 00:09:51,952 and even between one individual and another. 255 00:09:52,025 --> 00:09:54,544 You think you are talking about the same thing, 256 00:09:54,546 --> 00:09:58,232 but your linguistic boundaries define completely different worlds. 257 00:09:58,625 --> 00:10:01,592 Yogacara Buddhism calls this phenomenon "Parikalpita." 258 00:10:01,985 --> 00:10:06,432 It's using your own cognitive framework or language model to fit someone else's world, 259 00:10:06,466 --> 00:10:08,312 and then believing that is the truth. 260 00:10:08,706 --> 00:10:12,993 In "Arrival," the military tried using game theory to understand the Heptapods' intent, 261 00:10:13,105 --> 00:10:14,513 which almost destroyed everything. 262 00:10:14,826 --> 00:10:16,373 What was Louise's approach? 263 00:10:16,946 --> 00:10:19,312 She let go of the human linguistic framework, 264 00:10:19,346 --> 00:10:23,192 allowing her consciousness to be reshaped by another language. 265 00:10:23,546 --> 00:10:24,852 In spiritual practice, there's a name for this: 266 00:10:25,105 --> 00:10:26,753 "Transforming consciousness into wisdom." 267 00:10:27,066 --> 00:10:28,625 It's not about learning new knowledge, 268 00:10:28,625 --> 00:10:31,913 but about the container of knowledge itself changing shape. 269 00:10:32,385 --> 00:10:33,052 Think about it. 270 00:10:33,385 --> 00:10:35,664 The process of learning our mother tongue as children 271 00:10:35,666 --> 00:10:37,832 is actually a process of being programmed. 272 00:10:38,145 --> 00:10:40,585 Chinese carves the world in one way; 273 00:10:40,586 --> 00:10:42,673 English carves it in another. 274 00:10:42,865 --> 00:10:46,873 The Heptapod language carves it in a way humans never imagined. 275 00:10:47,346 --> 00:10:48,504 What Louise did 276 00:10:48,505 --> 00:10:52,072 was essentially volunteer for a conscious reprogramming. 277 00:10:52,385 --> 00:10:53,173 What did this require? 278 00:10:53,625 --> 00:10:57,273 It required her to first set aside her original cognitive operating system. 279 00:10:57,586 --> 00:11:00,273 This is the same as the "Beginner's Mind" in Zen. 280 00:11:00,586 --> 00:11:02,352 You must empty the cup first 281 00:11:02,426 --> 00:11:04,113 before new water can be poured in. 282 00:11:04,505 --> 00:11:08,592 Ted Chiang spent five years researching linguistics to write this story. 283 00:11:08,826 --> 00:11:11,773 At a science fiction writing workshop in 1989, 284 00:11:11,985 --> 00:11:14,712 he became obsessed with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. 285 00:11:14,946 --> 00:11:16,345 This hypothesis states that 286 00:11:16,346 --> 00:11:18,664 language is not just a tool for thought, 287 00:11:18,666 --> 00:11:21,232 but that language itself shapes thought. 288 00:11:21,466 --> 00:11:24,639 This is almost exactly what we emphasized 289 00:11:24,639 --> 00:11:25,993 when we discussed Wittgenstein earlier. 290 00:11:26,066 --> 00:11:29,312 Arriving at the same destination through different academic portals. 291 00:11:29,586 --> 00:11:30,253 And Buddhism, 292 00:11:30,546 --> 00:11:32,024 twenty-five hundred years ago, 293 00:11:32,025 --> 00:11:34,113 was already at that destination. 294 00:11:34,385 --> 00:11:36,092 When the Buddha said "all phenomena are mind-made," 295 00:11:36,505 --> 00:11:37,904 he wasn't talking about idealism; 296 00:11:37,905 --> 00:11:40,072 he wasn't saying the world is something you imagined. 297 00:11:40,385 --> 00:11:41,092 He was saying that 298 00:11:41,466 --> 00:11:43,033 the world you experience 299 00:11:43,105 --> 00:11:45,633 is always shaped by the structure of your consciousness. 300 00:11:46,025 --> 00:11:47,345 Change the structure of your consciousness, 301 00:11:47,346 --> 00:11:49,432 and you live in a different world. 302 00:11:49,666 --> 00:11:50,784 Louise’s story 303 00:11:50,785 --> 00:11:53,552 is the most vivid sci-fi footnote to that statement. 304 00:11:53,905 --> 00:11:54,904 What's interesting is 305 00:11:54,905 --> 00:11:57,432 a sub-plot in the film many people missed. 306 00:11:57,826 --> 00:11:59,413 The Heptapods didn't come to Earth to invade, 307 00:11:59,745 --> 00:12:00,793 nor to observe. 308 00:12:01,066 --> 00:12:04,393 They came because they will need human help three thousand years from now. 309 00:12:04,706 --> 00:12:06,173 Giving their language to humanity 310 00:12:06,426 --> 00:12:07,432 was an act of sowing seeds. 311 00:12:07,946 --> 00:12:08,812 What does this mean? 312 00:12:09,346 --> 00:12:11,393 It means that in the Heptapods' worldview, 313 00:12:11,426 --> 00:12:15,113 needing help in 3,000 years and giving a gift today 314 00:12:15,186 --> 00:12:16,673 are the same event. 315 00:12:17,385 --> 00:12:20,192 This isn't predicting the future and planning ahead. 316 00:12:20,346 --> 00:12:23,232 It's in a world without the arrow of time, 317 00:12:23,346 --> 00:12:25,592 where all causes and conditions ripen simultaneously. 318 00:12:26,025 --> 00:12:26,332 See? 319 00:12:26,625 --> 00:12:28,493 Isn't this just another name for "Dependent Origination"? 320 00:12:29,066 --> 00:12:31,513 There's no question of who helps whom first. 321 00:12:32,105 --> 00:12:35,153 Helping itself is part of the natural texture of existence. 322 00:12:35,426 --> 00:12:37,259 The reason why the movie Arrival leaves 323 00:12:37,259 --> 00:12:39,513 so many people feeling unsettled long after watching it, 324 00:12:39,625 --> 00:12:42,072 isn't because its sci-fi setting is cool, 325 00:12:42,145 --> 00:12:44,580 but because it touches on a question everyone holds deep down 326 00:12:44,580 --> 00:12:47,059 but never dares to face 327 00:12:47,059 --> 00:12:47,673 seriously: 328 00:12:47,985 --> 00:12:50,873 "If you knew in advance how much pain this life would hold, 329 00:12:50,905 --> 00:12:52,013 would you still be willing to live it?" 330 00:12:52,625 --> 00:12:54,432 There is no standard answer to this question, 331 00:12:54,625 --> 00:12:58,513 but I think Arrival gives a response very close to the Buddhist spirit. 332 00:12:58,865 --> 00:13:01,312 The answer isn't about choosing or not choosing; 333 00:13:01,666 --> 00:13:02,212 the answer is, 334 00:13:02,426 --> 00:13:04,232 when you truly see the whole, 335 00:13:04,466 --> 00:13:08,153 the binary opposition of choice itself disappears. 336 00:13:08,306 --> 00:13:09,673 You are simply living— 337 00:13:10,066 --> 00:13:10,692 fully, 338 00:13:10,985 --> 00:13:11,613 completely, 339 00:13:11,946 --> 00:13:12,673 living. 340 00:13:13,145 --> 00:13:13,932 Everything else 341 00:13:14,346 --> 00:13:15,432 is a gift. 342 00:13:15,546 --> 00:13:18,352 This is probably why that viewer said, 343 00:13:18,385 --> 00:13:20,552 "My soul trembled slightly." 344 00:13:20,865 --> 00:13:22,413 That trembling wasn't fear, 345 00:13:22,666 --> 00:13:23,673 nor was it being moved; 346 00:13:24,025 --> 00:13:25,072 it was recognition. 347 00:13:25,385 --> 00:13:29,552 In that movie, she recognized something she had already vaguely touched. 348 00:13:30,306 --> 00:13:31,452 Have you ever had a similar experience? 349 00:13:31,946 --> 00:13:34,673 After watching a movie or reading a book, 350 00:13:34,785 --> 00:13:36,980 suddenly feeling that thing you've been searching for 351 00:13:36,980 --> 00:13:39,533 has been expressed by someone else 352 00:13:39,546 --> 00:13:40,173 in a completely different way. 353 00:13:40,826 --> 00:13:41,572 Please tell me, 354 00:13:41,826 --> 00:13:43,552 what was that moment for you? 355 00:13:43,826 --> 00:13:44,493 I am Wang Lijie. 356 00:13:44,785 --> 00:13:45,509 I'll see you next time.