Modern people have more or less read articles like Chicken Soup for the Soul, and say it's useful, it's true that some people are strict with themselves because of the content, saying it's useless, and it's almost all nonsense, and those who have read it turn their heads and forget it.

But no matter what, those who first see chicken soup can always be enthusiastic.

Although Yao Wenjie didn't quite understand what the chicken soup in Huo Yaowen's mouth was, the chairman said that he would definitely reserve a weekly column position for him.

"1999" has been fully translated, this is a few sample books that I asked the printing house to make first, what do you think of this, chairman?"

Yao Wenjie said as he picked up two brand-new books from the bookshelf next to him.

Huo Yaowen took it and took a look, the cover was very beautiful, a colorful starry sky, with big characters written on the top "Our journey is the sea of stars", and 1999 was written on the side, by Huo Yaowen.

When I opened the book, the texture of the paper inside was great, and it was the best paper in Hong Kong now, so the price was relatively expensive, Huo Yaowen turned the book around and glanced at the price behind it, "Eleven pieces".

Huo Yaowen frowned and asked, "Wouldn't this price be too high?"

Yao Wenjie said: "It may seem to some people that the price is a bit high, but I think that the chairman of your book is worth the price, we use the best paper and ink, and the printing cost is much more expensive than the average book. ”

Hearing Yao Wenjie say this, Huo Yaowen nodded without words, since he has discussed with the people in the marketing department and set this price, it means that it can be sold, and there is no need to dwell on it.

"Since Editor-in-Chief Yao has discussed with the people in the marketing department and set this price, then this price, if there is no problem, let the printing house produce and distribute the goods as soon as possible. As for the Taiwan side, it is still handed over to Aoki Publishing House, and their editor-in-chief Fang has always cooperated well with us. By the way, we have cooperated with Aoki several times, and they are all very good, and the payment from the editor-in-chief is also coming quickly, if it is feasible, you can try to get someone to sign a long-term cooperation agreement with the editor-in-chief of Aoki. ”

"I have also considered signing a long-term cooperation agreement with the editor-in-chief Fang, and since the chairman has spoken, then I will arrange for someone to go to Taiwan as soon as possible to talk. ”

"Hmm. ”

Throwing the book on the table, Huo Yaowen thought of Litu and asked, "There is no letter from Litu yet?"

"A few days ago, a telegram came to me, saying that the second part of your second "1999" was cooperating with Thames Publishing, and the price offered by the other party was two percent higher than before. As for the first part, it has sold more than 450,000 copies in the UK, and the rest of the manuscript will be sent back to the chairman's account at Standard Chartered Bank early next month. ”

"Okay, I got it. ”

Huo Yaowen nodded.

After coming out of the company, Huo Yaowen did not rush back, but went to the publishing house again, and all schools in Hong Kong were going to be closed soon, and they would start school again in a few months.

...

At the same time, the distant United States of America.

Huo Yaowen's "Virtual Second World" was finally listed in bookstores in 23 states in the United States after half a month of publicity by Bantan Book Publishing Company.

As for why it is called "virtual-second world", this is because many people don't understand the word virtual, even when Litu handed over the manuscript to Mark, the other party asked what virtual meant.

It's not that I can't understand the English word virtual, but I don't understand what a virtual world is.

The virtual world is different from the illusory world, the unreal world is a worldview constructed by human fantasy, and the virtual world in Huo Yaowen's book is a world that is developed by using computer technology, Internet technology, satellite technology and human consciousness potential, or formed independently of the real world and connected with the real world, and people enter a world similar to the earth or the universe in the form of consciousness through a virtual helmet or some kind of technology.

Strictly speaking, the virtual world can be realized through scientific progress to some extent.

It is not known how long it will take to actually achieve this level.

So after Mark understood what this virtual world roughly meant, he also came up with the idea of changing the title of the book to add only two words "second".

The real world is called the first world, while the virtual world is the second world of humans.

In this regard, when Mark deliberately wrote the book, in the name of Bantan Books Publishing Company and Huo Yaowen, he specially invited Ryan Cleary, a famous neuromedical scientist in the United States, Williams Brown, a professor of neuromedicine, and Dr. Wang, who is currently known as the richest Chinese computer doctor in the United States, to jointly write an easy-to-understand article about what the virtual world is for this book.

These three people, to be honest, are not invited by Bantan Books, each of them is a leader in their respective fields, and there is no need or need to write an article similar to the "preface" for Huo Yaowen's book.

However, after reading the book written by Huo Yaowen, the neuromedical scientist Ryan Clearey, and the professor of neuromedicine Williams Brown, they were very interested in the concept of the cutting-edge future technology of the virtual world proposed in the article, especially in the book, "If the human subconscious and cranial nerves use an instrument to make it always in an alternative state of self-cognition and I am still alive, does that mean that human beings can live forever?"

The topic of eternal life, whether in the East or in the West, has never changed from ancient times to the present, and no one does not want to die forever, and no one does not want to live forever.

However, with the gradual development of modern medicine and science, people have learned that it is almost impossible to achieve complete immortality, first of all, the aging and failure of the body's cells and organs.

What does it mean to be dead?

In medicine, the final verdict is that the heart stops beating, or brain death.

But with a vegetative person, then the death sentence of heart stopping is a bit untenable, so brain death is the final result of the death of a person determined by ordinary medical personnel.

In Huo Yaowen's book, the virtual world is mentioned, a brand new world that has not yet been known much by the world, a virtual second world dominated by neural consciousness and different from the real world!

Although as early as 1932, the concept of virtual reality existed, for example, Adous Huxley's novel "Brave New World" depicted virtual reality equipment for the first time, or in 1935, the American science fiction scientist Stanley Weinbaum published "Pygmalion's Glasses", the elven taught the glasses of the artifact, and even in 1955, a photographer Hai Jui designed one of the earliest virtual VR prototypes.

But these have not attracted the attention of the world, because the concept of virtual world they put forward is a particularly hazy state.

However, although the virtual world proposed by Huo Yaowen is relatively imaginary, it is only a scientific hypothesis, but this assumption is a hypothesis about future technology and medicine based on today's scientific knowledge and theory.

The concept of entering the virtual world through some kind of high-tech computer, dominated by human neural consciousness, was the ultimate attraction to Ryan Clearey and Williams Brown.

They are all experts in neuromedicine, and they know that people's neural consciousness can be blinded by certain techniques and scientific methods. In layman's terms, seeing is not necessarily believing, so if this kind of virtual reality device can really be invented in the future, it can make human beings immortal to some extent.

This topic intrigued Ryan Clearey and Williams Brown, so after reading the book "Virtual Second World", they wrote a lot about the neurological aspects that are easy to understand.

As for Dr. Wang, chairman of the board of directors of Wang Computer Company, he is willing to help, the reason is much simpler, his company's current market value in the United States is as high as 200 million US dollars, and the transistor desktop computers manufactured by his company are selling very well in the United States, making more money than IBM and other technology companies, and it can be said that it is the most popular company among American high-tech companies at present.

In addition, Dr. Wang recently began to research and develop a semiconductor word processor (the earliest computer with a keyboard and monitor), considering the development of the company, after reading the science fiction book written by Huo Yaowen, he also agreed with a smile and agreed to write a computer knowledge article for Huo Yaowen's book, and fully verify the feasibility of the supercomputer mentioned in Huo Yaowen's book in a scientific way.

This is another form of advertising, or hype, and the hype king computer company may work virtual reality in the future, and may create a virtual world as proposed in the book.

...

Inside the Barnes & Noble bookstore on New York Avenue, USA.

Wilson hurried into the bookstore, looked around, and finally saw Sarah in a reading lounge, he ran over excitedly, took out a bouquet of flowers from behind and handed it to her: "Sarah, happy birthday." ”

When Sarah heard the movement, as soon as she looked up, she saw a bouquet of gorgeous roses, which were stained with dew, looking fresh and beautiful, especially the faint fragrance, which made her feel inexplicably happy.

Sarah stood up, took the bouquet in the other party's hand, and smiled sweetly: "Thank you Wilson, this bouquet is beautiful, I like it very much." ”

"If you like it, if you like. Wilson smiled innocently, since the last time he gave Sarah the copy of "1999", the relationship between the two has grown by leaps and bounds, although the relationship has not yet been determined, but it does not seem very far away.

"But," Sarah hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "My birthday is next month." ”

"Uh......" Wilson froze in place.

"But that's okay, I love this bouquet of roses. ”

"If you like it, if you like. Wilson breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "Sarah, I know that a new restaurant has opened recently, and I heard from others that it tastes very good, do you want us to try it?"

Sarah shook her head, "No, I'm going to finish the book." ”

Wilson grimaced, disappointed that Sarah didn't go to the restaurant, but he asked, "What book?"

"It's Evan's new book, "Virtual Second World", which you gave me last time as the author of "1999", and it's so well written, I love the story in it so much that I keep immersed in it. ”

"Yes? I also like Evan's books, I heard that he is a Chinese. ”

Sarah frowned, "You're a racist?"

Wilson hurriedly shook his head: "No, no, no, I mean I like Evan very much, I have learned some information about Evan, the book he wrote is amazing, this book is called "Virtual Second World", right? I will also buy a copy and take a look, you wait for me Sarah." ”

Dozens of minutes later.

Wilson saw the excitement and exclaimed, "This book is so cool!

"Be quiet, Wilson, don't make anyone else read. When Sarah heard this, she gave him a blank look.

But before Wilson could shut up, several people reading books at the opposite table heard his words and hurriedly shouted: "Hey, man, you're also watching the virtual world?"

"yes, this book is so well written!"

Wilson nodded desperately, he had just read the first dozen chapters, in which Neo had already determined that he was in a virtual world, and he believed that he was an ideology at this time, so in the ideology, Neo thought that he could fly away and be omnipotent, like a superman. In this scene, Wilson was fascinated, as if he was reading an alternative urban invincible text.

The person on the other side was also excited: "Man, you are too discerning, if there is really such a supercomputer that can let my consciousness enter, I must enter, even if I give up my body, I want to be invincible in the virtual world, I can be a superman, I can build a house on Mars, I can travel the infinite universe, this is simply cool!"

"yes man, I think that's pretty cool, too!" Wilson nodded approvingly.

Sarah, who was on the side, grabbed the excited Wilson back, and after letting him sit down honestly, she said, "My God, Wilson, can you please stop focusing on these contents, you have to understand the philosophical ideas mentioned by Mr. Evan in the book!!"

"Philosophical thoughts?" Wilson was puzzled.

Sarah gave him a blank look, and then explained slowly and methodically: "Don't you see that Mr. Evan is expounding on the alternative interpretation of 'I think, therefore I am'? Not long ago, the American philosophy magazine Weekly published an article called "Brain in a Jar", in which it was mentioned that if human beings in the real world are aliens, or experimental subjects raised in captivity by beings of higher life levels, how can we discover the "real" world, instead of indulging in the virtual world we know......

Wilson's head was so big that he couldn't understand "I think, therefore I am" and "the brain in the jar."

When Sarah was talking there alone, many people next to her were attracted to her and opened their mouths to ask some questions, to which Sarah answered one by one with a smile.

It lasted for several hours, until the sun went down, Sarah followed Wilson out of the bookstore, and as soon as the two went out, Sarah slapped her head and said in surprise: "Evan, Evan, they are the same person!"

"What same person?"

"The philosopher who came up with the brain in a vat is called Evan, and the writer who writes about the virtual world is called Evan, and they are the same person!"

...

As soon as "Virtual Second World" was released in various states in the United States, it quickly became one of the bestsellers in major bookstores.

The well-known American philosopher Brownie gave a very high praise for this book: "This is a book that integrates science, philosophy, fantasy, thought, and reality, and it is a book that contemporary young people must read.

Dr. Wang said in an interview with reporters that when asked about the book, he said with a smile: "Everyone knows that I make computers, and I know the great role of computers for human beings in the future." And the book "Virtual Second World" may become the reality of human beings in the future.

Virtual reality technology has been proposed a long time ago, and at present, our company has begun to arrange the most professional and elite talents to develop it, perhaps in the near future, you will be able to experience the human consciousness proposed in this book into the supercomputer, free to travel the world of virtual construction.

Perhaps each of us will have the opportunity to land on the surface of the moon and see our Earth from the moon, as NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong did a few months ago. ”

After Dr. Wang's interview was reported by newspapers and television stations, it quickly attracted the attention of the whole United States, and people were talking about the virtual world in the streets and alleys.

If Dr. Wang's interview only made people interested in the virtual world, there was one more topic to talk about after dinner.

So when Ryan Cleary, a neuromedical scientist, put forward a paper on "whether human consciousness can be immortal" at the annual brain medicine conference in the United States, it completely detonated the heated discussion among Americans that the virtual world can make people immortal!

This also made the American weekly science magazine write in the latest issue: "The virtual world, as early as 1932, the American writer Adous Huxley launched the long "Brave New World" in this concept, but what really made the word virtual world sensation in the United States is the famous Chinese science fiction writer Mr. Evan's latest masterpiece "Virtual Second World".

In this book, Mr. Evan hypothesizes that in the future, humans all over the world will be controlled by an intelligent brain, allowing their consciousness to enter the virtual world. The virtual world is said in a way that everyone can understand, that is, an illusory world dominated by human consciousness.

According to the article on cranial nerves written by neuromedical scientist Ryan Cleary in the preface of this book, we can learn that it is possible for humans to put consciousness into this virtual world, but only if there is a supercomputer that can carry human consciousness.

Science fiction writer Evan mentions this supercomputer in his book, but it's a futuristic technology he fantasizes about.

However, Dr. Wang also made a relevant statement in the latest interview, saying that the root of the computer is composed of 0 and 1, which is an infinite loop, and the latest computer in the United States cannot carry human consciousness, but in the future, it may not be able to carry human consciousness, so as to create a virtual second world such as the science fiction Evan proposed......"

...