In the afternoon, 1:30 p.m., the agreed time, the appointed occasion.

"Please forgive me for my presumptuousness." Dome bowed politely, "May I ask what kind of relationship Mr. Umihara and Oleg Dimitrievich have?" (Note: The way Dome addresses his teacher is by adding a name to the full patronymic, which is equivalent to a higher-level honorific, but not as close as the patronymic with a short name.) Generally, it is only used when facing elders and teachers. ）

Originally, I thought that my teacher was just an introducer, but when they were present at the same time, Dome found that the two were far more familiar than he thought, which made Dome have some doubts.

"Haiyuan is my junior, and he is an old friend. It's just that he didn't go into academia like I did, so most of the time we didn't have much in common. ”

Dome tilted her head cutely.

"It's just that I'm more self-aware, and I knew I wasn't this material when I was in college. Although I am not very willing, I have to admit that talent in the academic field is very important. I realized that I didn't have the talent for it, so I gave up on developing in this area and that's it. But Oleg Dimitri is still my senior, and that's not going to change. ”

"Really...... Don't you have talent......"

Listening to the man's self-admonition, Dome lowered his head slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.

"But when it comes to talent, you're completely different." The director of the nursing home interjected, "You deserve more access to education, which we can't do." ”

"Indeed,I don't deny that I do have this consideration.,After all, that's the nature of the school city.。 In all respects, it is the mission of the school city to create an environment that is most suitable for development in all aspects.,After all, that's the fastest way to achieve the goal.。 ”

"Is it the so-called 'understanding of Providence in a non-divine body'? Doesn't it seem too extravagant just for such a purpose? What if this goal cannot be achieved at all? ”

Dome shook her head, she didn't expect her to say this, and the three of them looked at each other.

"I think you might be misleading." In the end, it was Dome No's teacher who spoke, "For example, you know the famous 'Four Geometric Drawing Problems' in history, right? With your math skills, I don't think you need to explain too much. All four of the geometric drawing challenges turned out to be impossible, so are mathematicians wasting their time? No, not really. As you know, in the process, the field of mathematics has achieved great results, including conic curves and transcendent curves, and the significance of this is much more than the problems themselves. Indeed,'Understanding Providence in a Non-Divine Body' is the goal of School City.。 Both the students and those of us who study scientific theories are essentially in the service of this. But the goal is definitely not the goal. In my opinion, the goal is just a reason. What matters is not the goal as a result, but what is brought about by its process. The reason why the technology of the school city is about 30 years ahead of the outside world is not the goal that has not been achieved.,It's something gained in the process of pursuing this goal.,That's where the real purpose lies.。 ”

"'Science is like sex. Of course, it will lead to some results, but that's not why we should do it'. Is that so? ”

Burst!

The director of the nursing home, who was drinking tea, heard this sentence from Dome and squirted out a sip of tea on the spot.

The man looked at Dome No's teacher with a strange expression—in his opinion, the only way to let a little girl like Dome know this sentence was his old senior—and suddenly felt that this guy seemed to be seriously suspected of teaching bad children.

Although this is indeed a famous saying in physics, and the people who said it are quite large.

"Although what you say is true." Even Dome Nai's teacher looked a little embarrassed, he didn't remember the origin of the sentence he had introduced to Dome at all. "But for your age, it's better not to quote Feinman."

Dome nodded apologetically.

"So, can I ask Mr. Umihara one last question?"

"Yes, don't be too restrictive."

"Mr. Kaihara's father is the chairman of Tokiwadai, right? According to what you said before, it is the mission of Gakuen City to create an environment that is most suitable for development in all aspects, so why is there such an elite school as Tokiwadai? ”

(It can't be that coincidental, right?) ）

The man frowned. He took out a stack of documents from the bag he was carrying with him and handed it to Dome No.

"What is this?"

Dome took the information and flipped through it page by page. Gradually, surprise became the only expression on her delicate little face.

"It is a research institute, a teaching institution, and even a commercial institution that is connected to Tokiwadai. Or, to put it more clearly, it is the entire system with Tokiwadai as the core on the surface, and the huge structure driven by this system. Again, the results achieved by this system are listed here. You can imagine the cost of creating such a structure on its own initiative solely by unilateral force. ”

This information is too detailed to be true, and it is absolutely impossible to do without a certain amount of careful preparation. And compared to this information, the fact that the man prepared this information itself is the most amazing part. Obviously, Dome was aware of this, and she looked surprised and incredulous.

"I gave up physics, but I learned something else. Personally, I think the most important thing is that the change of the variable will increase the final amount in the form of multiplier acceleration, which is the mathematical expression of the 'multiplier effect'. In the field of chaotic dynamics in physics, there is also the concept that "the system accumulates errors and exhibits nonlinear amplification" (note: the mathematical expression of the "butterfly effect"), right? Indeed, it is ideal to create an environment that is best suited for development in all respects. But since it is the most ideal, it also means that we cannot achieve it on our own at present. So we have to rely on this way, let the real needs drive the whole system, not just on our own. That's not what we intended, it's just that we don't have the ability to get rid of it. ”

"But...... Is this model really beneficial in the long run? ”

For the first time, Dome seemed a little overwhelmed.

"It's a pity that 'in the long run, we're all going to die.'"

The man replied categorically.

“……”

"Dome." Dono's teacher interjected, "I don't know much about Kaihara, but I'll interject. Tokiwadai at least adheres to an insurmountable bottom line, and not long ago we denied admission to a member of the royal family, and even threatened to cause a diplomatic dispute because of it. You should know about this, right? ”

Oleg Dimitri pointed out the crux of the matter. Reality cannot be so idealized, and therefore the way to achieve it cannot be divorced from reality. There is nothing we can do about reality, we can only rely on reasonable rules to keep reality from derailing and let reality become the driving force. Don't try to think of solutions to short-term problems with long-term ideals, that would be fatally misleading. It's a compromise and I hope you can understand. What's more, logically, this is not too much of a problem, after all, the long term is the result of the accumulation of countless short periods. ”

Wait, what's going on? Why is this happening?

The director of the nursing home was dumbfounded, he had never encountered such a strange scene in his years of doing this work. He was the oldest of all the people here, but he was the only one of the four who didn't understand anything from beginning to end. Could it be that I am attending some kind of lecture?

"Now, then, tell me, what is your answer?"

Dome straightened up and bowed deeply to the man.

"Thank you very much for your advice." She paused for a moment, "Father......"

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

"Thank you, Haiyuan."

Sitting on the couch in the director's room, Dono's teacher handed the man a cup of coffee.

"Oh, thanks. I always feel unusually tired. ”

"Haha, that's how special that kid is. Do you know? When I first met her, she actually argued with me about the perturbation calculations for an afternoon, and I don't even know where she learned this. ”

"No...... I feel like she should have accepted it a long time ago. Her actions are probably just looking for a reason to convince herself. The man said as he gently stirred the coffee spoon.

Dono's teacher sat down next to the man.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know what she's thinking, but I can probably guess what she thinks. Before I decided to give up physics, there was a time when I stubbornly persevered even though I knew that the road ahead was not pretty. It's not that you don't know enough about yourself, it's just that people often don't convince themselves so easily, even if they just want to have a good reason to accept it. For me at the time, that reason was you. When I realized that I would never be able to catch up with you anyway, I was able to accept this choice more calmly. I feel like she's the same now, though she probably can't have had a similar experience to me, who knows. ”

"So, you really have a father-daughter statue. But Umihara, I have to remind you of something. ”

"What's the matter? Oleg Dimitri. ”

"It's just a gut feeling on my part. The kid may be just looking for a reason to convince himself, but I don't think that's all there is to it, you should feel it, right? You've created a theory that she can choose to believe, and what are you going to do if that theory ends up going wrong in reality? ”

"Honestly, there's no way. This is not my theory, but the wisdom of great men. Attempts to challenge this theory have failed, do you think I'll find a solution? ”

"That's pretty damn." Dome No's teacher took a sip of coffee, "Then again, your preparation really scared me, this thing." ”

The teacher of the dome picked up the document related to Tokiwadai and shook it gently.

“……”

The man's expression was a little weird.

"What's wrong? Did I say anything strange? ”

"No, it's not you who are strange." The man said, "This document was prepared by my father and deliberately asked me to bring it. I don't know why, as if he had already guessed that this would happen. ”

"Just kidding, how could that happen? That's definitely thinking too much, and the chairman should just want you to introduce more things to her, haha......"

"Is it impossible?" The man sealed his mouth with coffee.

If a coincidence happens many times in a row, it must be inevitable.

At least, that's what men think.