In the winter of 03, the biggest snow in my memory was that winter, of course, it may also be because of the reason why I followed my uncle in the car that year.

"The story... You should take it as a story," the uncle muttered for a moment and lit a cigarette.

The people in the car immediately laughed: "Do you think we will take it seriously when you say that?"

The uncle raised his eyebrows, noncommittal.

In late July, Uncle went to City C, the people in City C are not happy, and the humidity is heavy in the basin, and eating spicy food can also dispel moisture, but the taste is light.

When the car stopped at the station, the uncle hurriedly ordered a few words to park the car and so on, and hurried around to find restaurants and restaurants.

There was a lot of food on the street, and the uncle thought about it for a while, but he still found a small noodle restaurant and sat down, but before he could say the phrase "less spicy", the waiter had already served the noodles on the table.

It's the first time that Uncle has been so disgusted by the fact that the meal is served too quickly.

When the uncle was so spicy that he slapped the table and inhaled in tears, an old man with a smile sat next to him.

"The lad is not a local, is he?"

The old man looked at the uncle's embarrassment and smiled very happily, gave the uncle half a cup of tea, and unscrewed his own cup to fill the uncle's teacup.

When people are out of shape, they can rarely think carefully, especially when the uncle is spicy like this, he took the teacup and poured it down, it is strange to say, the tea has just been eaten, and the uncle who has just been spicy and drooling immediately feels that the hot stinging sensation in his mouth has disappeared.

"How's it going, isn't it much more comfortable," the old man asked with a smile on his face.

"How did you do that?" The uncle looked at the teacup in the old man's hand, and the comfort in his mouth made him feel a little fantastical for a while.

"Hehe, it's just a little skill of carving insects, I'm the chief professor of biology at C University, and I've been studying these things in recent years, and my surname is Chen." The old man said.

As soon as he heard that it was a scientific researcher, the uncle didn't have time to wipe off the spicy sweat on his forehead and quickly stood up, and said apologetically: "Disrespectful and disrespectful, Old Chen, you... Ah, rudeness, I mean, can I ask what the direction of your research is? That cup of tea you just had was amazing. ”

Speaking of professional things, Chen Lao's eyes immediately lit up: "I am researching a scientific research project that can make the best development of all mankind, it can be said that it is a relatively secret scientific research project!" ”

As soon as he heard that it was a secret project, Uncle knew that he couldn't ask too much, and he didn't know what to say for a while! After all, the person in charge of many secret scientific research projects is protected and monitored throughout the whole process, and the uncle is afraid that he will be dragged away as a spy if he says the wrong thing.

Old Chen seemed to see his doubts, and hurriedly said, "It's nothing, just ask whatever you want!" Although it is a secret project, I can still reveal some superficial things, don't worry! ”

"Huh?" Uncle was a little angry at the moment, but because of Chen's so-called professor title and the magic of the cup of tea just now, Uncle didn't express his emotions in person.

Chen Lao smiled: "The young man doesn't believe it? Think I'm whimsical? ”

The uncle was vague, it was not good to say, it was not good not to say it, so he could only be silent and vague.

"Copernicus was treated as a heretic when he proposed heliocentrism, and he was almost burned at the stake, but time has proven that he was right after all," Chen Lao's expression was a little excited, "Besides, I'm already halfway there!" ”

"Old Chen, that, what are you studying?" Uncle picked up his chopsticks again and began to try to continue trying to challenge the red-glowing noodles in the bowl, and he had already begun to wonder if the patients of the psychiatric hospital had escaped.

Scientists should have a common problem, that is, no matter how crazy and out of shape their daily life is, as long as they touch the knowledge of the relevant field, they will become very rational and calm, Chen Lao is such a person, his expression is very serious: "Have you ever heard of the ship of Theseus"

Perhaps it was this professional look that shocked the uncle, he stopped the chopsticks in his hand and thought seriously for a while: "I'm not too impressed... I remember it seems like a paradox? Wouldn't it be a little too unrealistic for you to do something with paradoxes, and besides, didn't you say that you were a biology professor? Then you should pay more attention to the actual science! ”

"What is a paradox?" Before he finished speaking, Uncle Chen interrupted, his expression became more and more serious, he took two discs, "Deduce two different and opposing conclusions in the same proposition, and both of these conclusions can be justified, this is a paradox, but now too many people simply think that the paradox is wrong, and the false proposition that cannot stand is not at all!" ”

Uncle didn't say anything about what he thought, maybe these words can be easily understood by people now, but more than ten years ago, the level of information and technology was not as developed as it is now, thanks to Uncle Xiao's highly educated, he can fully understand the meaning of Chen Lao's words.

"You mean... Your research results... Was it done according to that paradox? Uncle asked after organizing the language.

"The ship of Theseus, also known as the Theseus paradox, is a question posed by Plutarch in the first century A.D.: If a ship has been sailing for decades and the parts in the ship need to be replaced, so we refurbish it and replace the parts, then the ship that was originally called Theseus is still Theseus?"

Uncle thought for a while: "This is indeed a paradox, if I understand it well, this should be close to the nature of my grandfather's axe... But Mr. Chen, the research you said"

Chen Lao unscrewed the teacup in his hand and stared at the uncle: "Then let me ask you, do you think this ship, is it still Theseus?" ”

The uncle was stunned: "Huh? I think... It's still. ”

"Then if all the hardware equipment of the hull is replaced from head to toe, and every inch of parts is replaced with new ones, then this ship, is he still Theseus?"

Uncle thought for a while and shook his head: "That's not it, Theseus has been replaced"

"And where's Theseus?"

"Gone?"

Chen Laoyi clapped his hands: "It's still there, and it's been reborn, it's still Theseus!" ”

Uncle didn't want to argue with him about this kind of philosophical question, so he simply waved his hand: "Yes, Old Chen, what you said is right... Wait a minute! Uncle suddenly raised his head, "So what did you say..."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Old Chen's face was full of red light, "If Theseus can be reborn in this way, then why can't humans?" ”

The uncle's reaction was quick: "But, Theseus is just a ship, isn't he?" ”

"Whether it's stone, wood, water, or the body, from a microscopic point of view, these things are just different combinations of molecules, they are essentially the same thing, but the composition of the human body is more cumbersome, or with the current level of technology, it is not possible to completely control these things..."

The long-distance bus at night gradually quieted down, probably because the story required too much knowledge and seemed boring, although the uncle tried his best to speak in an easy-to-understand manner, many people had already snored slightly with their sleeves, and I was also confused at the time, after all, I was only a bear child in elementary school at the age of eight or nine.

I don't know when the snow has fallen outside the car window, the uncle flicked off the half-length cigarette ash in his hand, took another puff, and no matter whether anyone continued to listen or not, he began to talk by himself.

"But I succeeded!" Old Chen's eyes widened with anger, and his expression could even be described as hideous, "I have touched, the exploration of the so-called 'God's Forbidden Zone', this is just one of them, you can even say that this is the key to the 'God's Forbidden Zone', what will happen if we compare humans to the ship of Theseus and update the broken parts?" ”

Uncle was stunned, his heart was a little roaring at this time, because he had already begun to imagine uncontrollably - cloning, organ transplantation, stand-ins, immortals...

Old Chen didn't pay attention to the uncle and said to himself: "What's more, you can complete the development of the human body and truly sweep away the fog of the 'God's Forbidden Zone'!" ”

Uncle faintly felt that something was not right, but he was too embarrassed to leave, so he had to listen hard, although Chen Lao looked kind, but in the eyes of Uncle Xiao, he had become some kind of extremism and paranoia.

"God's forbidden area", the human brain, this is the most difficult thing to develop since the beginning of human civilization, after all, Uncle Xiao's culture still understands these things, but it is only limited to understanding, and has not considered these things in depth.

(According to scientists, only 10% of human brain cells are used, even those geniuses in the field of science and technology such as Albert Einstein and others only use 20%, and more than 70% of brain cells are dormant.) For a long time, people somehow, so they pretended that it was sealed by the hand of God, lest human beings be too clever and break many taboos in the heavenly realm, so it is customary to call this part of the uncultivated brain area "God's forbidden area")

The emotional Chen Lao suddenly quieted down: "Young man, you must not believe me."

Uncle snorted and didn't answer.

"Otherwise, boy... Do you taste the peppers in the bowl again? Chen Lao smiled and gestured to the uncle.

Couldn't help it, the uncle shifted his gaze to Chen Lao's cup, and he was a little convinced at this time, so he lifted the chopsticks again and clamped the chopsticks...... Then he began to slap the table spicily, until Chen Lao poured the tea from his teacup again.

"You can't eat spicy, it has something to do with your tongue, you can understand that your tongue is broken, and the tea in my cup is regarded as a replacement part, it changes your tongue better, so as to adapt to this spiciness, if you eat spicy and easy to diarrhea, I can also replace your intestines, of course, this is only temporary, if it is replaced forever, it is not just as simple as needing a cup of tea...... In a sense, this approach is what I call the key to exploring the 'forbidden zone of God'. ”

Uncle looked up at Mr. Chen, in the Sichuan restaurant where people came and went, the uncle who had just been sweating with spicy hair suddenly felt a little chilly, and he was not in the mood to eat at all, so he hurriedly got up to check out and left the restaurant, perhaps out of the loneliness of not being understood, Chen Lao sighed and disappeared silently in the crowd.

In the surging flow of people, no one noticed the news on TV - "According to this station, at 7:32 a.m. yesterday, someone found a corpse in the chemical plant in Chengdong District, the body was highly decomposed, and it was confirmed through DNA information database comparison that it was Chen X, the chief professor of biology of XXX Academy... At present, it has been judged to be a vicious homicide, and the serious crime team has begun to investigate, and the public who have information is welcome to provide us with useful information. ”

The snow is getting heavier and heavier, and the surrounding area is white and expansive, and the driver has to slow down: "Ge Laozidi, this look is going to be late again, and I am very angry."

Uncle popped the cigarette butt out of the window, pulled out a military coat from the small warehouse under the driver's seat, wrapped me tightly in my sleep, and curled up and began to pretend to sleep, except for the sound of car engines, the only thing left in the world was the rustle of snow falling to the ground.

Is the second ship of Theseus still called Theseus?