When poor novelists describe new characters, they will habitually start from the description of appearance, and in the description of appearance, the most intuitive parameter is height.
This kind of writer can only draw in blank lines, so it is clumsy.
…
The total amount of matter on the earth is limited.
The total amount of matter in the solar system is also limited.
The sun can continue to burn for another four billion years, but the time left for humans is actually much shorter.
Suppose that humans have never been able to master the key technologies of star navigation such as star mass energy extraction, human cryonics, medium-free flight and controllable nuclear fusion, but have reached the point where they have to forcibly immigrate to another planetary system.
And if humans must build an ecological cycle spacecraft powered by a working medium engine to span the 4.2 light-year distance between the Earth and Proxima Centauri. This spacecraft must also carry enough space to help at least 160 people take root on a planet with an unknown environment.
technology and materials.
At the same time, this immigrant tribe must be able to reproduce from generation to generation in a closed space with difficulty until it takes root.
Then the size of this spacecraft carrying the fire of civilization will be unimaginable. To propel it like a snail to stagger across a distance of 4.2 light-years will consume an unimaginable amount of energy and mass.
Is it possible to build such a spacecraft in the lifetime of human civilization?
Will this spacecraft use up all the metal in the solar system and use up the last bit of productivity that the entire human civilization needs to move forward?
But what if human height is reduced to one-twentieth of its current size and body size is reduced to the size of a mouse?
Difficulty reduced four hundred times?
…
Zhou You, height 172.9cm, male, age 24, bachelor's degree.
He is an ordinary person who will be drowned on the spot if thrown into a crowd.
At less than 1.73 meters tall, I can't say that I am disabled, but in this day and age, I am almost semi-disabled.
Maybe the more people lack something, the more they care about it.
He didn't understand why after combining the genes of his father, who was 1.83 meters tall, and his mother, who was 1.67 meters tall, they would condense into a 1.73 meter self.
If it weren't for the stubble and slightly naturally curly hair inherited from his father, and the fact that his mother and grandfather had gray hair at a young age, which proved his pure bloodline, he really wanted to secretly take a paternity test to verify it.
Are you your own biological child?
Because of his obsession with height, Zhou You has developed a habit since he was sixteen years old, measuring his height after getting up every day.
He longs for miracles and longs to encounter the legendary secondary development.
But in the blink of an eye, he had graduated from college and was over 24 years old, and the miracle did not happen.
Since he passed the growth period and was admitted to college at the age of nineteen, his height has not increased by even 1 millimeter.
Despite this, he has continued this habit to this day.
This morning, he got up early, washed and dried his hair, and prepared to walk out of the room with full enthusiasm and go to the company.
By the way, although he is just an undergraduate who has just graduated and has been working for less than a year, this house belongs to him.
In his junior year of college, my traveling father came to Rongcheng with 430,000 yuan. He paid 50% of the down payment and bought a house in Nuanshui District, a satellite city 15 kilometers away from Rongcheng, for a total price of 860,000 yuan.
This is a small set of 90 square meters.
The decoration of this house cost 160,000 yuan, and he handled the entire decoration process by himself, including design, purchasing materials, finding workers, supervising work, and acceptance inspection.
While Zhou You was studying in his senior year, he often rode a battery-powered scooter to the construction sites. He worked for seven or eight months, barely finishing the project three months before graduation, but he moved in right after graduation.
Decoration may be a problem for ordinary college students, but as long as they are willing to use their brains, check the information on their own, visit several decoration companies and building materials stores, and talk pretentiously for a few rounds, they can always get what they want.
You need the information you need, and then use tables to integrate this information, analyze it piece by piece, integrate your thinking, and then go online to read more tips on decorating pitfalls shared by self-media people, and you can always get it done.
This is exactly what Zhouyou is good at.
For Zhou You, who has been very independent since he was a child, simple decoration is nothing. After all, he has been away from home to study abroad since he was eleven years old. He became self-reliant too early and matured too early. It is hard to say whether he is lucky or unlucky.
He has lived there for nearly a year now, and apart from the slightly longer commuting distance to work, there are no other shortcomings.
Before going out, Zhou You turned his head and saw the vertical height and weight scale placed next to the dressing mirror at the door.
This thing has been listed on a second-hand website by him.
If it weren't for the buyer's ruthless knife skills, it would have been couriered out yesterday.
Yes, he was desperate.
He decided to let go and accept the tragic fate of being short and short.
Forget it, the last time.
Zhou You gritted his teeth and made up his mind.
From now on, I will never measure my height again.
He took off his shoes and socks, stood on the weighing platform, picked up the height ruler, raised it above his head, and slowly pressed it down until his hair was flattened.
Then, he didn't even want to look up at the data.
There is no doubt that it is still 172.9.
It has been like this since four years ago.
What's the suspense? What's the difference between watching it and not watching it?
But his long-standing habit still made him raise his eyelids a little.
Um?
There are changes.
But why is it 172.8?
Zhou You put his fingers firmly on the height ruler and shook his head violently, thinking that he had made a mistake. After calming down for a while, he stared at it again.
Instead of growing even a little taller, I actually became a millimeter shorter.
There must be something wrong!
Zhou You is actually a very calm person at ordinary times, and he can always handle things properly and analytically when he encounters them.
He also has a very careful plan for his life, and so far every step has been taken steadily. However, due to his parents, height has become his obsession, and he cannot get rid of it or throw it away.
Lose.
Now he had made the rare determination to quit his only bad habit, but unexpectedly he got a slap in the face.
This was really hard for him to understand and he couldn't let it go for a long time.
Finally, before going out, I sighed and thought to myself that it might be an accidental error, and I will measure it again tomorrow.
He took the scale off a second-hand website.
Fifteen minutes later, the traveling car drove out of the community and then parked on the side of the road.
As soon as it came to a stop, the passenger door opened and a girl with a ponytail sat in.
The girl is wearing a white bud collar shirt, black slim pants, and a pair of red running shoes today.
Her name is Shen Ling, she is not Youyou’s girlfriend, but a colleague.
After Shen Ling got in the car, she stood up and put a large square box in the back from the gap between the driver's seat and the passenger seat.
Zhou You glanced sideways and said while starting the car: "Oh, business is booming! I sent another one. Wow! 3080Ti! Flagship card, you made a lot of money, right?"
Shen Ling put on her seat belt and raised her eyebrows, "Of course, what's wrong with the recent mining disaster? It's inevitable that someone will overturn when buying a mining card, and there's no warranty, so it's easy to get into trouble. I'm here to help these people solve their problems."
"Besides, if I don't use my spare time to make some money, how can I support you?" As she said that, Shen Ling took out her mobile phone and transferred two hundred yuan to Zhouyou's WeChat, and then said: "I transferred you, and you can use WeChat later. Remember to collect it.”
"Put it down!" Zhou Youlian rolled his eyes, "This is the fare! It's the sharing economy, shared gas money! What do you mean you support me?"
"Friend, your extended-range hybrid is powered by electricity. It only costs more than 10 cents per kilometer. It costs less than 10 yuan for a round trip a day. I'll cover it for you."
Zhou You smiled and said: "Last month I said I would take you one hundred a month, but you have to pay two hundred yourself. It's too late to regret it now."
"I'm kidding you, taking the bus to the subway costs 16 yuan for a round trip a day, which works out to more than 300 yuan a month. It's faster to take your car, so I'm embarrassed to pay only 100 yuan."
"You have a conscience," Zhou You hummed, and then asked: "By the way, Shen Ling, do you think repairing a graphics card is difficult?"
"Why, you want to eat this food too?" Shen Ling shook her head, "It's not difficult, it's quite easy."
Zhou You: "Actually, sometimes I feel quite puzzled. You said that you are a lesbian and you did not study this major, so why do you like to do this?"
What you said about Zhou You actually didn’t tell the whole story.
Although Shen Ling has always been bare-faced, she is close to 1.7 meters tall and has delicate facial features. She looks like those bourgeoisie white-collar workers in TV dramas who sit in cafes and drink coffee with their orchid fingers. Who would have thought that this person would look like that? It's against the rules to stay at home after work and work on integrated circuit boards with a soldering iron.
What's even more outrageous is that although Shen Ling is the same age as Zhou You, she is an academic beast who completed her undergraduate degree in three years and her graduate degree in two years.
I heard that she is planning to get a doctorate degree from the University of California, but it is unlikely that she will go abroad to study in two years.
Shen Ling seemed to be recalling something, and said with a smile, "Because my dad, since he was a child, he liked to tinker with radios, TVs, washing machines and the like. Whenever he saw a broken machine, he wanted to fix it himself. My mom often I joked with him, saying that he shouldn't be sitting in an office in a bank, but should be working on chips or something. With his help, maybe our country can overcome the foreign chip blockade!"
Zhou Youyue was happy and asked: "Then what did your father answer?"
"He!" Shen Ling also laughed, "My dad said that men are afraid of getting into the wrong profession. Doesn't this mean that he is in the wrong profession? It's all because of my grandpa's misbehavior. My mother immediately asked him if he was in the wrong profession. What is the implication? The next sentence is that the girl is afraid of marrying the wrong man. The two of them started to quarrel."
"It's really fun."
In the workshop, the two of them chatted casually from time to time.
While driving around, Shen Ling lowered her head and looked at her phone, chatting from time to time.
There have been some rumors in the company recently that the two of them are in love.
Of course, both Zhou You and Shen Ling knew that was not the case.
Zhou You feels that at least there is no good feeling between men and women between the two of them, they are just friends, and there is no overstepping. He is magnanimous and fearless in his heart, allowing others to gossip about him.
This is not to say that Shen Ling is not beautiful or attractive, nor is it that Zhou You has no desire to become a Buddha. It is just that Zhou You feels that rabbits don't eat grass beside their nests.
Besides, the matter of fate is not very clear.
If he really wants to fall in love and find a girlfriend, it won't be difficult.
Zhou You didn't know what Shen Ling thought about this, so he didn't ask.
He doesn't care.
Halfway through the car, Shen Ling suddenly said happily: "This article is really interesting."
"What does the article say?"
Shen Ling pointed to the phone screen, "The article made an assumption, saying that the human brain is less than 10% developed anyway, so less than one billion neuron cells can carry all human thoughts, even if a human being The size of the brain can be reduced to one-tenth or even one-twentieth of its current size, but people will still be as smart."
Zhou You shook his head, "Isn't this nonsense? Those patients with brain atrophy have something to say. Dementia, memory loss, behavioral disorders, etc., aren't these nothing?"
"That's true, but the author of the article cited many specious theories to support it. He believes that human thinking and memory have quantum characteristics, rather than being determined by simple chemical characteristics. There are still many unsolved problems in the microphysical world at the quantum level. Human brain thinking is one of the mysteries. Human intelligence cannot be summarized simply by brain volume and cell number. For example, the brain of a whale is larger and heavier than the human brain, but it does not form the same structure as humans. wisdom."
Zhou You continued to shake his head, "But the human brain has more than 10 billion neurons in the cerebral cortex alone. Counting the number of internal neurons, the total number reaches 100 billion, while whales only have 20 billion. That's why whales have larger brains. , but the number of neurons is smaller because the individual neurons of whales are larger. In short, the human brain is quite special, and this is the fundamental reason that distinguishes us from ordinary animals."
Shen Ling thought for a while, "That's right, so there is indeed a loophole in this article. At least one billion neurons are not enough, and the author just took half of it and ran away. But let's think about it differently. Let's first assume that human neurons The essence of cells is also a kind of bacteria. In terms of evolution, it is possible for organisms to become smaller as they evolve. If human neurons evolve in the direction of smaller sizes in the future and become ten times or even dozens of times smaller than they are now, But if the total amount remains unchanged, then humans can indeed carry all their memories with a fingernail or even a pea-sized brain. You know, the smallest bacteria are only fifty nanometers in diameter, which is smaller than many viruses."
Zhou You also thought about it and said, "That's right, we can't deny this possibility."
"Hey, tell me, if this happens, what do you think will happen to mankind in the future?"
Zhou You smiled and said, "First of all, if the brain also becomes smaller, then humans will naturally no longer need such a large body. In addition, I am sure that people's thinking and reaction speed will become faster."
Shen Ling hummed, "Yes, the size is smaller, the nerve signal transmission path is also shortened, and the information transmission speed is accelerated."
Zhou You: "Just like the computer chip manufacturing process, the smaller the process, the stronger the computing power, but the lower the energy consumption."
Shen Ling suddenly became fascinated, "Then this is a good thing for today's human beings."
Zhou You: "Ha, it's not a good thing for us. We are the first to lose our jobs."
"That's right, we are engaged in environmental protection. The essence of so-called environmental pollution is that human activities have a great impact on the natural environment, threatening the balance and stability of the entire ecological environment. This is especially obvious in the discharge of domestic sewage, but The same is true for industrial wastewater. If the size of human beings shrinks, the consumption of materials and the production of additional products such as garbage, wastewater, and gas also shrink in proportion, and we will naturally be unemployed."
Another red light turned green. Zhou You stepped on the accelerator, and the extended-range hybrid motor started smoothly. The car continued to move forward, but Zhou You thought of another question, "According to this reasoning, mice may actually become intelligent life forms." .”
"How do you know that rats are not intelligent?" Shen Ling became interested again, "How do you know what rats think? Maybe, in the eyes of rats, humans are just non-intelligent beings like elephants. .It’s just that humans are more dangerous to rats than elephants are to humans. Humans have more ways to endanger the lives of rats. But humans can also provide resources to rats, such as rats that successfully hide in barns and kill them. After their thoughts are anthropomorphized, they must think that stupid humans like us will give us food.”
It was fun to travel around, "It's really possible. Maybe what the mice lack is just a complete language system and writing."
Shen Ling: "Yes, if you think about it from the perspective of a mouse, you can completely regard some of human's rodent eradication behaviors as natural disasters and as normal behaviors of nature. Even if you accidentally eat the poisonous rat poison put by humans, you will be killed. Even if we die, the logic of this matter can be attributed to the laws of nature. Anyway, with the super reproductive ability and survival ability of rats, they will never be completely exterminated by humans. As long as the species is not extinct, they are justified."
Zhou You: "I bet that if there is another mass extinction of species caused by a meteorite impact on the earth, all medium and large animals will be gone. After waiting for tens of millions or hundreds of millions of years, the next generation of intelligent life on the earth will be 10% It's probably a rat."
Shen Ling also began to check the information, and said while checking: "Don't say it, if mice really get a more complex brain structure in the future, and become intelligent life while maintaining their current body shape, then with the reproductive ability of mice, As well as lower individual consumption, I think they have more potential than us. Assuming that the earth can only support a maximum of 20 billion humans, converted into mice, the number would have to be increased at least four to five hundred times, reaching one trillion. Then this How many scientist rats can be found in it?”
Zhou You hummed, "Also, with the consumption of a single mouse and the ability to hibernate, as long as it can reach the current total social productivity of mankind, it will be possible to exhaust the existing resources immediately and build a building that can carry the minimum population. The tribe will fly to the Centaur ecological spaceship in about a thousand years, even if it only uses the power system on Tianwen-1."
"Hey, look at what you said, I'm even envious of mice."
…
The two of them chatted nonchalantly, and forty-five minutes later, they arrived at the company.
This kind of small talk made Zhou You forget about his height.
Everyone was still busy during the day. In the afternoon, Shen Ling came to Zhou You's work station and asked first: "How did you do with the feasibility study report on the transformation of Fuyuan Pig Farm?"
Zhou You replied: "I passed the review in the morning and call it a day."
Shen Ling: "Then you have nothing to do recently, right?"
Zhou You pointed at the computer screen.
On the screen was a paper titled "Research Progress in Microbial Pharmaceutical Wastewater Treatment Technology."
He shrugged and said: "The business department is talking about the mid-section wastewater treatment and renovation project of a pharmaceutical factory in Miancheng City. They are working on it. I will probably go on a business trip next week to conduct on-site exploration, and then I will get busy. This Teacher Ci Zhong plans to let me take full responsibility for everything from the feasibility study report to the process flow to engineering design and on-site construction guidance. It will be a big job."
Shen Ling hesitated for a moment, "Well, are you busy this week?"
"Just a little finishing work this week, I'm not busy, what's wrong?"
Shen Ling seemed a little hesitant, "In the past two days, Lao Liang, the vice president of the business department, wants to take me on a business trip to Yicheng City to conduct an on-site survey of the production and discharge of papermaking wastewater in each section of Yicheng Paper. Yicheng Paper has to invest 80 million. We are responsible for the design of the renovation of the sewage treatment station. There is a laboratory there, and after on-site sampling, the tests are done there, and the results are obtained on-site, so we have to stay overnight. I said that I am too busy alone, and I want to ask someone to go with me. Are you right? Laboratory and paper-making companies are all in trouble, so..."
Zhou You raised his head, stretched his neck and looked at the office of the deputy general manager of the business department at the far end of the hall, giving Shen Ling a look that instantly understood.
"Okay, I'm going to talk to Teacher Zhong right now. Yicheng Paper has a big deal, so I'll have a drink with you."
Shen Ling secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. But I have already asked Teacher Zhong, and he said that there is no problem with him. It mainly depends on your own opinion. After all, you have been very busy recently. You have just been commissioned as the backbone of the business, not a project. The manager's job is also the manager's job. Speaking of which, you are quite good. It is really rare that an undergraduate who has just joined the company for less than a year can lead a project independently."
"Teacher Zhong is a good person, willing to teach and not hiding anything. You don't know that in the first two months after I came here, Teacher Zhong sprayed me every day."
"That's because Teacher Zhong really regards you as a closed disciple, and of course you learn quickly."
"If you don't repair graphics cards and don't work as a graphics card repair girl at Station B, you can learn faster than me," Zhou You suddenly lowered his voice, "Since Teacher Zhong knows that I am busy, but is still willing to lend me to you, it must be him I also know Mr. Liang’s urinary nature.”
"Probably so."
"Forget it, don't think so much, and don't be afraid. This kind of person is a person who has a heart but no courage, a trick in the brain, and wants to make money. Isn't it nice to go to study art and film and television? There is no risk, and it is not expensive. Live. It’s okay. I have to do these weird and crazy things in the company. If something happens, sooner or later I will be sent to other provinces to expand business.”
"Keep your voice down. Actually, Mr. Liang didn't do anything to me. I don't think that's necessarily the case. It might be a misunderstanding."
Zhou You shook his finger, "You don't understand, man. Oh, by the way, I helped you this time. Originally, I had to get at least five or six thousand in project commission to take this kind of job, but Mr. Liang definitely had to give it to me. The cost is at most 3,000. You can help me get a cheap 3070 mining card as compensation someday. I’m still using the 960 I bought in college, and I can’t carry the 3A masterpiece anymore.”
"Okay, okay! Why don't you give me one for free?"
"Covered with white cloth?"
"Uh, it's true."
"You..."
"But I connected an external capacitor board and rescued it, but no one wanted it because it didn't look good. But it definitely works and it won't burn the motherboard. Can't I give you a warranty?"
"make a deal."
…
In the evening, Zhou You first took Shen Ling to the door of her community, then turned left and then left again, and returned to the door of his own community. However, the parking pole that was supposed to lift automatically was broken.
Zhou You honked the horn, rolled down the window, and shouted: "Please open the door."
The guard in the guard box at the door, Old Wei, craned his neck and took a look. When he saw it was Zhou You, he pressed the switch and said with a smile: "Hey, Xiao Zhou, when are you going to take your girlfriend home? Let her go to her home." It's inappropriate to stand there waiting for you every morning."
"But shut up, how many times have I told you that she's not my girlfriend, she's a colleague! She's just a colleague!"
"Hey, we are colleagues now, but I can't say for sure in the future. I think you two are a good match. The man is handsome and the woman is good-looking. It's a good match. Seize the opportunity."
"Go, go, open the door."
Back then, Zhou You was doing the decoration by himself, and he often led the decoration team in and out. He was quite familiar with the doorman, Wei, and could joke around from time to time.
Lao Wei is a nice person. One time Zhou You bought a computer desk for himself, but it was too big to fit in the elevator. Lao Wei helped Zhou You and the porter take the stairs to the third floor.
However, the good mood after traveling all day broke apart the moment after returning home.
Weighing scale, measure height.
169.3 cm.
You walked to the balcony, looked up at the stars, and your mind was filled with confusion.
He doesn't understand.
His scientific outlook suffered a huge impact.
Of course he knew that people's height would change morning and evening. When they get up in the morning, they will be about 2 to 3 centimeters taller than before going to bed.
But after a whole day, I lost a full 3.5 centimeters.