Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 111 - 112: The Mediocrity Principle

Chapter 111: Chapter 112: The Mediocrity Principle

The New Civilization School, since its inception, has been grounded in a primary theoretical cornerstone — the “Mediocrity Principle.”

The essence of this is summarized in one word: mediocrity.

Large as the entire Milky Way, or as small as a single cell, the high likelihood is that they are all mediocre.

Here’s a simple example: Earth, an ordinary rocky planet in the Solar System. Earth is not the center of the Solar System, nor is it the center of the universe. There are many planets like Earth throughout the universe.

The Sun is also just an ordinary star within the Milky Way, with countless similar dwarf yellow stars.

The Milky Way is merely a common spiral galaxy in the universe.

This also leads to another conclusion, that is, our position in the universe, as well as the stage of evolution we are in, is mediocre.

The Mediocrity Principle is so profound that it can be applied to all facets of life.

How do humans study the lifecycle of bacterial survival and development?

A single photograph on a petri dish does the job, already inscribed with the births and deaths of bacteria. Because they are all ordinary, their lifetimes are similar.

The same goes for taking a photograph casually on a crowded street, where most people in the picture are ordinary.

If an alien civilization with a vastly higher level wanted to study human culture and understand human lifestyles, they wouldn’t need to focus on a single person’s entire life, as that would be too time-consuming. Instead, they would merely need to collect as much human data as possible at the same moment.

Why?

Because the lives of the vast majority of people are mediocre, and their life trajectories are similar. Collecting other people’s data allows one to predict a particular person’s lifestyle.

Moving on, let’s expand this conclusion to some more abstract concepts.

Take, for instance, civilization.

Look in any direction, and billions of stars are visible.

It can be boldly predicted that these stars are mediocre, ordinary.

What about the civilizations within them?

They are probably mediocre; there is no need to imagine aliens as exceptional. It can be boldly predicted that many of these civilizations may not even surpass human civilization.

So, what about human civilization?

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We must admit, humans are most likely an ordinary civilization. Indeed, history has seen many great figures, from the ancient Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Shakyamuni, and Muhammad to more recent figures like Lincoln, Mao, Newton, and Einstein.

But within the grandeur of the universe, they are merely common, and all events follow the natural laws of history itself. Great individuals indeed have driven the times, but the times have, in turn, cultivated great individuals.

There is no evidence to suggest that humans are extraordinary.

It must be said, this is a very disheartening prediction.

So, what kind of civilization is an extraordinary one?

The civilization that attempted to build a Dyson Sphere around Tabby Star is likely an extraordinary civilization.

Any ordinary civilization can realize that the Tabi Civilization’s strengths and uniqueness.

A Dyson Sphere, with its massive engineering scale, is something humans could not achieve even if they were a billion or a hundred billion times stronger.

Here is the final question.

How can human civilization become extraordinary?

The answer is: we don’t know.

The observable extraordinary samples are too few, and the New Civilization School cannot make any calculations.

But undoubtedly, human civilization has done something extraordinary.

That is — launching the Earth Era identifier!

From a probability standpoint, an ordinary civilization usually would not undertake such seemingly costly and “pointless” endeavors. Otherwise, human civilization would have observed more “ordinary” activities from alien civilizations, contradicting existing facts.

…

Time drifted slowly by as Zhang Yuan opened his eyes.

For quite a while, his entire head was in a state of chaos.

“He’s awake, he’s awake!”

“Hey… can you hear me talking?”

It was as if someone was calling out to him nearby, the voice reaching his ears from the distant horizon.

As his body temperature gradually returned, Zhang Yuan’s will slowly became clear. The sensation was uncomfortable, akin to being suddenly woken from a deep sleep yet with a brain that wasn’t fully alert, unable to move, only with his muscles instinctively twitching.

“Mr. Zhang Yuan, you have been asleep for 183 years, it’s time to wake up…”

“Give him a bit of adrenaline.”

After a good while, Zhang Yuan’s eyes moved slightly, and his neck twisted a bit.

Instinctively looking around, he saw the bright lights on the ceiling, tubes piercing his arm, with nutrient solutions hanging above.

On the bedside table next to him was a medical device monitoring his health.

The whole environment seemed somewhat familiar.

The display screen above showed a line of numbers: 2448.11.13, 12:20.

In the adjacent bed were a few people who had also just been awakened from hibernation.

Standing beside him was a nurse wearing a mask, who softly said, “Mr. Zhang Yuan, hello, this is Hospital A area. You’ve been asleep for 183 years, just awoken from hibernation; don’t worry, if you feel tired, you can continue to sleep for a while.”

Hibernation was somewhat different from normal sleep; although he had been asleep for 183 years, Zhang Yuan still felt extremely tired and unable to think about anything.

This time, he slept for another three days.

Nourished by the nutrient solution, he had slowly regained his health.

“Miss Mary, thank you. May I have some beef jerky?” Zhang Yuan asked in a hoarse voice while lying on the hospital bed.

“You can’t have beef jerky just yet. For the next few days, you can only eat probiotics to restore your intestinal health, along with some porridge.”

The nurse said with a smile, “You might be the most gluttonous patient I’ve ever seen. Usually, people wake up and ask what has happened in the past hundred years…”

Zhang Yuan felt a bit uneasy.

He very much wanted to know too.

But he was somewhat afraid, slightly reluctant to confront the stories of the past.

“Uh, is the spaceship functioning normally?”

“Everything is normal; there haven’t been any major issues.”

“That’s good.”

On the fifth day, Zhang Yuan was officially discharged from the hospital.

The liaison who received him was a man named Yu Feng, a former professor at Deep Space University whom Zhang Yuan recognized, who now turned out to be a political liaison officer.

“A Level 16 job? A high-tech talent, huh!”

Yu Feng was a bit surprised as he looked at his files, “Mr. Zhang, it’s unfortunate that this is a minor year; there are only six hundred awake individuals. If you do not have a life partner, you might feel quite lonely…”

“Thank you, I’m used to being alone.”

Zhang Yuan managed a smile and nodded his head.

A minor year referred to an era with very few people awake.

Approximately every 20 minor years there would be a major year.

During a major year, the number of people awake could surge to twenty thousand. A large population would then maintain the entire spaceship, and within one year, produce the living supplies needed for the next 20 years.

After that, they would begin to experience the lonely minor years again.