Is it possible that the relationship between humanity and evil is similar to the relationship between the ocean and an iceberg floating on its surface? Both the ocean and the iceberg are made of the same material. That the iceberg seems separate is only because it is in a different form. In reality, it is but a part of the vast ocean.… It was impossible to expect a moral awakening from humankind itself, just like it was impossible to expect humans to lift off the earth by pulling up on their own hair. To achieve moral awakening required a force outside the human race. This thought determined the entire direction of Ye’s life. (Location 346)
“What does what I said have to do with predicting the future? Everyone can see that the sun will rise in about another hour or two.” Wang pointed to the sliver of light above the horizon. “This is a Chaotic Era!” “What is a Chaotic Era?” “Other than Stable Eras, all times are Chaotic Eras.” King Wen answered the way he would have spoken to an ignorant child. (Location 1345)
Note: Doomed city
He remembered taking a class in information theory as a third-year student in college. The professor had put up two pictures: (Location 1557)
The professor asked the class which picture contained more information. The answer was that the photograph’s information content—its entropy—exceeded the painting’s by one or two orders of magnitude. (Location 1560)
In his eyes, the world became once again classical and stable. (Location 1858)
Thus, on this early summer evening, as the wind howled through the giant parabolic antenna, and as the forest rustled over the Greater Khingan Mountains in the distance, (Location 2278)
We define a technology leap to occur when fundamental science is converted to applied technology across a great span in an extremely brief time interval. (Location 2293)
Wang performed some computations in his head and realized that even if the entire population of Earth were arranged into such a phalanx, the whole formation would fit inside the Huangpu District of Shanghai. Though it was powerful, the phalanx also revealed the fragility of civilization. (Location 3001)
Even the children of the Five Black Categories in the village can take (Location 4051)
Loneliness pressed down on Ye like a giant hand, and she felt herself being crushed; compressed until she was so small that she disappeared into an invisible corner of the universe.… (Location 4066)
The members of the ETO were not of a single mind. Within the organization were complicated factions and divisions of opinion. Mainly, they fell into two factions. (Location 4440)
The Five Black Categories, the targets of the Cultural Revolution, were five political identities used during the revolution: landlords, rich farmers, counter-revolutionaries, “bad elements,” and right-wingers. (Location 6381)
