I am reading Death's End, the third book of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, and I have come upon this concept again, but I have since forgotten its meaning (I am reading things in a very spaced out way).
What was intended with it?
-
2It seems to be describing why FTL is paradoxical, that the speed limit of the universe is 300,000 K/p/s and that the higher dimensions (4 through 10) are inaccessible to macroscopic objects (e.g. us); books.google.co.uk/…– ValorumCommented Mar 19, 2019 at 9:15
-
convert to answer and I'd accept that :). I still don't get the "syndrome" but I suspect it's translating something odd from chinese, as it appears as "symptom" too.– riffraffCommented Mar 22, 2019 at 15:10
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
The "three and three hundred thousand syndrome" comes from a conversation between Guan Yifan and Gravity's psychiatrist Dr. West, just as Gravity reached the four-dimensional fragment of space. In that conversation Guan Yifan mentions that they both are very similar -- while Dr. West observes the deranged, Guan observes the universe. Guan then compares the universe to a person with paraplegia, describing its cause as "three and three hundred thousand syndrome": the two limits of the speed of light and the number of macroscopic dimensions. Thus, the "syndrome" here is used as an analogy. This conversation occurs at the end of the chapter titled, "Deterrence Era, Year 62, Gravity, in Vicinity of the Oort Cloud". In the 2016 English Language Trade Paper edition, this chapter begins on page 151.
-
1This seems like a really nice answer, If you edited in the relevant quotes from the book it would back it up and make it even better!– TheLethalCarrot ♦Commented Jun 29, 2020 at 9:27
-
Adding a prefix "Minor spoilers alert:" wouldn't hurt either, the four-dimensional fragment isn't mentioned before that sentence. Commented Sep 21, 2021 at 10:44