Although already well into his 70s, mature wasn’t the right word to describe the old man. His posture and the habit of looking around reflected the shadow of a 16-year-old teen.

However, Jiang Chen quickly made sense of it. He asked himself if he sat in a while for a few decades, he would probably be more lively.

Just as Jiang Chen examined the old man from behind, Hawking turned his head and teased him.

“So, Mr. President, if you have any questions, please ask me soon. You are an important man making hundreds of thousands of dollars per second. You shouldn’t waste too much time on campus.”

Jiang Chen laughed without denying the statement. After a moment of thought, he asked.

“3.7 billion years, if you think there are civilizations that existed for 3.7 billion years, what would they develop into?”

“This is a very interesting question. What do you think dinosaurs would have evolved to if they had a hundred million years?” Hawking did not directly answer Jiang Chen’s question, but instead gave him another question.

“Can you consider dinosaurs a civilization?” Jiang Chen asked.

“Are ants considered a civilization then? Are the bees civilized? Do the birds in the sky have their own society? Maybe there are and they do, but we just can’t understand, or have never considered them in these perspectives.” Hawking shrugged, “Arrogance is one attribute that belongs to a civilization. Those who are weaker than us, become slaves, those even weaker become food, and those not even considered food are regarded as bugs.”

Hawking suddenly grinned when he made this statement

“We are very fortunate that at least our civilization has caught the attention of our neighbors. We didn’t get ignored by them as dispensable bugs.”

“You call this fortunate?” Jiang Chen smiled bitterly.

Rather than those bugs sailing 20.5 light-years to take his life, he would much rather those bugs consider him as a bug too.

“Of course it is considered fortunate. The Indians have at least a chance to fight back against the European colonists, but do the bugs have that chance? Stop. Look, you almost trampled the little life.” Hawking stopped Jiang Chen. In Jiang Chen’s peculiar gaze, Hawking pointed to his feet, “That’s right, I’m talking about that ant. If I didn’t remind you, you wouldn’t have even noticed. You won’t communicate with it, and you won’t care what it thinks, and less about whether they have had a technological breakthrough in the nesting process.”

Hawking with a smile crouched down, picked up a branch, and placed it in front of the ant.

The little ant was confused by the sudden obstacle, the tentacles on its head swayed back and forth, and finally chose to go around from the side…

“We are taught a lot of common sense in our life, but common sense is often just synonymous with prejudice.”

Hawking turned his head and looked at Jiang Chen.

“Do you think it will think about why this branch is in front of it?”

“Do you think I should answer this question from a philosophical point of view, or from a scientific point of view?” Jiang Chen said in a helpless tone.

I am not an ant; how would I know whether it will know why this branch is in front of it?

Hawking laughed. He turned his head back and looked at the ant who walked around the branches, then he continued.

“It has nothing to do with philosophy or science. If you have to put a name on it, it should be cosmology.”

Jiang Chen twitched.

“Cosmology?”

“Yes. The definition of cosmology is the study of the universe as a whole and extends to the discussion of human status in the universe. It cannot be considered philosophy, and it is certainly not science. However, it is related to both subjects.”

Hawking reached out and picked up the two branches, blocking the two sides of the ant, and surrounded it.

“If you came an hour earlier, you would be sitting in the classroom and listening to the story of Fermi’s Paradox (1) and the Great Filter (2). But unfortunately, you missed the lively and interesting public elective course. However, it’s still not too late if you treat me with pancakes. I—”

“No problem, as much as you want,” Jiang Chen quickly replied.

Hawking smiled and pointed to the triangular cage on the ground that he made with branches. The “masterpiece” he spent three seconds completing.

“This branch is the Great Filter it faces. If it goes around, then it will survive. If it figures it out, it will become a different ant. If it is blocked…”

After a pause, Hawking stood up slowly and patted away the dust on his clothes.

“It will starve to death here.”

Jiang Chen frowned after Hawking’s words. Suddenly, like a eureka moment, he said thoughtfully.

“Fermi’s Paradox, The Great Filter…”

As if he just caught something, Jiang Chen’s eyes gradually brightened.

At this moment, he noticed that the ant extended its tentacles to the branches. Trapped in the triangle cage, it could not find a way out. Then, it began to explore another method; as it climbed on top of the branches. However, from beginning to end, it was not aware of who manipulated the obstacle placed in front of it.

“Now I’ll answer your question. You asked me how developed civilization will be after 3.7 billion years. I can’t answer you unless you can tell me what they have encountered in these 3.7 billion years.”

“On the scale of billion, the troubles are always endless. Natural disasters, diseases, wars… In fact, these are minor problems. Like this branch, no matter how many more branches are placed in front of it, it will eventually pass them.”

Hawking smiled as he looked at the ant who had successfully climbed over the branch,

“Of course, it is not always so lucky, especially if it encounters a moody ‘God’.”

Hawking raised his foot and stomped down on the ant and the branches…

…

After chatting with Hawking, Jiang Chen felt that he gained clarity over a lot of problems

Not only about the civilization 3.7 billion years ago, but also the extraterrestrial civilization 20 light-years away. He managed to find the answers to all the questions he was uncertain or unsure about.

After arriving at the cafeteria, as promised, Jiang Chen treated Hawking to two sets of pancakes.

To be honest, he really didn’t understand the appeal of this food that is too sweet. But the old man across from him enjoyed it nonetheless. He could only attribute it to the difference in food culture. In the principle of not wasting food, Jiang Chen had to dismember the pancake in his plate and finish the meal.

He certainly miscalculated. He didn’t account for the fact that Hawking came from the United Kingdom, the pioneer of the art of dark cuisine (3)!

“You don’t have to force yourself to eat it,” Hawking said with a smirk as he put another piece of pancake in his mouth. It was obvious he was trying his hardest not to laugh as his wrinkles twisted together.

Jiang Chen suddenly felt that the old man’s smile was too infuriating.

“I’m full.”

Jiang Chen tossed his fork into the plate as he finally gave up on the pancake with more than half left. After he bid farewell with Hawking, he returned his car.

Because he parked at the building, he had to return the same way.

However, as he passed through the forest path again, he found a group of students gathered together around a temporary podium that looked extremely lively.

Out of curiosity, Jiang Chen stopped a passing student, pointed to the other side, and asked.

“What are they doing there?”

(1) Fermi’s Paradox – The Fermi paradox, or Fermi’s paradox, named after physicist Enrico Fermi, is the apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations. (Source: Wikipedia)

(2) The Great Filter – in the context of the Fermi paradox, is whatever prevents dead matter from undergoing abiogenesis, in time, to expanding lasting life as measured by the Kardashev scale. (Source: Wikipedia)

(3) Dark Cuisine – A term in Chinese pop culture that refers to an untraditional method of cooking that produces odd or weird food.