Watching 3 body problem and remembering a nitpick I have with it (spoilers for the VR game plot) (hexbear.net)

submitted 7 months ago by Abracadaniel@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So the computer based solution proposed by Newton and Turing is rejected because the system is chaotic, meaning a general solution will always diverge from reality.

What I don't get is: this should still be good enough Run your solution every month or so, with updated measurements, and you'll have an ongoing "forecast" of conditions.

I'm referencing weather because that's we do. A weather forecast is a prediction of a chaotic system, but of one which changes every day or so. Prediction difficulty is dependent on local conditions and weather type, but we can still make predictions.

A gravitational system of 4 mutually interacting bodies is muuuuuch simpler than weather, and could be predicted far enough in advance to let a civilization adapt and persist!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Kaplya@hexbear.net 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

The Netflix series have altered a lot of the book’s plot.

You remembered correctly about the books, the Trisolarians did not care about humans surpassing themselves as you mentioned the Sophons were already locking out their basic sciences. They were only worried about humans discovering the deterrent.

The show changed a few characteristics about the Trisolarians to make it seem much weaker than they should be. They are traveling at 1% light speed in the show! In the books, they were already reaching 10% light speed at that point.