Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesLiu Cixin, author of The Three-Body Problem, has reportedly become less confident that humanity would unite if aliens threatened Earth. In a 2021 interview with The Wall Street Journal, he linked that doubt to the divisions he saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a speculative judgment about how people might respond—not a prediction established by evidence.
What Liu Cixin reportedly said
Futurism’s Dan Robitzski reported on October 5, 2021, that Cixin once imagined a shared existential danger prompting people to set aside their differences. Reflecting on the pandemic, he reportedly told The Wall Street Journal: “Looking back at the past two years, the pandemic has pushed nations toward more divisions.”
Futurism also quoted him saying, “Now I realize that might have been too perfect of a wish.” The Wall Street Journal interview is titled “Writer Liu Cixin on How His Visions of the Future Collide With Reality,” by Natasha Khan. The quoted passages are reported here as Futurism relayed them; the linked WSJ page confirms the interview’s title, author, and subject, but does not display those passages.
Why the novel matters to the headline
The Three-Body Problem is the 2008 science-fiction novel behind the headline. Futurism describes its fictional scenario as one in which nations come together in response to a looming alien invasion. The contrast is between that imagined cooperation and Cixin’s later uncertainty about whether a real-world population would respond in the same way.
#1 Best Overall
In the reported interview, he outlined two possible outcomes: people might pull together to face an alien arrival, or they might become increasingly divided. Futurism quoted him describing the latter possibility this way: “The other: They will come to Earth and we will become more and more fractured.” The report says he considered fragmentation more plausible after the preceding two years.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
What the remarks do—and do not—establish
- They establish a change in outlook as reported in 2021: Cixin said his earlier hope for unity might have been too idealistic, in light of divisions he associated with the pandemic.
- They do not establish how humanity would respond: His comments are an author’s assessment of a hypothetical crisis, not the result of a study or a demonstrated forecast.
- They do not mean he rejected cooperation as a possibility: The report presents both unity and fracture as possible reactions, while saying he found fracture more plausible at that time.
- They do not establish his present view: The report concerns remarks attributed to him in 2021; it does not show whether his assessment has since changed.
Sources
- Dan Robitzski, Futurism, “Three-Body Problem” Author No Longer Sure Humankind Would Unite Against Hostile Aliens,” October 5, 2021
- Natasha Khan, The Wall Street Journal, “Writer Liu Cixin on How His Visions of the Future Collide With Reality”
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
