🤣🤣🤣🤣 Make Earth Great Again

I had been operating under the assumption that the humans were doing the murders on their own initiative and that the Sophons made the countdowns and sky blinking at their behest, as well. It seemed consistent with a perhaps overly literal species that didn't quite grasp lying, particularly one that seems to see individual survival as unimportant because of collective thought. I'm not as sure about things now. I still feel I need more info about exactly how the San-Ti think and what their plans were at each stage. Also, how widespread different opinions are in their species.

I hadn't forgotten. I mentioned the first message received a few times, starting in my ep four thoughts and feelings, trying to reconcile it with other information. It's been a while since I recorded these, but I think I may have been stuck looking at "conquering" in terms of overt, physical warfare, rather than in terms of psychological and information warfare. That aside, I maintain that diplomacy has a role even after hostilities are officially declared, which was my (diminishing) hope, at this point in the story. The San-Ti listener shows they're not a monolith, so I figured there still could be a chance.

👋🏾👋🏾

Thanks for the compliment! It's funny, because I was definitely a bit hard on the show in the first few eps of season one, but I think it leveled up pretty well, as it ran, despite the noticeable hiccups from Covid and a major cast member leaving, at the end. I'm not quite halfway through the books, but I've been enjoying them a lot, though they too have some jank. 😄They've also been leveling up as I go. I'm curious how I'll feel when I get to the supposed Slog, though.

Severance was on my list because of the cast and the fact that I kept hearing it was really good. It would have risen higher in the queue, had I known it was sci-fi! Thanks for the recommendation!

@@reverseBLT yeah, it's sci fi, it's really something, i'd say the action scenes and music are better on this show, but the plot and how it unfolds is better on severance, if you'll watch it, i'll be waiting for the reactions, cheers bud!

@@rauliuxaa Color me extra intrigued. When I watch it, I'll definitely make reactions. Might be a while, but I'll do my best! 😅

Only just now saw your comment. Thanks for taking the time out to clarify some things. I kinda hope we get more insights into the San-Ti culture. I'm particularly curious about how a quasi-hive mind works, when it comes to dissent. And, of course, I'm holding out hope until the end that we can find a peaceable coexistence as equals. Also, I've thought more about their slow speed, because I still think they should be able to achieve higher than that, but it occurred to me that they still need to do a flip and burn halfway through the journey, so maybe their limit is less about maximum speed and more about calculations taking mass and fuel into account. Another duh moment for me. 😅

Welcome to the channel. Hopefully, you'll stick around, but I wish you the best, regardless. Regarding opening shots, I'm critical when they feel poorly handled for their task, either by not presenting anything visually or narratively compelling or important, or else by overstaying their welcome, so to speak. Many of the shots I criticized felt either lacking in cinematic "gravitas," or else lasting far longer than the information being presented warranted. Long establishing shots can be used very effectively, but I don't think that was the case here. And shows have exposition, too, so I don't get that part of your comment.

Thanks for such a supportive comment! I really needed it, today. I haven't read the Commonwealth Series. It's ringing a bell, though, so someone must have recommended it, at some point. I'm still studying for my IT certs. Classes are over, so there's some time to edit again, but I probably can't add anything else to the plate right now, especially when the Discord book club is still waiting for me to get back to Wheel of Time... 😅 Anyway, thanks again for the words of encouragement, fellow Tearbender! I hope you like the rest of my reactions to 3BP.

They had one job, and they definitely did it! 😅

Interesting philosophy. From my perspective, gods are the things no one has ever experienced outside their own awareness. They exist within our imaginations. By contrast, we've devised probes, colliders, and other testing apparatus, and thousands of experiments that confirm reality outside our senses and thoughts. But who knows? Maybe, one day, at least one of the millions of gods humanity has invented over its evolution will be confirmed scientifically. That would honestly be a fascinating development.

@@reverseBLT Everything exists within our imaginations, even the so-called "Gods". No one has ever experienced anything outside their consciousness, and I mean NOBODY, not even the smallest bugs. Without consciousness, there wouldn't be anything to recognize this universe. Yes, we have apparatus to confirm what "reality" shows, but again, we can't experience those measurements without consciousness. In my opinion, consciousness is fundamental, time and space ain't. Because again, no one can experience anything without it. Religion says God is all powerful and knowing and that creations is finished... If God is infinite, how come we are here? It shouldn't be possible given that God is infinite, we would displace God with our limitations. But religion also affirms that God is "personal" which is the biggest lie to ever been told. God is not personal, God doesn't care about us, or what happens to us... God just is... God has no knowledge of Good or Evil, if he had, he would stop being all knowing. Not denying science or anything, but looking at it from a different perspective. There is only one constant in your life that always remains and is never changing, that is your "I am" Pure untainted awareness... and from it everything comes to existence. Reality is a very persistent illusion, just like time and space. I think of "God" as a screen, a giant screen, and the individual pixels are each of us, with different tones and hues, each one believing to be separate from the whole... but we're not separate... your experience is not separate. We share the same existence, we share the same "I am" which makes us one. It's when the "ego, individual mind" that believes itself to be separate. It's like we're all living inside a very intelligent and well designed simulation, but the screen doesn't care what happens to us... that's upon you. But seriously, try and experience anything outside your own awareness... it's impossible. Try and take a step closer to yourself? Impossible. A light cannot shine upon itself, it just reflects (I'm not sure the correct word, Oh! i know, It illuminates) When you fall asleep, do you construct your dream, or does your dream already appears with everything on it? In your dream you're dreaming that you're another person, and from the perspective of that person, the dream looks so real, but the person doesn't know that he's being dreamt in your mind. It's weird.... I know. I don't believe in a personal God sitting on a throne making choices and orders for us all... that is stupid. But there is something and that cannot be denied. It's impossible for you to shine a light upon yourself... meaning that it's impossible to fully know your whole nature... but when you quiet that little mind, that ego that tells you that you're a separate being, you will realize that you ain't that thing... that the concept of "self" is just a concept, not real. The only constant that never changes in your life is your awareness, your body changes, the mountains change, the seas change, the planet changes, the impermanence of it all... but the only thing permanent is that silence in you, and it will never go away. "Be still, and know that "I AM"" Quiet the mind, know that you're not the individual, and realizations come fast. Besides, scientists say that matter is 99.99% empty space, although, some don't like that idea and say that it's not empty, that there are magical clouds or something which is just coping in my opinion, but given that matter is 99.99% empty space... how the hell does the brain account for consciousness? How can nothing make something? This dream world is crazy, and it is real, but an illusion. An illusion is real, but it is not what it appears to be. The most overlooked element in history, consciousness. The fundamental, the foundations, the background of existence. In order for somethings to exist, it needs to stand out from a background... I wonder what background is that.... You can't have a wave without a sea, you cannot have a cloud without a sky.... awesome stuff!

Glad to be back! Sorry to have kept you all waiting so long. The IT classes demanded far more from me than I expected. I knew this episode was probably the one everyone was waiting for, for obvious reasons, and I kept trying to edit it for you, but I just couldn't get into the right headspace, while studying. I can't apologize enough. Thanks for coming back! Also, thanks for the recommendation! I've heard a little about Frieren, and it sounds like it would be up my alley. I'll definitely give it a look!

That makes sense. Like Evans, I had assumed they meant they were telepathic. I probably shouldn't have assumed that, considering it's (so far) unproven to be possible. Then again, they have proton supercomputers, so... 😅 It's interesting to consider the different possible meanings of "Your world will be conquered." Someone pointed out in a prior reaction that conquering doesn't have to involve violence. But the assertion that the Listener was a "pacifist" definitely *suggests* violence. Probably you're right that the original plan was "mere" subjugation, although Ye and Evans seemed to be operating under the assumption it would be like a symbiosis, albeit a patriarchal one. I really hope we get clarification on how exactly the San-Ti originally planned to coexist with humanity, as well as how they think and communicate. Part of me wonders if their assertion they can't lie can be trusted. It's possible even the initial warning message was a ruse.

Hi, Babette! Glad to be back. Hopefully, there won't be any more long hiatuses. The space tether is a really fascinating idea. It looks like the main sticking point with the nanofiber idea (aside from not yet being able to manufacture a suitable tether) appears to be cost. No one wants to front the enormous expense to make and maintain a tether and the ascension apparatus. I've also seen concerns about how disastrous failure of the tether could be. Regardless, it does seem a better long-term solution than rocket lifting everything, at least to me.

Definitely interesting to contemplate how that would work, and what implications it would have. For instance, if they *understand* lying, despite not doing it themselves, one would expect them to factor it into their interactions with other species. That said, there are plenty of traits we know aren't necessarily present in other animals, even on our own planet, but we still make the mistake of interacting as if those traits *are* present. I guess no amount of intelligence can prevent all blind spots.

@@reverseBLT well for example octopi communicate through their chromatophores most likely controlled by their brain instinctually i say most likely since I'm no octopi expert now lets say they are aware of the concept of deceit but they can't do it due to their form of communication being instant with their thoughts so they see no point in the concept since its a dud for them now lets further say they had never met any other species it would be somewhat safe to assume that they would assume that a new species they communicate with also couldn't lie since that's all they know now i know i probably don't make much sense here but just food for thought

@Frequencydead that made perfect sense, actually. Solid analogy.

@@reverseBLT thank you 🙂

Thanks! Glad you liked them! I've decided I'm definitely reading the books, but I want to hold off on book one until season two is done, because I've heard this season only covered about half of the first book, and I don't want to spoil myself on where the show's going. I like to go visual to written, because depth tends to increase in that direction. At least it usually feels that way to me.

@@reverseBLT I'm in the tail end of book 3 and I agree this is a good idea. The back half of book 1 is SO FUCKING GOOD. Be prepared!! lol

@@gravshark I'm excited!

Thanks! Also, your PFP and name are super adorable. 🤗 I've finished the season. I got swamped with IT classes I've been taking, so I wasn't able to get any editing done. Classes are done (for now), so I hope to have more for you guys in a few days.

@@reverseBLT Thanks ahah I'm obsessed with chubby cats I find them so cute. Good luck with your IT classes! As a software developer myself, I hope you enjoyed it :)

@@Chubby-cat- They are indeed super cute! Thanks for the encouragement! The A+ wasn't too bad, but I found the Data+ material in CompTIA's Learn and Labs to be incredibly frustrating. It was obtuse and presented information needed for earlier modules in later ones. I ended up having to do a ton of research outside of class to be able to complete the labs, but I ended up scoring 80 percent on the assessment, first time, so I'm feeling hopeful about the certification exam. Now, I'm trying to decide whether to take Network+ or a Python course, as my next step.

One of the big things I wonder about is how prepared people in the Before Time were for whatever happened, because you're right that, if it was a "got no time and very limited resources," situation, the generator makes sense. I keep feeling like they had plenty of both, though. I'll have to reexamine whether I have any good reason to feel that way.

@@nikkan3810 I removed the previous comment you made to protect people watching the show along with the reactions from finale spoilers. I'm reposting what you wrote, though, after the spoiler warning in this post. SPOILERS FOR THE S1 FINALE * * * Nik's comment: "See, my thinking is, they made all the silos grouped together, which is a bad idea cuz whatever hurts one silo, may hurt all the others, besides there was no effort made to hide them either. They were made as quickly as possible and the machines were left inside because there was no time to get them out. Interiors were likely furnished after it was already sealed. There's also only one ingress point and video feed of the entrance. Nothing about these silos looks advanced. Though to be fair i'm mostly inferring all of that from just the visual side of it, that might be simply an aesthetic choice by the showrunners, instead of some kind of logical system. The generator is pretty iffy on the design aspect, like the rotor is placed in an area where steam doesn't go, at least not when we look at it, so that can be like a irl production thing." My response: I think the grouping could also indicate either a lot of planning, a *very* high level of tech, or both, considering the structural challenges one would expect them to face with the silos being so close together, coupled with the seeming bespoke design. Obligatory not an engineer, though, so I could be talking out my ass, as usual. 😅😅 I'm not entirely sure there's only one in/out point for each. Some pics I've seen, there's some spots that look like they *might* be additional, small structures within the circular perimeters of each silo, as well as a possible large entry point. Maybe for some sort of maintenance and/or recon vehicles? The single primary door and corresponding camera could be for better control of the population. Maybe helping to prevent widespread awareness of anyone approaching each silo from the surface route, and the small door is a good chokepoint. But then there's the possible underground connecting tunnels the giant metal door potentially leads to? Can't wait for season two to give more answers (and questions)!

Yeah, he really screwed the pooch. 😥

Hey, I figure we can all laugh together! Glad you enjoy it! 😁

Hm, that's a really interesting way of thinking about it. A subtle but important distinction.

🤣 Classic. I love that episode.

I'm even more impressed now. She did an amazing job, especially for an inexperienced actress!

I love that you got it!

Where's the lie? There isn't one, because they can't. 😉🤣

Glad you liked it! And, yeah, episode five. Yeah... 🥹

This is why sci-fi stories usually have whole teams of specialists in different disciplines handling first contact. 😅 Also, I can't see Truth with a capital T without thinking of God from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. 😆

@reverseBLT yes, and people trained in deplomacy, being the representative to actually handle dialogue with them. Speaking of an assembled team to handle contact, have you ever heard of a show called Threshold? Staring Carla Gugino, Brent Spinner, and Peter Dinklage? It was about a Porfessor who creates contingency planes for potential scenarios for the US government, one of which is what to do when aliens are discovered.

He deliberately chose Red Riding Hood to explain the concept of lying to them

Never heard of Threshold. That cast is enough to get me interested.

Julius, I don't see how. He seemed very confused by their confusion.

I also found out a few years ago that people are bound by the laws of their home countries, even when abroad. Presumably that also includes international waters.

yes, but we could reach those speeds, the reason it's taking them so long is you also have to factor in deceleration time. They could be here much much sooner if they were just gonna fly by our sun but since they want to stay then the deceleration process takes just as long as the acceleration process

And that doesn't factor in the acceleration you'd need to stop.

I was thinking of a solar sail ship being pushed by a high-powered laser array, so not tech we've put into use yet, just tech we technically possess. At least I *thought* we possessed it. 😅

@reverseBLT what we can reach with a solar sail is still theoretical. There are a lot of factors that go into it. But assuming we have the funding to build one (and the corrosponding pushing laser), we could get much higher speeds, but as was pointed out, if you want to stop at the other end, then you need to be able to decelerate. So the 1st half, they are accelerating, and the 2nd half deceleration. Unless they have some form of artificial gravity, they are not likely traveling at a constant speed, but rather at a constant acceleration for 200 years, followed by a constant deceleration for the remaining 200 years. And if they have artificial gravity, they have already solved their 3 body problem. Another factor is the energy costs to accelerate something in space. For that, mass matters. Even in a vacuum. And these ships are likely truly massive. The idea is to conquer and colonize earth so I would guess well over 1000 San-Ti per ship. Probably closer to a minimum of 10,000. And even possibly upwards of a million per ship. It took the Nazi's a quarter million soldiers to occupy Norway during WW2, and Norways population was only about 4 million, maybe a little less at the time. The San-Ti's tech advantage would allow them to do more with less, but it would still take huge numbers to pacify 8 billion people. Could be 12+ billion in 400 years.

@@spamfilter32 I figured the solar sail ships would need some kind of propellant to do a flip and burn at some point (or just a burn, depending on the layout), presumably at significantly less than the halfway point. Obviously, I didn't attempt to do the math on reaction mass and how much that would slow down the acceleration stage and all that. Math boredom is why I didn't become a physicist, after all. 😅 You bring up something that resolves a nagging question for me. I had wondered why the San-Ti, with all their tech, were only going around one percent light speed. I was expecting to hear they were going around 10 percent or better. But yeah, these are civilization arks. Each one is probably carrying at least several hundred thousand to over a million of them, meaning a huge mass and space dedicated to them in each ship, so more to accelerate and less space to pack in whatever they're using to propel them.

YES YES YES! God, heh, I had so may people in the comments telling me I was wrong for finding the whole operation with the police and that group stupid, everybody was stupid in that. The police were dumb, the hot crazy lady (and heh, I also am delighted you also were calling her the hot crazy lady, I feel like sometimes we share a brain, although you are much smarter than me, lol) was dumb for just pulling a gun like that, the police were dumb for making it so obvious that they were with Jin... why was everyone in that moment so stupid?? lol

Ha, I mentioned in my comments that the story thing bothered you too! Must be a WoT fan thing :) I think it makes sense that he only recently started reading stories, given the timeline of communication. But it is a bit silly that he got so far into reading stories without explaining what they are. I guess the closest we could come to an explanation is that he wouldn't have thought he needed to explain what a story is? And maybe they didn't ask because they thought "story" was just a synonym for, idk, "history?"

Right? It seems to me there had to have been a better way to explain fiction than how Evans did it. BTW, I finally finished your reactions, now that I'm done with the show. Sorry I didn't leave comments on all of them. I didn't think the fact Evans didn't tell them what stories were was that farfetched, though. It was a great example of a fundamental misunderstanding. For us, it's basic knowledge that stories can be varying degrees of fictional. For the San-Ti, assuming they really can't lie, it's basic knowledge that stories are factual accounts. Neither side thought to clarify the point because, to both, it was obvious information. A devastating example of "what happens when we assume." 🥲

Thanks for not spoiling, bud!

@reverseBLT no problem. So much is best if experienced as it happens. There is a show I really love, Orphan Black, but you 100% can not watch the "next on" at the end of each episode as they cantain HUGE spoilers. Still highly recommend it, and if you ever do a reaction to that, I'll watch it with you. Just make sure you stop each upside when the "next on" part begins.

@@spamfilter32 I've learned the hard way not to watch "next on" promos in the modern TV era. You've probably noticed I never watch the "coming this season" promos after first episodes in streaming shows, too. Once bitten... Orphan Black is on the list, but it's a long list. LOL

@reverseBLT Person of Interest and Terminator: the Sarah Conner Chronicles are also very good shows. [Edit] I almost forgot, *Impulse* is also very good, but don't watch the trailer or read the show synopsis. That one is best if you go in completely blind. And as far as I know, no one has done a reaction to the show, only to the trailer.

@spamfilter32 I don't think I've heard of Impulse. I remember there being a comic book character named Impulse, though. I was a big fan of Sarah Connor Chronicles. If you ever see me write or say, "Thanks for explaining," know that I picked that up from Cameron. 😅 I've seen a few episodes here and there of Person of Interest. Really cool concept.

Thanks for the comment! 🤗 Yeah, monarchies can have staying power, true. I think it was just on my mind when I watched the movie, how much fantasy and even sci-fi seems fixated on them. I think changelings are usually fully fae, though I thought half-fae were also considered changelings who could choose to become human or fae, later in life. Probably a later addition (assuming I'm not making it up 😅). A kaiju marching down the street is presumably doing a lot of damage just by doing that, but I'll accept she isn't doing anything *more* than that. She's going to get hit with one heck of a bill for road repairs. 😆 I liked how Ballister's evolution in acceptance was conveyed through the changing nature of his questions. Having a gay character be intolerant of an everything-fluid character was a nice extra layer, too. Todd the nepo baby sucks. LOL Glad he didn't die, though. Living gives him the opportunity to become better.

Well, he was wrong to confirm that the story is a lie about liars. Because it's not. It is an allegory where each element of the story is a tool to convey TRUTHS to the reader. There is a specific reason this particular fairy tale is in the show, and it wasn't so that the aliens would learn that humans lie. But I won't say more because it is spoilery.

@@spamfilter32 oh for sure, the stories are very polyvalent when it comes to foreshadowing, just like the "joke" in a later episode.

@maxsilva11 Yes, and it was no accident that Raj's father's war story was immediately followed by Wills' conversation with his cancer and how those relate to the story at hand.

Thanks for being careful about spoilers. 🤗 You're probably right that the realization that we can lie, regardless of how it came about, would be a huge shock to the San-Ti that would make them doubt coexistence was possible. It's something I struggle with in my own life, and I'm human, so I at least know it's a thing I have to account for, even if I often forget to. You should have seen my friends patiently explaining to me that I shouldn't take listed requirements on job postings as *actually* saying what the employer required. 😅 I wonder how the fear caused by knowing nothing we say can be trusted can be overcome. I figure it would have to be rooted in the demonstration that we're a *relatively* functional and successful species, in spite of the fact that none of us can ever know whether the other is bullshitting. That should suggest to the San-Ti that we must be at least trustworthy *enough* . 😅

@reverseBLT agreed on the last part. But since they have no framework of reference, it might take a while for them to realize that the ability to lie does not inherently make one untrustworthy. However, as conquerors, their intention is to make whatever humans survive the conquest their slaves. This is what conquerors do. So, from their perspective, a slave that can lie can rebell against their master. That makes slaves that can lie especially dangerous. However, as allies, if one partner can never lie, the most valuable ally is a partner that can. And the reverse can also be true. As allies, humans, and San-Ti could be vary valuable partners to each other.

True, though that line is a bit perplexing, in light of the revelation that their species doesn't lie. They seemed to have been aiming at coexistence, based on what we heard of their conversations in this ep and the previous one, but the warning would suggest they intended to aggressively and violently conquer. Those seem fundamentally opposed and would suggest someone's being less than honest, to say nothing of the question of how pacifist dissenters could function in a presumably *non*pacifist culture without the capacity to conceal one's intentions.

@@reverseBLT very true well since I dont want to give any potential spoilers since I dont know how much from the books will make it into the show but those questions are answered in the books and it's quite fascinating

@@Frequencydead Ooh, I'm looking forward to discovering the answers as the story unfolds! Thanks for not spoiling me! 🤗

More specifically they said "Your world will be conquered." and until this moment still considered the prospect of coexistence to be viable, if you take them to communicate very precisely and literally then by 'conquer' they must mean the dictionary definition of assuming control via force, the threat of force or through implementing their own power structures in place of existing structures, violence was utilised against a small number of researchers although this may have been independent action carried out by the Sophons that in turn had no concept of lying since it would be limited by its programming parameters at the hands of the San-Ti and therefore wouldn't have perceived humanity itself as an existential threat rather than humanity's specific technological advancements The moment Mike Evans not only drew attention to the concept of deception but also said "We all do" in response to "You do this? You lie?" and then equated deceivers to pests and then pests to bugs, to the completely literal San-Ti he just indirectly proclaimed all human beings as liars and pests, which is why the San-Ti in that moment decided coexistence is no longer a possibility and the entire species must be neutralised

@@reverseBLT well I kinda think of conquering like with the native Americans. When the British came, they weren’t aiming to kill all of them. They were willing to coexist. But it still involves oppression, assimilation, and basically taking over and establishing themselves as the dominant group. Either way, I’m pretty sure humanity was not going to have a good time.

It's kind of fascinating that there's basically more communication lag between the San-Ti's human sympathizers on Earth than there is between them and the fleet four light years away.

Spoiler Only sort of. But won't say more.

I saw a reactor saying they didn't think it made sense that they could communicate so long without it ever coming up, but I think it's fairly realistic. If the San-Ti actually don't/can't lie, it makes sense that it wouldn't occur to them that stories weren't accounts of real events until something came up that made no sense from their perspective, such as willfully staying in a situation when you should know you're in serious danger. Very interesting scenario. Also, I'm going to have to remember to come back to this thread to read the spoiler comments after I've read the books. 😅

@reverseBLT the spoiler comment is from the show. What it is will come up in an episode or 2 so you don't have to wait until you've read the book. I agree with you. If something doesn't occur in your society, then it would never occur to you to ask about it until you were exposed directly to it in a way that was unavoidable. Until then, you would wither assune what you were witnessing was something else, or your cognative dissonance would cause you to overlook it. And it would make more sense for him to read to them books about our scientific knowledge and maybe on our cultures first, and only reading them stories like the fairy tails after the science texts and culture books have been exhausted.

@@spamfilter32 Ah, thanks for letting me know. I don't click "Show more" on a marked spoiler unless it's clear it's for stuff I've already seen/read. Yeah, it does make sense that he wouldn't have started with our fiction. And there's a *lot* of material to cover in non-fiction, so he probably did just recently get into stories.

Hey, Joel, do me a favor and put a spoiler warning on this one. These elements get into some insights that affect how we understand the mysteries of the story, and presumably would get doled out in little nuggets, over time. I now have information to use to figure things out I probably wasn't meant to have yet. Thanks!

@@reverseBLT My bad. Sorry. Done.

Thanks, bud!

In my opinion, the San-Ti would have for sure figure out that humans are all liars at some point so it's better that it happens while they are 4 light years away from earth than already here. It lets us time to come up with something to defend ourselves, eventually. But in any case, I think this conclusion was inevitable

Thanks for the kind words, bud, and for being a fellow compassionate human. 🫂 Also, *amazing* beard. I'm super jealous. 😅

@@reverseBLT Thank you much, my friend! All the best to you.

@BearClanMan1970 And to you!

I hope you find your way back from this particular abyss. As someone who's been hurt a lot by other people, I can understand feeling like we're worthless, but try and remember you're also human, and you carry some light in this dark world. Doesn't it stand to reason that you can't be the only one? And isn't it worth nurturing that light in others? Here's a hug. It's all I've got, and I know it's not much, but I hope it helps. 🫂

Right, and we would, theoretically, need to go back to the starting state of the universe to get it exactly right. And the planet(s) orbiting in the system would be additional bodies needing to be factored in. It's one of those things I realized I was way oversimplifying, after I said it should be doable in the first episode's reaction. I think it should be possible to predict well enough for *some* degree of planning, but blindsides would absolutely still happen. The sim did a great job of getting that across.

Interesting. I wonder how they'll handle that. I'm even more intrigued to see where season two goes now.

My favorite thing about mysteries is the fun of trying to piece together the puzzle. I'm glad you're enjoying watching my attempts. Just don't judge me too harshly when I'm *way* off. 😅

@@reverseBLT I was often way off too 😉

I'll try not to forget but, if I do, please remind me. Hopefully, it won't break my heart. 🥹

We can hold out hope together until it's inevitably ground beneath the great cosmic wheel. 🥲