Anna Karenina is a Russian romantic novel written in late 1870s and The Dark Forest is a modern Chinese sci-fi novel. What could these two have possibly in common? Well… Humans! of course.
Let’s do Anna Karenina first.
Count Levin is convalescing from a terrible heart break and in a true gentlemenly fashion has decided that the best antidote to his rejection would be to sink all his sorrow into something productive. Thus, the chapters before this scene deal with Levin making grand plans about his role as a farm owner and his life in the countryside. He has grand visions for agricultural and social reforms, theories about the role of serfs in society, their emancipation, and their education. After several months on his farm, deligently working on his plans, he is convinced that he has forgotten Kitty (her beloved) and moved on. However, in one short moment it all comes crashing down and this whole “farm business” proves to be an elaborate and not an altogether successfull distraction from the real problem.
He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. […] There was apparently nothing striking either in her dress or her attitude. But for Levin she was as easy to find in that crowd as a rose among nettles. Everything was made bright by her. She was the smile that shed light on all round her. […] The place where she stood seemed to him a holy shrine, unapproachable, and there was one moment when he was almost retreating, so overwhelmed was he with terror. […] He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.
This is mirrored in The Dark Forest on a gigantic spatio-temporal scale, where the illusion spans multiple centuries and several million kilometers. Humanity has made unprecedented arrangements to deal with an invading alien species known as Trisolarans.They are confident of their triumph over the aliens in their upcoming battle. In the chapters preceeding the first encounter with an alien space-craft, we are introduced to a plethora of advanced weapon systems, space fleet branches and command structure, fleet size and capabilities. A grand tour of human will and ingenuity. So when it comes to a ‘show of force’ event organized while capture the alien spacecraft, it is all very ceremonial and choreographed, without any hint of anxiety concerning the possiblity of failure and its consequences. However, just at the moment of truth – a couple of seconds before first contact with the alien artifact this happens:
When he was halfway out, he slowly turned back around. “Children, do you know what I’ve been doing all these years? Teaching physics at a university and advising doctoral students.” As he looked out at the galaxy, an inscrutable smile played on his face—tinted with, the officers noticed, a hint of sadness. “Children, a man from two centuries ago is still able to teach university physics today.” With that, he turned and left.
With this line teeming with gloomy aura all that hope is shattered instantly. Alongwith it the collective delusion of humanity and also that of the reader is broken. We realize that despite all these grandiose arrangements and planning the core problem was still not adressed: Human scientific advancements have been made impossible because of Sophon interference. Their technology is still centuries old compared to aliens. Medieval even. All this “space force saga” had been a masterfully crafted distraction, a prank humans pulled on themselves. We got too carried away in awe of our own spell and it bilnded us.
What I love about both of these scenes is that in the chapters building up to it authors show that the characters are fully convinced that they have overcome the terrible future, there’s even hope of triumph over the adversary. But it takes only one moment of reflection and authors mercilessly destroy the delusion.
There is (?) a fine line between hope and delusion, and humans are very good at blurring fine lines. It is almost unnoticable when an innocent and even pragmatic hope – when enough people believe in it – turns into a dangerous delusion which has an epistemology of its own. There is also a lesson for people who try to drown their actually felt emotions in other activities and distraction. The insignificance (and sometimes futility) of our actions is too hard to bear so why not do something pointless and hope. But the emotions lie in wait, only to strike at the most vulnerable of moments.
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