On the wide ocean surface, the thick colloidal liquid rolled slowly in waves. The red sun cast light, giving its nearly congealed surface a purplish red sheen. Between the waves, white foam condensed, and together with the gel, it mixed into an uncomfortable liquid, like a swamp that could engulf everything. This is the scene of Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky's "Ocean" in his sci-fi film Solaris . Anyone who has seen the movie can clearly feel the eerie atmosphere emanating from the "ocean", which is also the tone of the novel Solaris of the same name by Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem.
Unlike many well-known science fiction or science fiction movies, although the author Stanisław Lem makes a relatively scientific explanation of the nature of the "ocean" through the discussions of scientists in the novel, many readers still cannot accept this bizarre setting: the deceased Humans appear on the space station like ghosts, and can be seen, touched, and even react to human behavior. Such a description makes many readers think that this is a pseudo-science fiction, because the content of the novel has gone beyond the reader's cognition. The reactions of readers just show that people's cognition is always limited by the external environment, or they are more inclined to accept the known laws and instinctively reject the unknown.
At the beginning of the novel, Stanisław Lem spared no effort to describe the chaotic scene in the space station: a space full of debris like an abandoned factory, alert and panic researchers and ghosts flashing everywhere. Soon, the male protagonist Kelvin also fell into a similar anxiety as his colleagues: he found in his room his wife of 10 years, Harry, who was young and beautiful, and felt real. Harry didn't show any threat to Kelvin, but Kelvin couldn't accept this unreasonable fact, and panicked and launched her into space.
Stanisław Lem pointed out the limitations of human beings through the mouth of Dr. Snaut: the purpose of people's development of aviation is not to conquer the universe, but to maximize the boundaries of the earth and spread the value of human beings. Scientists are looking for people, not existences other than people. Humans do not have the needs of the world other than human beings. What human beings need is a mirror of human beings. When scientists look for a planet or a civilization, they hope for a more perfect civilization based on the same evolutionary principles. Therefore, if people encounter something unacceptable in their exploration, they will fight back, and in the end there will be only pure earthly virtues brought from earth.
Planet Solaris does not exist according to known principles, and scientists cannot draw any valid theories from it. On the contrary, the power of the "ocean" penetrates deep into people's minds, materializes the desires of human hearts, and exposes dirty thoughts.
Not only in outer space, but also in human exploration of the inner world of the earth is self-deceiving. After the discovery of a new continent or a new civilization, people on the one hand are excited about the rich resources that the new land can provide, but on the other hand, they degrade the natives to the primitive state of human beings, or even "non-human beings". Early European anthropologists were keen to study remote tribes or groups of people, just to find solutions to their own social problems by comparison. The other is the mirror of the self, and the alien civilization is the mirror of the earth's civilization. Whether it is searching for a new continent or flying into outer space, human exploration is always full of egocentrism.
In addition, the author explores a difficult problem in the novel: what is truth? For objects on Earth, all matter is composed of molecules, molecules are composed of atoms, atoms are composed of nuclei and extranuclear electrons, and the nucleus is composed of neutrons and protons. When we infinitely zoom in on people and things on the earth, we will only see similar particles one by one. In theory, people are made of countless particles, and you are you because the particles themselves carry specific information. From this point of view, ethereal information is more important than real matter.
From this, let's look at those "visitors". They come from the memories of human beings. They are real substances transformed from real information, and their authenticity is no less than that of scientists from the earth. When Harry realized that she and Kelvin were physically different, she drank the liquid oxygen in the workshop in agony. It is precisely this behavior that makes the "visitor" Halle form a distinct personality, she is not a replica of the dead Halle, she is an independent entity. This change in Harley finally reflected on Kelvin, and he gradually realized that he really loved the new Harley in front of him.
Yet Hallie's identity is so unique that everyone knows that even if she hadn't decomposed after leaving Solaris, there was no way she could legally live on Earth as an Earthling. Harley finally chooses to leave, returning to a pile of invisible particles. Kelvin gradually understands from the sadness and loneliness day after day: the earthlings who are trapped in dungeons are paranoid and narrow-minded, self-inflated, they think they are the elves of the universe, and they concoct all kinds of gods to increase their worth. The real God is actually like the "ocean". He doesn't make atonement for others, and he doesn't save anything. He just exists, without meaning or reason.
Finally, we should realize that the author gently asks through this book: Have you ever struggled with human self-transcendence? Is it possible to get out of the cage of the value system of the earth?
View more about Solaris reviews
