The story does not concern itself with abstract or symbolic representations of power; rather, it offers a totalizing speculation on technological and (hence necessarily) civilizational futures from a Chinese perspective. In a recent issue of e-flux journal, philosopher of technology Yuk Hui advocated for “turning technology into a support for culture” rather than merely studying it. Heidegger invokes the ancient Greek term techne, reminding us that technology “belongs to the bringing forth, to poiesis: it is something poietic.” In its capacity to reveal, technology unveils ontological truth and discloses the circumstances in which humanity finds itself—just as Liu Cixin has demonstrated, in novel after novel, that any singularity event in the realm of technology is necessarily a singularity event for humanity, with profound ramifications.

¶ 1:57 PM