"Wandering Earth" is completely on fire. As of this writing today, the box office has reached 2.5 billion, and Maoyan predicts that the total box office will exceed 5 billion, which is close to "Wolf Warrior 2" or even beyond.
This film can be popular, of course, it also makes sense. In addition to the excellent production of the movie itself, and the blessing of Liu Cixin, a super-powerful IP, its gimmick as the pioneering work of Chinese hard science fiction movies, and "the Chinese are saving the earth for the first time" and other such stalks, it also allows it to harvest many movies themselves. High premium outside. However, just defining the success of "Wandering Earth" as a breakthrough in a certain type of film industry and a temporary national pride, the meaning and value behind this success is actually greatly reduced. In Yun Shijun's view, the real importance of this film is that it has played a very critical and fundamental role in promoting the development of China's space industry. In this way, many people may think that Mr. Marble is ignorant. Not to mention the limited quality of "Wandering Earth"-although it is an unprecedented breakthrough in the Chinese film industry, it can only be regarded as the first-class level compared with the same type of Hollywood movies, compared to "Interstellar" There is still a big gap in top production. What's more, even if "Wandering Earth" really reached its peak, it would be nothing more than a movie in itself. It is a bit exaggerated to associate a science fiction movie with the development of space industry. But if you think so, it would be easier to watch hard science fiction movies. Although the hard science fiction movie itself is only a commercial product type, its worldview and logical lines may not conform to objective facts, but its prosperity is actually related to the success or failure of the space industry. Because it can solve the two fatal problems that plague the development of human space industry to a considerable extent-people and money. Regarding the strategy of space exploration, readers who have been following Jun Shijun's article should have some understanding and understanding. Simply put, with the continuous development of civilization, a single earth resource will eventually fail to meet the needs of mankind. Rushing out of the earth and moving into space is the inevitable way for the survival and development of human civilization. As for China and the Chinese civilization, due to the missed opportunity of the transformation of the ocean age, this country and civilization also suffered huge setbacks in the global competition for nearly 500 years, and even fell into a crisis of subjugation and extinction. Although we finally survived the catastrophe and got back on track, the price paid in this process is also very heavy-the West can rely on the first-mover advantage of industrialization and the abundant resources seized by global colonization to enter modern civilization relatively simply and easily. On the other hand, China had to endure a century of exploitation by the West, and then finally embarked on the road of revival, only to find that not only did the West have the first-mover advantage technically, but even the global resources had been divided up by the West. In this case, China If people want to catch up, they can only endure sweatshops, high-intensity labor, environmental pollution, and unequal trade rules by relying on their own excesses. The humiliation and tears in this can be described as hard and hard. This is the price of missing history. China has missed the transition from continental civilization to marine civilization, so it had the decline and suffering for hundreds of years. With this lesson learned, then for the next frontier-the space age, China and China must not be absent-not only cannot be absent, but also must find ways to get ahead of others and get ahead. But it is not easy to achieve this goal. Whether it is space exploration or interstellar colonization, there are high-tech barriers. To turn this dream into a reality at the technical level requires a continuous investment of massive amounts of funds in the early stage-and this process is very long, which may be decades or even a hundred years, and the benefits that can be reaped during this period are very limited. ——Almost none. This is a great test for participants in the space industry: First of all, the entrants must have sufficient hard power-without sufficient economic and technological foundation, they will definitely not be able to play this game. Regarding this point, the analysis is simple and easy-up to now, the only ones who are truly eligible to join the game are the United States, China, Russia and Europe. And over time, Russia and Europe have shown a slight decline, and only China and the United States still seem to be able to maintain sufficient strategic investment. But this is only one aspect. Having this hard power does not mean you will be successful. Just like before the advent of the great maritime era, China’s hard conditions were absolutely the best in the world—Zheng He’s fleet would be enough to get rid of the ten streets of Columbus a hundred years later, and the economic foundation of the Ming Dynasty was not even the gangsters of medieval Western Europe. It is comparable to the grasshopper country-but it cannot change the outcome of China being rubbed by Europe on the ground in this competition. Therefore, in addition to hard power, there must be softStrength-is there a subjective determination to continue this competition.
This is an important reason why China lost the competition in the Ocean Age. However, the reason why China lost at that time was that, in addition to factors such as the system and culture at the time, a very important subjective reason was also that it did not understand it well and did not realize the significance of civilization change. Today, this aspect of understanding is not a problem, so the main threats to those entering the game are money and people. Let me talk about money first. As mentioned earlier, to play this game, first you have to insist on high investment for decades or even hundreds of years-and this investment has no return during this period-or the return is far from enough to cover the cost. Since there is no benefit in the short and medium term, this investment of commercial capital is usually not of much interest, so most of it can only be paid by the state and the government. This is a big test for national determination. The simplest example: the people's desire for a better life will never stop. Therefore, while they create more wealth for the country, they will also require the country to provide more benefits, provide better labor and social security, and reduce working hours-and these will have an impact on the government's fiscal revenue and expenditure. Under this circumstance, a space business that requires a steady stream of high investment, but does not see a return in the short to medium term (even in reality, people can never see a return in their lifetime), it is easy to be regarded by the public as a vain and useless waste. , And then asked the government to reduce the corresponding investment and invest the money extracted into the welfare expenditure that can immediately benefit the people. A competent modern government cannot ignore the welfare demands of the people-otherwise the Soviet Union would be a lesson for the past. But this demand cannot be met without a bottom line-otherwise it will definitely affect the country's long-term development. In this case, how to balance the contradiction between the space business and the real interests of the people has become a problem that a country must face. And through hard science fiction movies, maintaining people's interest in space business is actually a good way to ease the contradiction between the two. Although hard science fiction movies with a big brain can not directly help the highly rigorous space cause, the prevalence of this type of movie can stimulate people's interest in it and enhance the public's importance to the space cause through movies. Sexual awareness. Although this technique is relatively intuitive and perceptual, it lacks rigorous logic and scientificity. But the people themselves are a group with greater sentiment than rationality, so this can be regarded as a targeted group, which can reduce the public's aversion to the high cost of space undertakings to a considerable extent. This is also the main reason why the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) highly supports Hollywood hard science fiction movies. Congress reviews various government expenditures every year, so a department like NASA that spends a lot of money every year but sees no benefits can easily become a prodigal in the eyes of the people, and then be eaten by those Congress who depend on catering to voters. The lawmakers drew off the funding.
In order to keep the small money in the pocket, NASA can be said to be broken. In addition to the team of astronomers, they broke out news about asteroids about to hit the earth every few times, and gave themselves a sense of existence; it was a close collaboration with Hollywood to produce A hard science fiction blockbuster, let the big guys imagine the novel life of the space age, let everyone look forward to the beautiful future, try not to use their own funds as a target. In addition to money, talent pool is also a major contribution of science fiction movies to the cause of space. As I said before, in the space business, this thing will not see any direct benefits in the short to medium term-in other words, its commercial value is low and it is mainly maintained by government funds. Since it is a financial appropriation, the salary of the personnel is naturally not much higher. This was set in the era of planned economy before, and it may not be a big problem. At that time, everyone was the same, and patriotism and dedication could be used to motivate scientific researchers to work hard. But now this trick is not so good. Now is the era of market economy. Whether you admit it or not, the ability to make money is definitely a major social criterion for evaluating personal success or failure. People involved in the space industry are typically high IQs and highly educated. Such people can generally earn a lot of money in the market. But once you enter the pits of aerospace and astrophysics, as mentioned earlier, the commercial value of these industries has not yet fully manifested, and most of them are maintained by government financial allocations, so it is difficult to get high rewards. In this case, as in the past, it is mainly motivated by dedication. Although the effect is still there, it must be greatly reduced compared to before. This is the problem. Continue like this, even if the incumbents are separated because their majors have been finalizedThere is no choice, but those later students, seeing the ordinary personal income of their predecessors, many will dispel the mind of learning these majors-after all, people who can do this work are not low in IQ, so it is better to learn those who are more practical. Professionals who come quickly. What should I do? There is really no way to pay too much—at least not comparable to those industries that come in fast. The effect of traditional incentive methods is not as good as before. So, how can this industry attract top talent? The answer is interest. In the first two decades, when the Chinese people were generally poor, the role of interest might not be too great. After all, interest cannot be used for food. No matter how hobbies are, earning money is the first thing to support a family. So we can Seeing so many literary youths with romantic sentiments back then, they all broke their pens and went to confuse society for life.
but it's different now. Although China still cannot be called developed as a whole, after decades of development, it has actually cultivated a group of wealthy and middle-class classes. Although the proportion is not too high, the absolute number is still Quite a lot. The children of the wealthy and middle-class are generally better educated; the children of the same affluent and middle-class, due to the accumulation of wealth by their parents, make them basically or even completely free from making money to support their families before entering the workplace. Basic survival needs-in other words, they can more calmly follow their own heart when choosing a career, rather than simply making money. In this way, the choice is broad. Of course, there will still be many people in these groups who choose to engage in politics and business that are closely related to fame and fortune, but there are also many people who can follow their hobbies and choose their favorite careers. And this part of the group is the best potential talent for the development of space industry. This principle is very simple-if you are a high-quality bei drifter with a poor family, and give up a million annual salary for hobbies after graduation, to be honest, you are somewhat irresponsible to yourself and your native family. But if your parents have already saved you a few suites in Beijing, or even more, it is also a very good choice to graduate to an aerospace research institute or become an astrophysicist in a university. In this way, there is only one thing left in the end-to cultivate their interest in space business. Now the importance of hard science fiction movies, especially domestic hard science fiction movies, has been highlighted. Without the rise of movies like "Wandering Earth", even if the newcomers who don’t lack money follow their hobbies when choosing a career, most of them are singing and dancing. It’s not bad, but they all sing and dance. Jump, Yu Guo is really useless. And if the rise of hard science fiction literature and art works and cultivate a certain social atmosphere, a group of people will have a strong interest in it since they were young, and then they will devote themselves to the space business when they choose their majors and careers. In this way, the space business can be regarded as successors— -And for those who are interested, their enthusiasm for work is obviously much stronger. This is the greatest value of the rise of hard science fiction movies like "Wandering Earth". The breakthrough of the film industry genre rests on the height of the country and civilization, but it is just a small achievement. As for the national enthusiasm that it inspires, it is difficult to last. However, this kind of film has achieved sound development and can provide long-term support for the space industry in terms of capital guarantee and talent reserve! From this perspective, Mr. Marble sincerely hopes that "The Wandering Earth" will be a great success! It is hoped that under the promotion of popular literature and art, the Chinese people will be able to devote more attention and interest to the business that is truly unpopular in space exploration at the moment, but in the long run. This is the great deed of immeasurable merit!
