茫點亡點-英譯
茫點 / 亡點 英譯
Translated by 千問 Qwen 3.5-plus
2026-03-29
原文
**The Blur Point / ThePoint of Death?**
Recently, I re-read Wesley's (Wei Sili's) *The Blur Point* (《茫點》).
In the first prologue, *The Blur Point* refers to a painting depicting a human face, where the eyes seem to be covered by leaves. This is the focal point of the entire novel.
What can human eyes see? As the plot unfolds, some people see moths that do not exist, while others cannot see themselves in the mirror. The story introduces two psychiatrists from the same hospital caring for these two "patients."
What is seeing? What is not seeing? This refers to the human physical eye. Beyond the range of visible light, the human eye cannot see, but some animals can. What is seen are tangible objects, but for creatures like snails, they only sense light and dark; forms are not clear. Human ears are the same; we understand the world through our senses.
In the novel, there is a device that can affect human vision, or more accurately, the human brain's judgment of vision. In one scene, someone sees Bai Su committing murder; this is the result of the device's interference. The device itself was designed to study communication patterns between moths, utilizing a frequency of electromagnetic waves invisible to the human eye. A Go player stole this device, allowing him to "see" his opponent's thoughts during games, making him invincible.
I do not wish to discuss too much of the plot. The story mentions that human thoughts are emitted as electromagnetic waves of a certain frequency, similar to communication between moths, and can be received by a device. Thoughts are human ideas, which do not need to be written down. Communication between people relies on spoken sound and text, not direct exchange; these intermediaries of text and sound can be faked.
In the past, what could be seen was considered "existence." Later, technology developed devices that could see what the naked eye could not, which is also "existence." Distant stars, bacteria, viruses, etc., are "existences" that are extremely far or extremely small. However, even with devices, the magnified images are still acquired through human eyes. These "signals" are interpreted and deciphered by the human brain. The input is encoded; the brain must decode and understand. Understanding is the cognition, memory, and emotion regarding the external world.
Eyes, ears, nose, etc., are all "instruments." Light is blocked by objects, reflecting only and not passing behind them; the naked eye cannot see, but if a mirror is placed in the right position to reflect the light, it becomes visible. Today's CCTV is the "Heavenly Eye," and radio communication is very widespread; one can "see and hear" events in a place without being present. This enhances the field of vision many times over, but it is still limited, constrained by the precision, quantity, and position of the instruments.
The so-called "existence" was previously what human senses knew; today, much of it is measured by instruments. If "hallucinations" can affect human thinking, feeling, and reaction, they can also be considered "existence."
"Seeing" is just what the human eye "perceives"; broadly speaking, it is acquiring "information" from the outside. Expanding the "Heavenly Eye" further, it means being able to "see" regardless of distance, size, or scale, where no object can block it. This is the "Non-Eye."
Matter has attributes like form and color, composed of atoms, which are composed of smaller particles; it is a layered structure. If the "Non-Eye" could see through all tangible matter, everything would become "transparent." At this point, it has surpassed the sensory limits of all living beings, even capable of detecting everything in another's mind, with nothing hidden. How could this be as little as what the Go master in the novel knew?
Beyond this, the endless material space must also expand into time: infinite past and future, and the laws within them, which are even less perceivable by the naked eye. Due to these laws, knowing how matter is composed, everything perceived now is the "effect" manifested from the "cause" of the past. Besides thoughts and intentions, one also knows others' "past" and "future." Was the story's ending already "destined" at the beginning? The five "prologues" are all "causes."
Finally, what must be said is human consciousness. All information from the outside world eventually arrives here; when alive, humans have consciousness, thought, memory, and emotion, but after death, do these still exist, especially consciousness? In the story, a psychiatrist and a patient die, reaching the "Point of Death" (亡點). In religion, consciousness does not disappear after death; this consciousness (soul) still exists somewhere (in space-time). The human body is originally matter; it will revert to different forms of matter according to the laws of physics, remaining in the earth. Consciousness is a puzzle in multiple human disciplines today, not yet fully solved; this is the most mysterious thing about the human body.
The physical eye has a blind spot; consciousness has a "Blur Point" (bewilderment).
***
**Translator's Note on the Title:**
The Chinese title plays on a homophone. **茫點 (Máng Diǎn)** means "Blur Point" or "Point of Haze" (referring to vision/perception), while **亡點 (Wáng Diǎn)** means "Point of Death" (referring to the end of life). The English translation attempts to capture this duality in the header.
Source text
by cmlai
2026-03-27
https://cmlai1218.blogspot.com/?m=1
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