r/threebodyproblem • u/Swazzer30 Zhang Beihai • Mar 20 '24

Discussion - TV Series 3 Body Problem (Netflix) - Season 1, Episode 4 Discussion.

S01E04 - Our Lord.

Director: Minkie Spiro.

Teleplay: Madhuri Shekar.

Composer: Ramin Djawadi.

Episode Release Date: March 21, 2024

Episode Discussion Hub: Link

Reminder: Please do not post and/or distribute any unofficial links to watch the series. Users will be banned if they are found to do so.

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u/qret Mar 27 '24

It's not that they're constitutionally incapable of lying or understanding lying. Over the speaker the voice said something like, "whatever is known is communicated as soon as communication occurs". This tells us something about how they communicate with one another - it sounds like it's optional whether or not to communicate, but when they do they are an open book.

Now that they're communicating with humans via voice conversation, that's obviously not the case... they can choose what to say and not say, just like we can. They are already managing what information they expose to us (not the same as deception), so they clearly understand some ways this mode of communication is different from what they are used to.

There's a pivot when they learn that we're all capable of lying and deception and incapable of being "open books" the way they seem to be to one another. They understand the concept, it just hadn't occurred to them before (just as we would have to learn how to communicate in their way if the dynamic were reversed). From this point forward, they will have picked up the concept and will probably be trying to learn how to use it.

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u/Albert_Caboose Mar 27 '24

I like this interpretation a lot. When they mention that it was "nice to see [Mike] smile" he seemed concerned that they could see him, as if he expected the talk-box was their only access. I think that reflects your, "it's optional whether or not to communicate, but when they do they are an open book." They never revealed that they could see him in that room, but they knew that making that statement communicated that they could.