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yīnwei

yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This week’s MEotW, “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, was discussed in a podcast episode that I listened to recently. Here’s a clip from it, with the part in which this expression was discussed:

Here’s a transcript of this video clip:

David: You’re a good sport. Thank you for doing this. So you are a native speaker. This question is very important because if you pronounce a character with the wrong tone, you can be fined as much as 50 kuài (pieces → [mw for Renminbi] 块 塊) at CCTV if you’re an announcer. So what I want you to do is just very slowly pronounce for us the word that in Chinese would be the equivalent of “because”.

Yajun: “Yīnwéi (Yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

David: Say again?

Yajun: “Yīnwéi (Yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

David: So I hear that the “wéi (… 为 為/爲)” is second tone. Is that right?

Yajun: Yeah…

David: That’s Northern Mandarin. That’s also Běijīng (Běi·jīng North · {Country Capital} → [Beijing] 北京)‐huà (speech 话 話). [With] the actual pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]) citation version of that word, in 90% of the dictionaries that you will see, the second character is pronounced with fourth tone, as “yīnwèi (yīn·wèi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

Yajun: Sure…?

David: Yeah, well if you ask most Chinese, they’re very unsure about it, just like you.

Yajun: I was quite sure it’s “yīnwéi (yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, something like that. Now I’m not so sure…and I don’t want to lose 50 kuài (pieces → [mw for Renminbi] 块 塊).

David: Don’t worry, there are many examples like that and you are not actually wrong. This is an artificial standard that has been imposed and actually, few people, or, not everyone, actually follows it.

By the way, the David Moser speaking in the above clip is indeed the same one who wrote the relatively well-known essay “Why Chinese Is So D- Hard”, which has given many people a lot to think about regarding how Chinese characters make learning Mandarin much harder than it otherwise would be. (I’m not providing a link to this essay because the full title and an example used in the text are a bit less than family-friendly. However, for anyone who’s interested, here is a link to a family-friendly version of this essay that’s been translated into Mandarin and written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音).)

Getting back to “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, there’s also a relatively detailed entry on this expression in the excellent Referenced Theo. Expressions resource.

Dealing With Different Right Pronunciations

The different pronunciations of “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)” are an example showing us that, while they have a lot of overlap, pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]), Northern Mandarin and Beijing Mandarin, and, for that matter, the Guóyǔ (Guó·yǔ National · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Taiwan)] 国语 國語) spoken in Taiwan are not exactly the same. (More information on how pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]) has been artificially constructed from various parts and promoted to be a national standard can be found in David Moser’s book “A Billion Voices: China’s Search for a Common Language”.)

So, when we get to a word like “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, which pronunciation should we say it with? Well, considering that the basic principle regarding why language groups and congregations even exist is that Bible truth best reaches a person’s heart in that person’s mother tongue, the logical conclusion is that we should try, as much as we are reasonably able to, to use whichever pronunciation is used by whomever we are talking to. The apostle Paul said “to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to gain Jews”, so we should similarly seek to become as the Mandarin-speaking people we meet in the ministry. (1 Corinthians 9:20) And since tones are an essential part of Mandarin pronunciation, that would include trying to use whichever tone is used by whomever we are talking to.

That may be relatively straightforward—although it may not be easy—when speaking to an individual, but when speaking to a large, mixed audience, perhaps at a meeting or even a convention, we will have to use good judgement to try to speak so as to be understood without distraction by the majority of the audience. It helps, then, to know the audience.

The Accents of Network News Announcers

Speaking of the audience, the clip above mentions that CCTV announcers are required to speak in a particular standard way, and that they are actually fined when they deviate from this standard. CCTV (China Central Television) is the national television broadcaster of China (which, naturally in China, is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party), and as such, has an audience that includes all of mainland China, with all its various languages, dialects, and accents. As we can see, those calling the shots at CCTV, and indeed, in China in general, have decided to approach this situation by seeking to impose and promote a standard way of speaking, from the top down.

American network news announcers face a sort-of similar challenge—while English is understood throughout the USA, people in different parts of the USA have come to speak with different regional accents.

The article “Why Do So Many News Anchors Sound Alike?”, on the Mental Floss website, says the following about how American news announcers have historically approached this situation:

No matter which channel you tune into or what local broadcast you receive, news anchors share one common trait beyond professional attire and perfect hair. They tend to sound exactly the same, from their cadence to enunciation to a completely curious lack of a regional accent. How does that happen?

Broadcasters didn’t always sound so geographically neutral. In the early part of the 20th century, many radio personalities and performers adopted what was known as a Mid-Atlantic accent, or a blend of mannered British and the East Coast dialect of the United States. This polished, proper method of speaking was popular in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and on radio because it signaled some kind of upper-class education and erudition. Thanks to America’s infatuation with England, sounding even vaguely British made people sound intelligent. Pundits like William F. Buckley Jr. carried the Mid-Atlantic torch even as it fell out of favor in entertainment.

The more contemporary practice of sounding linguistically neutral is often referred to as having a General American accent—which is a bit misleading, since there’s really not much of an accent at all. Also referred to as Standard American, Broadcast English, or Network English, General American was a term first used in the 1920s and ’30s by linguists who wanted to isolate a more widespread accent than the New England or Southern dialects.

Balancing Authenticity with Avoiding Distraction

A relatively recent Business Insider article points out, though, that what American people expect of their media personalities has evolved over time:

“There is something called a broadcast news type voice,” Brice told Insider. “And I really try to coach people to not have that voice. In fact, I coach routinely people to sound more like themselves. People try to emulate other anchors and reporters, and in my opinion, it gets them in trouble.”

…

“We’ve definitely evolved, just as the news industry has evolved, into a different mindset,” Cairns told Insider, adding that listeners now look for signs of authenticity from their media personalities. “With people being flooded with content, their expectations have changed. People don’t want the typical woman with the big head of hair and the perfect voice, looking a certain way.”

Instead of trying to eliminate regional accents like Fleming’s Boston pronunciations [heard in the post embedded above], Cairns told Insider, speakers who speak with accents should focus only on making sure their speech patterns aren’t distracting from what they’re trying to say.

“It’s just like your hairstyle—you have your own voice style.” Cairns told Insider. “Use it. It’s part of what identifies you. Just don’t let it distract from the message.”

Considering the above and coming back to the Mandarin field, we can see that when speaking to Mandarin-speaking people in the field, there are at least three ways of speaking that we need to mentally juggle:

  • The way we ouselves normally speak Mandarin
  • Modern Standard Mandarin/pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)])/Taiwanese Guóyǔ (Guó·yǔ National · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Taiwan)] 国语 國語)
  • The kind of Mandarin best understood by whomever we are speaking to

In the Mandarin field, we want to speak authentically, sincerely, in a way that other people can tell is coming from our hearts, while avoiding speaking in a way that is so different from what others expect that it distracts from our God-honouring and life-saving message—it’s a balancing act, that may involve juggling! The standard forms of Mandarin that have been promoted by governments, widely broadcast in the media, etc. may heavily influence people’s expectations of the kind of Mandarin we speak, but different situations may require different approaches. So, we should do our best to adapt accordingly, so as to speak in the way that best helps others and glorifies, not any human entity, but rather, our great God Jehovah.

Note: Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is aimed at and made available to the worldwide Mandarin field, and so as far as possible, it is based on how most people seem to actually speak pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]), the artificial standard mentioned in the clip at the beginning of this post, that is the standard language promoted in mainland China, where about 95% of the world’s Chinese people are. (As Mr. Moser pointed out in the clip, people don’t always follow the pronunciations found in many dictionaries. E.g., many seem to use more neutral tones than many dictionaries indicate.) Since Taiwan is also a relatively big presence in the Mandarin-speaking world, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material also contains notes indicating when Taiwan Mandarin has different pronunciations. (Offhand, the only Mandarin dictionary mentions that I can recall that refer to Northern or Beijing pronunciations involve the “r” ({child | youth | son} → [(diminutive) non-syllabic retroflex suffix; pronunciation feature in Beijing dialect] 儿 兒) that Beijingers add to the ends of many words. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material includes notes about this.)

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Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

róngyào

róngyào (róng·yào glory; honour · {being bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [honour; glory]} → [glory; honour] | glorify · {to be bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [to be glorious]} → [glorify] | honourable; glorious · {bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [glorious]} → [honourable; glorious] 荣耀 榮耀) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Rather than dismissively thinking to ourselves that the songs produced by the organization are “just songs”, we should remember that the slave class takes seriously its responsibility to provide spiritual food to God’s people, and so it is going to make sure that the lyrics in its songs are spiritually correct, while also being emotionally moving.—Ezekiel 33:32; Matthew 24:45.

“Give Jehovah Glory”

“Róngyào” _Pīnyīn_ Plus info, Song 159 (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

This week’s MEotW in the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

This week’s MEotW, “róngyào (róng·yào glory; honour · {being bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [honour; glory]} → [glory; honour] | glorify · {to be bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [to be glorious]} → [glorify] | honourable; glorious · {bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [glorious]} → [honourable; glorious] 荣耀 榮耀)”, comes from the relatively new song 159, which is entitled “Give Jehovah Glory” in English and “Róngyào (Róng·yào Glory · {Being Shining → [Glory]} → [Glory] 荣耀 榮耀) Guīgěi (Guī·gěi {Give Back} · {to Be Given to} 归给 歸給) Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華)” in Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus).

“Róngyào (Róng·yào glory; honour · {being bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [honour; glory]} → [glory; honour] | glorify · {to be bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [to be glorious]} → [glorify] | honourable; glorious · {bright; dazzling; brilliant; shining → [glorious]} → [honourable; glorious] 荣耀 榮耀)” is flexible regarding what part of speech it can be—it can mean “glory; honour”, “glorify”, or “honourable; glorious”. In the Mandarin field, what kinds of glory should we be mindful of? Whom should we seek to glorify? What kind of glory is truly glorious?

“Glory from Men” Who Glorify Worldly Human Chinese Culture

Some in the Mandarin field may focus on gaining knowledge of Chinese characters so as to obtain glory from certain humans. Ones who do this are taking a different approach from that of Jesus, who said at John 5:41–44:

I do not accept glory from men, but I well know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in the name of my Father, but you do not receive me. If someone else came in his own name, you would receive that one. How can you believe, when you are accepting glory from one another and you are not seeking the glory that is from the only God?

Why do some humans heap praise and glory on those who have acquired extensive knowledge of Chinese characters? For one thing, Chinese characters are famously extraordinarily hard to learn and remember (unnecessarily so, actually), and so there is the natural glory given to those who have been able to accomplish a hard thing. Also, though, Chinese characters are glamourized by many as distinctive symbols of worldly human Chinese culture, and many are proud of them, and proud of worldly human Chinese culture. This is a big reason why traditional Mandarin language instruction and traditional Mandarin language teachers in general focus on Chinese characters so much and encourage Mandarin learners to prioritize them.

It is only natural for a student of Mandarin to want to receive glory from his teacher and others like him. Unfortunately, though, experience has shown that going along with a traditional Mandarin language teacher’s focus on characters may lead to a Mandarin learner actually being diverted into a deep rabbit hole and hindered from actually learning how speak Mandarin well. While such ones may, after many years of intense effort, come to be able to recognize many Chinese characters, they may not be able to, say, glorify Jehovah while speaking powerfully and persuasively to Mandarin-speaking people, the way Jesus spoke to people. (Mark 1:22) That’s because this traditional focus on characters has all along been mainly meant, not to help Mandarin learners actually learn to speak Mandarin, but to perpetuate and glorify worldly human Chinese culture.

Glory for Worldly Chinese Political Systems

In this world, certain aspects of Chinese culture can unfortunately get politicized. For example, Simplified characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) were created in mainland China, so some may promote these systems so as to glorify the political system of mainland China. On the other hand, Traditional characters and Zhùyīn (Zhù·yīn {Annotating of} · Sounds → [Zhuyin] 注音 註/注音) continued to be used in Taiwan after the mainland pivoted away from them, so some may promote these systems so as to glorify the political system of Taiwan. Even the Mandarin expression that people use to refer to the Mandarin language (Guóyǔ (Guó·yǔ National · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Taiwan)] 国语 國語)/pǔtōnghuà (pǔ·tōng·huà common; universal · {through(out) → [common]} · speech → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)] 普通话 普通話)/Huáyǔ (Huá·yǔ {Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent → [Chinese]} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Singapore)] 华语 華語)/etc.) can be made to take on political connotations. Of course, as Jehovah’s politically neutral servants, we must avoid doing things just to glorify one human political system over another.

Another thing that we Mandarin field language learners must beware of is the erroneous idea that Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. are just “dialects” of “Chinese”. This misconception has been widely spread as political propaganda, to bolster the idea that China should be united under one political system. So, if we parrot that erroneous view regarding so-called Chinese “dialects” that in reality function like distinct languages, then we are actually parroting political propaganda that is designed to glorify China’s central government regardless of any confusion or other negative effects that may result from such spreading of falsehood.

Glory for Jehovah

Rather than allowing ourselves to be used to glorify humans or things in this worldly human system, we can show that we seek to glorify Jehovah, the God of truth. (John 17:17; 4:23, 24) One way we can do so in the Chinese language fields is by rejecting the many untruths that have been spread about the Chinese languages. Also, we can do so by seeking to choose and use systems and methods based on what really works best to help us to praise and glorify Jehovah, not based on what serves to glorify ourselves or worldly humans, and not based on what serves to perpetuate and glorify worldly human cultures, traditions, and political systems.

As Jesus’ words above showed, Jehovah gives “the glory that is from the only God” to those who seek to give glory to him, rather than to mere humans. So, let us follow song 159’s simple but profound admonition, and give glory to Jehovah!

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Culture Current Events Names Science Theocratic

Tiānfāng‐Yè‐Tán

Tiānfāng‐Yè‐Tán ((Tiān·fāng Heaven’s · {Direction → [Region]} → [Arabian] 天方)‐(Yè Night 夜 夜/亱)‐(Tán Chats 谭 譚) → [Arabian Nights; One Thousand and One Nights]) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

Recently, the No. 1 2025 issue of The Watchtower, entitled “An End to War—How?”, became available on jw.org. This week’s MEotW, “Tiānfāng‐Yè‐Tán ((Tiān·fāng Heaven’s · {Direction → [Region]} → [Arabian] 天方)‐(Yè Night 夜 夜/亱)‐(Tán Chats 谭 譚) → [Arabian Nights; One Thousand and One Nights])”, appears in the first paragraph of the introduction of the Mandarin version of this issue:

English:

Do you long to live in a world without war or violent conflict? For many, that idea sounds appealing but unrealistic.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ (you 你) shì (are 是) bu (not 不) shì (are 是) hěn ({very much} 很) xiǎng (wanting 想) shēnghuó ({to live} 生活) zài (in 在) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · having 没有 沒有) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭) de (’s 的) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent → [world] 世界) li (inside 里 裡/裏) ne ([? ptcl] 呢)? Duì (towards → [to] 对 對) hěn (very 很) duō (many 多) rén (people 人) lái (coming 来 來) shuō ({to be saying} 说 說/説), zhè (this 这 這) jiǎnzhí (jiǎn·zhí {being simple} · {being straight} → [simply] 简直 簡直) shì (is 是) Tiānfāng‐Yè‐Tán ((Tiān·fāng Heaven’s · {Direction → [Region]} → [Arabian] 天方)‐(Yè Night 夜 夜/亱)‐(Tán Chats 谭 譚) → [Arabian Nights; One Thousand and One Nights]).

The Tale of the Morphemes

In “Tiānfāng‐Yè‐Tán ((Tiān·fāng Heaven’s · {Direction → [Region]} → [Arabian] 天方)‐(Yè Night 夜 夜/亱)‐(Tán Chats 谭 譚) → [Arabian Nights; One Thousand and One Nights])”, “Tiānfāng (Tiān·fāng Heaven’s · {Direction → [Region]} → [Arabia | Arabian] 天方)”, meaning “Heaven’s Region”, is a Mandarin expression used to refer to “Arabia” or “Arabian”. “Yè (night; evening 夜 夜/亱)” here means “Night”, and “Tán ({talk; speak; converse; chat; discuss [about]} 谭 譚)” here means “Chats”.

When these morphemes are put together in “Tiānfāng‐Yè‐Tán ((Tiān·fāng Heaven’s · {Direction → [Region]} → [Arabian] 天方)‐(Yè Night 夜 夜/亱)‐(Tán Chats 谭 譚) → [Arabian Nights; One Thousand and One Nights])”, they on one level of literalness mean “Arabian Night Chats”, and they are used to refer to the collection of Middle Eastern folktales known in English as Arabian Nights, or One Thousand and One Nights.

In the context of the above quote from the Mandarin version of The Watchtower, saying that the idea of a world without war “jiǎnzhí (jiǎn·zhí {being simple} · {being straight} → [simply] 简直 簡直) shì (is 是) Tiānfāng‐Yè‐Tán ((Tiān·fāng Heaven’s · {Direction → [Region]} → [Arabian] 天方)‐(Yè Night 夜 夜/亱)‐(Tán Chats 谭 譚) → [Arabian Nights; One Thousand and One Nights])” is kind of like saying in English that this idea is “just a fairy tale”.

Just a Fairy Tale?

Considering mankind’s ongoing failure to bring about a world without war, it may indeed seem reasonable to doubt how realistic such an idea is. However, the paragraph of The Watchtower quoted above goes on to say:

English:

The Bible reveals why mankind’s efforts to end war have failed. It also explains how you can be sure that worldwide peace is possible and will soon become a reality.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) gàosu (tells 告诉 告訴) wǒmen (wǒ·men us · [pl] 我们 我們), wèi‐shénme ((wèi for 为 為)‐(shén·me what · [suf] 什么 什/甚麼) → [why]) rén (humans 人) bù (not 不) kěnéng ({are able} 可能) kào ({to lean on} → [to rely on] 靠) zìjǐ (selves 自己) de (’ 的) lìliang (lì·liang strength · quantity 力量) ràng ({to make} 让 讓) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent → [world] 世界) hépíng (hé·píng {be (together) with (one another)} · {be flat, level, even} → [be peaceful (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 says this term mainly refers to the absence of war or conflict)] 和平). Búguò (Bú·guò not · {do pass} → [however] 不过 不過) Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) yě (also 也) shuō (says 说 說/説), tiānxià (tiān·xià heaven · under → [the whole world] 天下) yídìng (yí·dìng {(with) one} · {setting fixedly} → [definitely] 一定) huì (will 会 會) tàipíng (tài·píng supremely · {be flat, level, even → [be peaceful]} 太平), érqiě (ér·qiě and · moreover 而且) zhè (this 这 這) yi (one 一) tiān (sky → [day] 天) yǐjing (yǐ·jing already · {has gone through} 已经 已經) lí ({being apart from} 离 離/离) wǒmen (wǒ·men us · [pl] 我们 我們) bù (not 不) yuǎn (far 远 遠) le ([(at the end of a phrase/sentence) indicates a change] 了)!

So, let us take advantage of whatever opportunities we have to make good use of the above-mentioned issue of The Watchtower (and its Mandarin version’s available Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)) in the Mandarin field. Let us do what we can to help Mandarin-speaking sheeplike ones to know that despite the wars now raging in Ukraine and elsewhere, and despite the conflicts threatening to break out, including a possible conflict between China and the USA over Taiwan, “tiānxià (tiān·xià heaven · under → [the whole world] 天下) (a past MEotW) yídìng (yí·dìng {(with) one} · {setting fixedly} → [definitely] 一定) huì (will 会 會) tàipíng (tài·píng supremely · {be flat, level, even → [be peaceful]} 太平)”—there will definitely be worldwide peace—because of what Jehovah God, our loving Almighty Creator, will accomplish through his own very real Kingdom government.

Evidently an Actual Fairy Tale

In contrast to what the above-mentioned issue of The Watchtower says about the realistic hope of seeing God’s Kingdom make the earth into a peaceful paradise, I recently came across an interesting article entitled “Statistically Speaking, We Should Have Heard from Aliens by Now”, which says:

The paper presents a model to explore the Fermi Paradox and assess the value of SETI in the search for intelligent life. Despite its limitations, the model suggests that the absence of detected electromagnetic signals from alien civilizations can place limits on how many such civilizations exist. Under certain assumptions, the model predicts a 99% chance of detecting at least one signal if the estimated number of civilizations (based on the Drake equation) is around 1.

[For reference, here are the links to the Wikipedia articles regarding some of the terms mentioned above: Fermi paradox; SETI; Drake equation.]

So, while some people these days hope to make contact with space aliens who could maybe help us solve our problems, it seems that scientific evidence is starting to accumulate that shows that such a hope actually is just Tiānfāng‐Yè‐Tán ((Tiān·fāng Heaven’s · {Direction → [Region]} → [Arabian] 天方)‐(Yè Night 夜 夜/亱)‐(Tán Chats 谭 譚) → [Arabian Nights; One Thousand and One Nights]), like a story out of Arabian Nights.

Rather than looking to space aliens out of science fiction, how much better it would be for people, including those in the Mandarin field, to look to the true God Jehovah, the Extraterrestrial Superintelligence who, as shown by much evidence, created us and has already made contact with us through his Word the Bible and his organization!