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[Alexandr Korol]

my mountain with Petersburg. Maybe that way I could influence Petersburg, or Petersburg could influence me. So the idea was that I theoretically had the thought that it would be interesting in the future to build something like that... But again, it shouldn’t be religious. It could simply be a gazebo, an observation platform. It just needs to be positioned correctly, built in the right way, with some kind of reflective roof made from modern materials. And that’s it — it would just be a gazebo, like the kind you sit in with a telescope to look at the stars. But in reality, you’re also sitting there meditating. So it shouldn’t be connected to any religion. Why should it be? That’s the point — I’m not a theologian, I’m not a specialist in religious matters. Not at all. I’m just a person who explores the world and life at my own level, simply curious about unexplainable things. That’s why my books are very relatable and interesting to many people, because while you can read complex, heavy scientific literature, it’s not for everyone — whereas this, you see, is presented in an adventurous form, and that’s wonderful.

Question: In the book, you write that you can immediately see all the thoughts and reactions people have to your information. Are people really that limited, so easy to predict, and did this manifest in you since childhood as empathy, or is it connected to your understanding of the social-material world through life experience?

This started for me probably back in school — really, since childhood. And when social networks appeared, I just started noticing it more... Around 2006, the site VKontakte — just as it really was — your first friends were classmates. So you had your classmates there, kids from summer camps, friends from the neighborhood, from the dacha. You’d be messaging with them, and sometimes you’d write something, like you wanted to ask them something, and you’d instantly feel the emotion, as if you already knew how they’d react. But you realize that the emotion you’re sensing while writing isn’t yours — it’s theirs. And then when I send the message, I’d see that they reply with exactly that emotion I felt. The way I thought or felt they’d react, that’s exactly how they did. I noticed it once, then a second time, a third — and then I realized it’s always like that. I just know how people are going to think, what they’ll feel when they read, say, this A4 page. I know exactly which line will irritate them, or where they’ll start doubting, or where they’ll think I’ve gotten arrogant, or something else.