BLINDSIGHT

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Are they monsters? Are the aliens monsters? Or are they—and we—all just machines, and moral judgments utterly meaningless? As Siri himself wonders at a crucial part in the narrative—“Did he ever speak for himself? Did he ever decide anything on his own?”

I can sense this review becoming all wishy-washy now. So let me just say that it is a well-written and well-constructed book that concerns itself with psychological and transhumanist questions, survival (of the body and the mind), and something much bigger that comes as a rather nasty twist towards the end. Isaac Szpindel is the ship's primary biologist and physician. He is in love with Michelle, one of the Gang's personalities. A magnificent, darkly gleaming jewel of a book that hurdles the contradictions inherent in biochemistry, consciousness, and human hearts without breaking stride.” — Elizabeth Bear, author of Karen Memory a b c Shaviro, Steven. "Consequences of Panpsychism" (PDF): 14 . Retrieved 8 October 2014. {{ cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= ( help) Or maybe not. In this book, management has apparently decided that instead of ruining perfectly good personnel, they'll send down a bunch of pre-damaged individuals instead. People already "preadapted" for stressful situations: the criminally violent, the perverted, and the emotionally traumatized. It's kind of an interesting idea, but I was never convinced that this set of people could refrain from killing each other, much less do a single meaningful day's work.They are off to see some truly alien aliens whose actions are less scary than their implications. The book is a study of consciousness, sentience, and the Chinese Room concept. This is definitely hard SF with lots of scientific concepts and terminology, but most of the time you can grasp the science from context when it is not explained outright. That was not a big deterrent for me and I actually learned a great deal.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m Shaviro, Steven (27 October 2006). "Blindsight". Archived from the original on 3 December 2006 . Retrieved 8 October 2014. A brilliant piece of work, one that will delight fans of hard science fiction, but will also demonstrate to literary fans that contemporary science fiction is dynamic and fascinating literature that demands to be read.” —The Edmonton Journal Which is to say, self-awareness, the I, the ability to observe and question our own actions—or at least to convince ourselves we are doing so. Well yes, actually. I like the deep-sea descriptions, and the time that the Rifters spend outside Beebe. I like the marine life they encounter. I even kind of like the smart gels. Taken in isolation, Watts’ prose is pretty good. It’s just all the rest of it that I didn’t care for. Taken on balance, it still comes out to indifference. Don't read this if you're expecting action (there is little action) or if you're not in the mood to explore the nature of alien-ness because you'll be disappointed. That being said - the narration is very good and the story is engaging and very hard to put down once you get started.

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Anyway, the first half of the book we are treated to a crew of rifters and their interactions in such a hostile environment. Watts drops tech-ideas like a spring rain here, but so far it fits with the plot and characters. The detailed discussion of the physical modifications made to the rifters was amazing and plausible at the same time for example. It gets even better when one of the rifters figures out a way to 'modify' the tech that allows for subtle but cool changes in the person, such as an almost telepathic abilities to sense each other underwater and what they need/desire/fear. Watts had me hooked for sure! His reflections on consciousness found in his later works are definitely in the making here as well. a b c Nirshberg, Greg (7 December 2010). "Book Review – Blindsight by Peter Watts". Archived from the original on 1 October 2014 . Retrieved 8 October 2014. I thought so," he says, as though she has. "It's really kind of...well, beautiful, in a way. Even the monsters, once you get to know 'em. We're all beautiful."

All’s going well except that the operators begin to go native way down there and develop some unexpected side effects and behavioral traits. A less competent writer would not be able to pull this part of the story off, but this becomes one of the strongest elements of the narrative and kudos to Watts for putting this together so well. We end up with a hard science story with psychological and philosophical questions. And there is some alien stuff and some microbiological creepiness that would make Michael Crichton grow a couple more inches. But the underwater parts, the mystery, the AI parts - it all pays off in the long range as a whole. Jukka Sarasti is a vampire and the crew's nominal (and frightening) leader. As a predator from the Pleistocene, he is alleged to be far smarter than baseline humans.

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Research conducted by forensic psychologist Nathan Brooks from Bond University found 21 per cent of 261 corporated professionals had clinically significant psychopathic traits."

And why Starfish? Starting from the premise that these creatures can regenerate lost limbs, there is a beautiful metaphor and connection between it and the main character Lenie Clarke. But you’ll have to discover that. In other words, these aren’t bodice-ripping, high school dance-attending vampires. Nor are they slavering, stake-em-fore-they-bite-you monsters of the week. They are creepy and remorseless and real. And yet, they don’t quite fit. The simple fact is that they feel as though they belong in a novel of their own. Certainly the vampires are used skillfully to develop the motif of the novel. This is a story at its core about humanity, about consciousness, about the other. The vampires provide an interesting foil to the aliens, a sort of stepping stone to aid in comprehending the incomprehensible. But are they necessary? I have read a decent amount of sci-fi. One of my favourite books are Hyperion 1 & 2, Three Body Problem Trilogy, Dune, Book of the new sun and Diaspora by Greg Egan. Read some classics, too. I was never lost or really confused in these books. Ovo je Wattsov prvi roman i odlično se snašao, na ovih 350-tak stranica pisao je o mnogim temama, a sve ih je uspio povezati u smislenu i zanimljivu priču.I keep returning to those words—Lovecraftian, indifferent—but Blindsight is also a brilliant argument for the inevitability of that same indifference. There’s an icy, logical nihilism at this book’s core that Watts never shies away from, that—in fact—he ruthlessly exploits. Horrible things happen for no reason, because the universe is like that, and Watts doesn’t give us the pretense of some higher meaning as a comfort. a b c d e f McGrath, Martin (10 March 2011). "Blindsight... Or "In a Chinese Room, not far from the loo" ". Archived from the original on 14 October 2014 . Retrieved 8 October 2014. So many elements mixed in, trans-humans, humans, dystopia elements (that mention of panopticon had my skin crawling, why do these elements resonate so close to home these days), weird, almost divine (and scary as hell) AI bio constructs, orbital stations and powerful weapons, biological poisons but also energy guns. Our main character, Lenie, is as odd as expected. Not quite sure how things work with other people. Afraid to go outside at first. But by chapter 2 already more comfortable out there in the dark than inside the station, with another person.