5 ms·

The central "alien" in the novel Blindsight (by Peter Watts) is, quite specifically, not this human-in-a-mask trope. One of the key points I remember (possibly

The central "alien" in the novel Blindsight (by Peter Watts) is, quite specifically, not this human-in-a-mask trope. One of the key points I remember (possibly not-quite-accurately) is that the various attempts that humanity makes to communicate with the alien could be construed by the alien to be attacks: bombarding it with the kinds of signals that we use to communicate. It's a memorable point, making it plain that normality in our sphere of experience is something that's evolved through many needles' eyes over millions of years. Different human cultures can't even relate to each other very well, and we share 5-nines of that evolutionary history.

JoeAltmaier 7y ago
Yes! This! Fundamental 'human' values are likely entirely at odds with any alien life morality we ever encounter. Thou Shall Not Kill? What about an amoebic life-form that honors its ancestors by absorbing their protoplasm, thus retaining their memories? Honor Thy Father And Mother? An insectoid race may become adult by the brood attacking, killing and eating their parent colony thus proving their fitness. Thou Shall Not Steal? That one's easy: what if property ownership is an ideal unique to territorial monkey-troop creatures with strong attraction to bling (us)? Sharing tools and food may be fundamental to every other successful race in the galaxy, humans being some aberrant race of moral deviants that prosper despite all logic to the contrary.
- JoeAltmaier 7y ago
  Add to that: the speed of interaction. Even on Earth we have everything from Sloth to Hummingbird. How will we get along with Hummingbird aliens? Aliens that move and think at the speed of a Giant Sequoia? Even a tiny mismatch could be disastrous. What if they perceived the world only slightly faster? We would speak at the very low end of their perception; our flickering lights and video images would drive them mad. We would appear slow and stupid in every personal interaction.
  - BLKNSLVR 7y ago
    Trees see the world as we see time-lapse photography. There's a line from a Terry Pratchett (I think) book that says something like "The trees wondering who keeps switching the lights on and off". (I can't find the actual darn quote). It's poetic. Our time scale is trivial in the scope of the universe, whilst quantum time scales are trivial to ours.
  - yencabulator 7y ago
    Not at all convinced a "tiny mismatch" would be disastrous. Magnitude differences, sure. > Dogs can take in visual information at least 25 percent faster than humans https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/small-animals-live-in-a-slow-motion-world/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/small-animals-liv...
    - BLKNSLVR 7y ago
      In regards to: > Dogs can take in visual information at least 25 percent faster than humans Something else mentioned in the Blindsight novel, and actually what gives the book it's title, is (as far as I know) a theory about the 'tension' between the conscious and subconscious parts of the brain; that there's the "lizard brain" essentially subconscious which is usually overridden by the conscious part. There's a passage in the book where the 'alien' is psychologically attacking a character causing them to go blind. The character, however, is still able to catch an item thrown to them because, whilst their conscious brain is unable to process, and therefore react to, visual cues, the "lizard brain" takes over and forces an almost subconscious reaction to catch the thrown item. The "lizard brain" is immune to the blindness-causing psychological attack (something along those lines). Something about the visual bandwidth available via the optic nerve is rather huge compared to how much bandwidth the conscious brain can actually process. The "lizard brain" is basic, but can process the full spectrum of bandwidth available. The 'tension' between these two systems in our heads is exemplified (in explanatory notes at the end of the book) in the scenario where one drops something hot (maybe from being held in an oven mitt) and the instant, sub-conscious reaction is to try to catch it, whilst the conscious brain has to process the individual scenario and attempt to override the default response because if we touch the thing, it will burn us. It's god damn fascinating! * Disclaimer: The above is my interpretation / memory, it may or may not represent what actually happens or what the author intended to convey. Edited to add: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel)

JoeAltmaier 7y ago

Yes! This! Fundamental 'human' values are likely entirely at odds with any alien life morality we ever encounter. Thou Shall Not Kill? What about an amoebic life-form that honors its ancestors by absorbing their protoplasm, thus retaining their memories? Honor Thy Father And Mother? An insectoid race may become adult by the brood attacking, killing and eating their parent colony thus proving their fitness. Thou Shall Not Steal? That one's easy: what if property ownership is an ideal unique to territorial monkey-troop creatures with strong attraction to bling (us)? Sharing tools and food may be fundamental to every other successful race in the galaxy, humans being some aberrant race of moral deviants that prosper despite all logic to the contrary.

JoeAltmaier 7y ago
Add to that: the speed of interaction. Even on Earth we have everything from Sloth to Hummingbird. How will we get along with Hummingbird aliens? Aliens that move and think at the speed of a Giant Sequoia? Even a tiny mismatch could be disastrous. What if they perceived the world only slightly faster? We would speak at the very low end of their perception; our flickering lights and video images would drive them mad. We would appear slow and stupid in every personal interaction.
- BLKNSLVR 7y ago
  Trees see the world as we see time-lapse photography. There's a line from a Terry Pratchett (I think) book that says something like "The trees wondering who keeps switching the lights on and off". (I can't find the actual darn quote). It's poetic. Our time scale is trivial in the scope of the universe, whilst quantum time scales are trivial to ours.
- yencabulator 7y ago
  Not at all convinced a "tiny mismatch" would be disastrous. Magnitude differences, sure. > Dogs can take in visual information at least 25 percent faster than humans https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/small-animals-live-in-a-slow-motion-world/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/small-animals-liv...
  - BLKNSLVR 7y ago
    In regards to: > Dogs can take in visual information at least 25 percent faster than humans Something else mentioned in the Blindsight novel, and actually what gives the book it's title, is (as far as I know) a theory about the 'tension' between the conscious and subconscious parts of the brain; that there's the "lizard brain" essentially subconscious which is usually overridden by the conscious part. There's a passage in the book where the 'alien' is psychologically attacking a character causing them to go blind. The character, however, is still able to catch an item thrown to them because, whilst their conscious brain is unable to process, and therefore react to, visual cues, the "lizard brain" takes over and forces an almost subconscious reaction to catch the thrown item. The "lizard brain" is immune to the blindness-causing psychological attack (something along those lines). Something about the visual bandwidth available via the optic nerve is rather huge compared to how much bandwidth the conscious brain can actually process. The "lizard brain" is basic, but can process the full spectrum of bandwidth available. The 'tension' between these two systems in our heads is exemplified (in explanatory notes at the end of the book) in the scenario where one drops something hot (maybe from being held in an oven mitt) and the instant, sub-conscious reaction is to try to catch it, whilst the conscious brain has to process the individual scenario and attempt to override the default response because if we touch the thing, it will burn us. It's god damn fascinating! * Disclaimer: The above is my interpretation / memory, it may or may not represent what actually happens or what the author intended to convey. Edited to add: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel)