Blindsight Aliens

[dragoner]

The Scramblers: http://rifters.com/real/uploaded_images/scrambler-707080.jpg

From Peter Watts Blindsight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel)

The creatures "lack consciousness and possess intelligence" which is an interesting concept, such as how would they communicate?

 

[Anonymous]

OK, so I read the wiki page (it has spoilers, beware) and have downloaded the book to read - thanks for bringing it to my attention.

To enter the discussion before reading the book, why is it necessary for the aliens to communicate as we do? They simply act on what information they have. They don't "think" about it, they simply do. On many levels we already do this, I don't verbally instruct my fingers inside my head to type on this keyboard but I do verbalise the words being typed but why should I need to verbalise anything?

Getting rid of the voice(s) in my head and stopping thinking about things might actually make me do more. It almost feels like a lack of ego or of doubt caused by stopping to think. Just get on with it.

Do they aliens work toward "a greater good" as in, is there an unconscious collective benefit that channels the way they each act? Is that simply known by all? Is it ingrained as an upbringing? Maybe I need to read the book to answer that but I'm thinking it won't be explained, that it's that way in the book to support the ideas the author is raising.

 

[dragoner]

Sorry, I forgot the wiki has spoilers. Also, warning: may contain vampires. His website is pretty neat, with a big gallery and such - http://www.rifters.com/

I remember there was a discussion of non-conscious intelligence recently, I'll have to search it out.

The aliens do communicate in the book, but it was more information gathering iirc. I'm going to reload that in my kindle and read the parts of it again; I did like it in that he aliens were truly alien, and not just rubber suit types. The book is sort of off the beaten path for Traveller people maybe, more Eclipse Phase with a dark transhuman vibe.

As far as ethos, it seems there was just the biological prerogative, survive and multiply.

 

[Anonymous]

The aliens do communicate in the book, but it was more information gathering iirc. I'm going to reload that in my kindle and read the parts of it again; I did like it in that he aliens were truly alien, and not just rubber suit types. The book is sort of off the beaten path for Traveller people maybe, more Eclipse Phase with a dark transhuman vibe.

As far as ethos, it seems there was just the biological prerogative, survive and multiply.

Haha, well, as some think we may not transfer from a type 0 civilisation to a type 1 we may not get to the survive and multiply prerogative! We aren't doing too badly at the multiplying but careful with that axe Eugene!

Dark is good!

 

[dragoner]

Haha, well, as some think we may not transfer from a type 0 civilisation to a type 1 we may not get to the survive and multiply prerogative! We aren't doing too badly at the multiplying but careful with that axe Eugene!

Dark is good!

Wrecking this place might provide the impetus for us to go somewhere else, not a happy scenario, but just as likely. IMTU I wrote down a long time ago a "future history" to explain why things were the way they were: Resource wars destroy the northern hemisphere of the Earth, all culture is deemed divisive and destroyed, a clean break with procreation is made, women and children eliminated, the Solomani become cybernectic super soldiers, then meet the Vilani, conquer them, then Estigarriba - http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Estigarribia rebels against the final solution for the Vilani, and consigns the "Democratic Council" to the bio-reprocessors. This explains why the Imperium is anti-cybernetics, has a system of "nobility" (founded upon Cyber-Knights protecting innocent Vilani populations); I think too dark for most people.

I like your lack of ego explanation, it is a good basis to build upon. I'm thinking about what if two sides were in conflict in a system and then noticed there was a third side there, like meeting the Rorschach. Unabashedly stolen from Starfire, but still good imo.