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Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 22, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Hah. It's funny; while I do indeed like Blindsight(I still find it a fun read), I've never actually agreed with the take as presented in the book. It's always good to remember that the PhD he has in Marine Biology, and while that gives him some chop, he's nowhere near an actual neurologist, and even when I first read Blindsight, I could poke holes in a few things just on pondering it for a while.

(He says, arrogantly, having neither a PhD or degree focused in matters of the brain.)

In alot of ways, Watts reminds me of Michael Crichton, who would basically stumble across a bunch of neat ideas among various scientific disciplines, autistically obsess over them for a bit, and then stitch them all together into a cohesive whole.

(And I know I just likely threw at least one Peter Watts fan into a vitriolic rage at the comparison.)

And as fun as I find the idea of actual, science-based vampires as the way Watts presents them... he goes far, far too much into passing off thier neurological capabilities as 'fucking magic'. It gets even worse in the sequel, imho.

And if you've ever read any of his other novels, you wouldn't have to guess, you'd know - he's basically a full on, 10/10 raging misanthrop, with a weird obsession about praising China.

Mind, it's been a while since I delved deep into his stuff. Don't know if his attitude has changed any over time. I doubt it.