Alice has a younger brother gordon, this is the story of their relationship through alices eyes. The idea that consciousness is selfdestructive is a heady one. The neuropsychology of consciousness sciencedirect. Use our litlovers resources below to help you with specific questions. The big book, alcoholics anonymous some groups discuss one chapter from the big book each week. Mar 29, 2002 studies of blindsight have been largely based on a single patient, gy, who is, this book tells us without a hint of irony, a very experienced subject. Every so often we get into discussions about where in the brain consciousness lies.
The essay that follows discusses the evidence for blindsight and how evolving research techniques avail information of neural processes involved in blindsight. Db continued to be the subject of sustained study over ten years by weiskrantz in collaboration with warrington, resulting in a book blindsight in 1986, with a second edition in 1998, in which dbs capacity to detect, to discriminate orientation, movement, form, under a variety of conditions was studied and their possible implications. I strongly recommend reading the notes and references at the end of the book as well, some very interesting information there, both expository and source. It is a good idea to plan on finishing the book a little earlier than you might otherwise so that you have time to think about it and prepare before your book club meets. Its a dark and cerebral first contact story that deals heavily with issues of sentience and what it means to be an intelligent species. Let me begin by saying that i listened to echopraxia before i ever heard of blindsight, and i dont feel ive suffered from getting them out of order. Vision and blindsight implications regarding consciousness vision receiving and interpreting light signals from the environment in order to form an image in ones mind is an incredibly complex process. Blindsight is one of those rare books that alters the readers perception of the world and of himself, if the reader is brave enough to tackle it headon. Laurie montgomery, a medical examiner, tries to prove that upscale overdose cases are overdoses.
Blindsight was our april pick, and it is an intelligent and solid, if perhaps depressing, hard science fiction read. Blindsight explained and conscious perception selfawarepatterns. Blindsight is written from within the pov of someone who isnt neurotypically human any more indeed, none of the crew are. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Book lists and recommendations for primary school curriculum topics. Say hi at our sister subredditssf book club, specart, and sf videosand join our readermanaged goodreads group. It garnered nominations for a hugo award for best novel, a john w. Blindsight is full of bits like that where watts uses analogy to other species and accidents of biology to create intriguing ideas or reinterpret human perceptions. Speaking of permanence, ill second the vote for karl schroeders work not as dense as blindsight but periodically comes up with fascinating ideas and add that discussions with karl and peter fed into my own rule 34 nearfuture sf, no space settingits a criminology novelbut talking about unconventional views of intelligence.
If you dont see your topic let us know what we are missing and well add it. Look no further, take a look at our long list of topic based conversation questions. Sometimes its asserted to be in the brainstem, other times in the thalamus, sometimes in the parietal lobe, and yet other times in the prefrontal cortex. Blindsight revisited lawrence weiskrantz some human patients with lesions to their primary visual striate cortex ol demonstrate residual visual capacity, but without acknowledged perceptual awareness. This type of perception is called type 2 blindsight. Readings from as bill sees it can inspire sharing on discussion topics. Mar 04, 2008 the result is a shocking and mesmerizing performance, a tourdeforce of provocative and often alarming ideas. Youll also find printable book club questions at the end of this post to bring to your meeting. Sep 03, 2019 peter watts 2006 novel blindsight is a hard sf take on first contact, and there are, naturally, some linguistic aspects in the mix, here. A book discussion group is a forum where readers can come together and talk about books and the reading experience.
So much better that by the end of blindsight were left feeling that siri keeton might be able to show us the truth of the world, just once, and make us understand, just for a moment if only we could trust him as we trust his creator. Looking for conversation questions to match your topic. The book opens with a discussion of the epidemic of dissociations and how well the phenomena within either neuropsychology or within normal human experimental psychology map onto each other. Damasio to describe a condition in which a person actually sees more than he or she is consciously aware. Blindsight contributes to this debate by implying that some aspects of consciousness are empirically detectable. Echopraxia is a lot like the previous book to the extent that several of the characters are basically the same. Blindsight poetry by rosmarie waldrop for the title of her newest collection of prose poems, rosmarie waldrop adopts a term blindsight used by the neuroscientist antonio r. If you get to pick the book, here are some recommendations for engaging books that are likely to promote discussion. The path to free thought is through questioning, learning from, and understanding ourselves, others, and our universe.
Shop online for our annual print editions, which include book overviews, suggested discussion topics and discussion questions for all our annual books. Use specific passages from the book as evidence for your ideas. Blindsight is the ability to sense surroundings or someones presence even though you are blind. Somehow signals from photoreceptors located in the eye are converted into the conscious experience of sight. It is a story about a pack of individuals pushing at the very razors edge of what it even means to be human, faced with the truly alien. Straight to the point blindsight is probably the best scifi audiobook ive read this year. Attention could be directed both by symbolic cues in the subjects spared field of vision or cues presented in his blind field. To test their ideas, scientists can use a form of noninvasive brain stimulation that disrupts different brain regions, in an attempt to induce a reversible form of blindsight. To be honest i dont think ive heard of or read anything from peter watts before blindsight. And though there was sex, lo, there was no gender, and life was in balance. For example, the history section begins with the discussion of monkey studies. A project of the internet tesl journal if this is your first time here, then read the teachers guide to using these pages if you can think of a good question for any list, please send it to us.
To test their ideas, scientists can use a form of noninvasive brain stimulation that disrupts different brain regions, in an attempt to induce a reversible form of blindsight in healthy participants. It was released by tor in october 2006 and runs 294 pages. Gy became hemiblind following damage to v1 of one hemisphere in a car accident at the age of seven. It is a story about humanity, and what that meansand whether or not it is a good thing. Oct 14, 2008 blindsight is a phenomenon in which patients with damage in the primary visual cortex of the brain can tell where an object is although they claim they cannot see it. Patients in this condition are blind in one side of their visual field, which happens due to. Sep 07, 1999 in a blindsight subject, we showed that attention can confer an advantage in processing stimuli presented at an attended location, without those stimuli entering consciousness. Blindsight introduction blindsight is a situation where patients with damage in the primary visual cortex of the brain have the ability to tell where an object is although they cannot see it. Conversation questions for the eslefl classroom iteslj. Blindsight by peter watts is a horribly written great story.
Peter watts has invented possibly the most alien race ive ever read. Individual discussion of each of twenty studies makes this a tedious and frankly boring read for anyone outside the field, even another neuroscientist. And there is a hell of a lot of discussion of the ideas and as with blindsight a lot of it doesnt make much sense at the time. Language is not the principal focus of the story, as it. Blindsight is a book about consciousness, and awareness, and sentience. All the overdose cases are people who are financially welloff. Blindsight is a hard science fiction novel by canadian writer peter watts, published by tor books in 2006. Aliencontact tale in which humans are at least as weird as the aliens. Mar 12, 2008 the result is a shocking and mesmerizing performance, a tourdeforce of provocative and often alarming ideas. Siri is a demonstration of the books ideas in action. Our guidelines were designed to foster a diverse and welcoming discussion community while avoiding drama, flamewars, and promotional activity.
Feb 12, 2019 i enjoyed the freeze frame revolution, so i thought id try a couple of watts older novels. Set in 2082, peter watts blindsight is fastmoving hard sf that pulls readers into a futuristic world where a mindbending alien encounter is about to unfold. Robin cook is back with a shocking story of medical conspiracy. This novel is set in new zealand and cities that i know and love are different through alices jaundiced eyes. Then again, how much of a distinct personality can a wattsian vampire have. This is not the time or the place for an indepth discussion of one of sfs. It is seriously hard sf and was a finalist for the hugo award in 2007. The result is a shocking and mesmerizing performance, a tourdeforce of provocative and often alarming ideas.
They arent helpful in moving discussions forward, and can make others feel defensive. Our ideas can help you lead a discussion, find helpful resources, and be a smart participant. Before this point, all my picks for virtual speculation were books and authors i was familiar with. However, ideas and wishes, whether conscious or unconscious, lack the tight connection with behavior to be found in desire and belief. If you are looking for conversation questions or conversations starters for native speakers of english instead of esl. Medical examiner laurie montgomery gets some drug overdose cases, which reminds her of her own brother who died because of drug overdose. As with his previous series, he adds an appendix that goes over the scientific justification for things he threw into the book. Both blindsight and this book use the arrivaldiscovery of an alien. Other groups read from the big book weekly and discuss each chapter as they go along. Cook masterfully sets up the characters and makes the reader part of the action. This is followed by separate chapters on topics such as blindsight, covert visual processing in patients, face recognition and awareness following brain.
What are all the ways for a player character to obtain. Blindsight is a hard science fiction novel by canadian author peter watts. Troubles with the publisher made the novel hard to find in stores, despite having been nominated for a hugo award, so watts put it out on his website for free. Blindsight by maurice gee is a story of loneliness and regrets. Blindsight share book recommendations with your friends. It is a rare novel that has the potential to set science fiction on an entirely new course.
Psychologists study blindsight to learn more about how the brain processes visual information. Interesting questions for discussions in engish lessons. Nov 01, 2003 blindsight poetry by rosmarie waldrop for the title of her newest collection of prose poems, rosmarie waldrop adopts a termblindsightused by the neuroscientist antonio r. I know that some unearthed arcana listings and the like allow blindsight, but im looking for ways that are currently published in official books, supplements, and errata. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. Campbell memorial award for best science fiction novel, and a locus award for best science fiction novel, and won the seiun award for best translated novel. After the firefall, all eyes are locked heavenward as a team of specialists aboard the selfpiloted spaceship theseus hurtles outbound to. If youre ready to start a book club, heres 40 of the best book club questions, for fiction and nonfiction alike. It sure gave me some things to check in internet, like blindsight it is a real life phenomena, and other science stuff appeared in this book. Evidence of blindsight research has proved the existence of blindsight. Stay in the loop with reading group choices, get notified about the release of our print editions, and receive handy materials from our publishing partners. I enjoyed the freeze frame revolution, so i thought id try a couple of watts older novels.
Specifically, the novel supposes that consciousness is necessary for both aesthetic appreciation and for effective communication. Weiskrantz coined the word blindsight, and he has been a leading figure in researching the phenomenon for over. It will certainly advance the discussion in the arena of ideas. All mod actions will be taken with these goals in mind. The ability to see is a connection between the mind and the visual field of an individual carlson, 2010. He also engages the reader in a thorough, yet agnostic philosophical discussion on what it means to be human. In this fourpart series, well look at the meaning of spiritual blindsight and how faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Its a masterpiece, and im still disappointed that it didnt scoop the hugo in the year in made the shortlist. However, the possibility is raised that consciousness is, for humanity.
Blindsight is a phenomenon in which patients with damage in the primary visual cortex of the brain can tell where an object is although they claim they cannot see it. Ive found that the best book club discussion questions are ones that are openended and that get people to share their personal opinions. The book is a hard science fiction with a lot of ideas, maybe too much for some people that has no special interest in one or two of the science that mentioned in this book. These groups can be organized in a variety of ways. Blindsight subject gy is a 53year old individual who has a large left medial occipital lesion and a rather smaller right parietal lesion, caused by a traffic accident at the age of 8. Blindsight is the ability to respond to visual information without consciously seeing it. Conscious vision depends on the primary visual cortex. Blindsight is one of those rare books that alters the readers perception of. The main thing that blindsight reveals is that there is a difference between. Ive had a build in mind for a while now, but i still cant find any published means of gaining blindsight as a player character. After all, half the reason i started the book club was as a way to share books i love. Eighty years from now, denizens of earth become aware of an alien presence when the sky fills with bursts of light from dying fireflies, tiny machines that signal to a supergiant planet far beyond the edge of the solar system.
1492 719 607 1098 989 39 805 705 1364 1413 445 943 60 1347 1449 732 1060 1223 576 99 1471 443 914 349 965 996 1234 131 1484 773 1357 152