Saturday, August 18, 2007

Last night I finished Blindsight by Peter Watts, an interesting hard science fiction book.

Even though most of the action in the book takes place on the fringes of the solar system, the main scientific speculation in the book is more about neuropsychology than physics or chemistry. For example, the titular "blindsight" is an actual phenomenon where the conscious mind perceives itself as blind but the unconscious mind is still seeing things and the body reacts as if it can see them.

Parts of the book feel a little preachy as the author uses plot devices to lead to discussions of the limits of consciousness and how perception can be manipulated by the external world.

Despite that flaw, it's an interesting book and based on that I've already taken another book by the same author out of the library.

Amazon Link: Blindsight

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