There is more, a whole catalogue of finely-tuned dysfunctions that Rorschach will inflict on them. Somnambulism. Agnosias. Hemineglect. ConSensus serves up a freak show to make any mind reel at its own fragility: a woman dying of thirst within easy reach of water, not because she can’t see the faucet but because she can’t recognize it. A man for whom the left side of the universe does not exist, who can neither perceive nor conceive of the left side of his body, of a room, of a line of text. A man for whom the very concept of leftness becomes literally unthinkable. They know this, but they don’t know they know this. They are blind to what cannot, should not be considered.
Sometimes they can conceive of things and still not see them, although they stand right before them. Skyscrapers appear out of thin air, the person talking to them changes into someone else during a momentary distraction – and they don’t notice. It isn’t magic. It’s not even misdirection. I call it intentional blindness: a tendency for the human eye to simply not notice things that evolutionary experience classifies as unlikely. Humans, particularly baselines, are incapable of seeing multiple world views. Seeing multiple world views simultaneously is simply beyond their comprehension. They feel the need to choose the right answer, that only one world view can be correct. Perhaps, that is what gives them this emotion they call hope.
I find it much like Szpindel’s blindsight, a malady not in which the sighted believe they are blind but one in which the blind insist they can see. The sighted never believe they are blind, never believe there is any other perspective than their own. The sighted deem sight as infallible, inscrutable, and, most of all shared. Humans believe, or want to believe, that everyone sees the same image, shares their world view. A baseline human being is primitive to them, incapable of seeing, perceiving. There is a prejudice to their natural state. They think enhancements make them super human; their enhancements dehumanize them. They think anything different is unacceptable, anything unlikely is unthinkable. It’s all about acceptance for humans; they want to be accepted and to be able to accept.
Even Siri. But he too is human, more human than he cares to admit. He pretends to have no feelings, but he has more feelings than any of them. Yet, he is a lot like me; he knows there are other world views but fails to understand them, embrace them. He is incapable of juggling world views. For him, every world view only exists in its respective compartment. Competing world view cannot coexist. Humans exist within a self-imposed binary. For them, competing world views occupy this thing they call the future. For me, it’s just an inevitable consequence. For them, time is linear, hence why competing world views cannot coexist. For me, time is multidimensional, allowing for infinite combinations.
Rorschach challenges their ability to see and comprehend. It makes the unlikely likely to the affected human, yet the other humans still see it as unlikely. They cannot comprehend the multiple world views that Rorschach throws at them. Rorschach knows this. I know Rorschach.
They never had a chance.
(excerpted and modified from page 192)
I chose to examine the definition of blindsight from Sarasti’s view point because prior to this, all definitions were from humans, albeit some were more baseline than others. Sarasti’s world views are unique in that he can hold them simultaneously and his perception of time is multidimensional, hence why he always talks in present tense. I would have like to have seen Sarasti’s character developed more fully, instead of being just a vampire.
Original text is in black, new text is in red (for vampire!). Some of the changes are verb tenses, but other changes are Sarasti’s way of thinking, of explaining what blindsight is. Since he is basically the only one who can hold simultaneous world views, it’s appropriate to get his view on blindsight. Siri has the awareness but struggles with holding a world view, much less trying to comprehend simultaneous world views. I think it is legitimate to explore and examine, imagine how Sarasti comes to try to understand Siri, othewise what was the point of saving him at the end? While there is lack of feelings, I think Sarasti’s motivation is because he can hold multiple world views simultaneous and understands what needs to be done. I also think Sarasti understands humans far more than humans would care for him, or any vampire to.
