15th September 2022, 5:21 AM
(This post was last modified: 15th September 2022, 5:22 AM by Dark Jaguar.)
So... I've been reading a lot of sci-fi lately. There's these books called Blindsight which explore some interesting questions about whether consciousness, from an evolutionary perspective, is really all that important. Also it's got space vampires. Wait don't go! They're actually done rather well. They're treated like an alternative form of consciousness to help explore the central theme of the books. Also, they've got what is honestly the first time I've seen a scientific explanation for that whole "A crucifix! Hiss!" weakness of vampires. So, ignoring the central theme of the books I just wanted to talk about THAT for a bit.
Basically, in this world vampires were an evolutionary branch off sapians, just like neanderthals. They had a number of interesting mental quirks like the hiding gene that told them that after feeding, hide, hide until they forget you exist. But, they had an evolutionary glitch. Their brains couldn't handle right angles very well. In nature, right angles are very rare so evolution had no pressure that would have removed this undetected glitch, but then humanity started building things that used them more and more. Vampires had trouble crossing doorways unless they closed their eyes and someone guided them inside. And, then the romans invented that horrible torture, crucifixion. Just two large beams intersection but as a result you have the corners of four different right angles nearly touching. It's just too much for them to handle mentally and it paralyzes them. So, in this sci-fi story when they eventually started cloning extinct vampires, they altered them in several ways but left in the right angle aversion as a fail-safe.
Anyway, I thought this was interesting. Sometimes I read these books and something just pops out as so stupid no normal person would tolerate it, but then I realize just how absolutely ridiculous the Marvel movies now are. If those movies are now at the point where a super scientist, a mutant spider, and a wizard can fight a psychic alien for a legendary wish granting gem without just completely losing their audience to that utter nonsense I just said, I think they're able to accept pretty much anything.
Basically, in this world vampires were an evolutionary branch off sapians, just like neanderthals. They had a number of interesting mental quirks like the hiding gene that told them that after feeding, hide, hide until they forget you exist. But, they had an evolutionary glitch. Their brains couldn't handle right angles very well. In nature, right angles are very rare so evolution had no pressure that would have removed this undetected glitch, but then humanity started building things that used them more and more. Vampires had trouble crossing doorways unless they closed their eyes and someone guided them inside. And, then the romans invented that horrible torture, crucifixion. Just two large beams intersection but as a result you have the corners of four different right angles nearly touching. It's just too much for them to handle mentally and it paralyzes them. So, in this sci-fi story when they eventually started cloning extinct vampires, they altered them in several ways but left in the right angle aversion as a fail-safe.
Anyway, I thought this was interesting. Sometimes I read these books and something just pops out as so stupid no normal person would tolerate it, but then I realize just how absolutely ridiculous the Marvel movies now are. If those movies are now at the point where a super scientist, a mutant spider, and a wizard can fight a psychic alien for a legendary wish granting gem without just completely losing their audience to that utter nonsense I just said, I think they're able to accept pretty much anything.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)