Badloss t1_iuimitz wrote on October 31, 2022 at 4:44 PM

Reply to comment by SplinterPizza in The Thing (1982) -- the scene with MaReady checking on Blair in the cabin by darthvirgin

It doesn't, because that's not what the thing is doing.

The thing has access to the host's memories and instincts and uses them to perfectly imitate the host. I disagree that it's building a functional simulation of the host's consciousness to do that

SplinterPizza t1_iuiocdo wrote on October 31, 2022 at 4:56 PM

>The thing has access to the host's memories and instincts and uses them to perfectly imitate the host. I disagree that it's building a functional simulation of the host's consciousness to do that

Sure but the point is we only know what the film shows us. And it's pretty clear the what it mimics is a perfect representation of a human. It has the memories of the person it devours. Now for the extrapolation on that, If it's mimicking down to the Neurons then it stands to reason it can mimic the mind of the person.

It understands what a noose is. It understands what Alcohol tastes like. The characters in the film make a salient point that maybe you wouldn't even know you were a mimic.

Badloss t1_iuir2ed wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:15 PM

Yeah I mean of course we're all speculating. I just disagree that the mimics don't know they're mimics. I think they know exactly what they are and just know exactly how to fake being human.

There's actually a great example of what you're talking about in the Dune books though. The Tleilaxu invent perfect Face Dancers that completely replicate their target and then the mimicry is so perfect that the copy believes it's the original and they lose control of them