Metamorphosis

Previous Section: Cognitive Dissonance

If the above summarizes what the Thing is, then how does it know when to transform? For (1) at what point does the Thing generate a mind of its own, and (2) how does it know to do this? To answer this, look at Palmer. During the blood test scene, Palmer remained entirely Palmer. The pressure of intense mutual paranoia tied to hair-trigger flamethrowers ensured this as a situation demanding perfect performance. Not a hair of non-Palmer-ness could make it through, without incurring terrible risk. So even if the Thing had a choice (which it does not, here), it would be insane to try to "rig" Palmer to act one way and not another. Purely Palmer, tied to the couch, sensed the test approaching. He felt bad – not in a guilty sort of way (as if he were the Thing knowing its goose was cooked), but in a dreading way, like seeing light at the end of the tunnel starting to close. Look at him in that scene, and you’ll find what I mean, just before the end.

When Palmer saw his own blood suddenly leap out of the dish, it would have blown his mind. When you watch the film, ignore everything else, and carefully observe Palmer’s reaction. It’s not there! Carpenter edited it out, to keep us guessing. We only see Palmer before and after the revelation, but not during. If we had, I’ll bet that he was as startled as everyone else! The Thing doesn’t just "monster out" as if it knew what was going to happen (like Mac, who on some level did know what was going to happen – that ain’t a goof, folks). It didn’t exist as a conscious entity, until Palmer saw what happened. At that point, the singularity lurking in the back of his mind suddenly ate his whole mind. That mind, operating according to this new biological principle, began signaling the body to begin transforming into attack mode. This is something that Palmer’s body was physically incapable of doing, until the Thing began operating. This therefore defines the Thing as a universal physical principle, and not merely a slow-moving monster.

That deals with cases of sudden exposure. What about cases of stealthy attack? Consider the Norwegian Dog. It too would have a shadow in its mind. It would dimly wonder things, like "Why am I running away?", "Where are my masters?", "Why are they chasing me?" and the like. When it watches the helicopter leave to gather evidence, it feels a discomfort created by the same situation that created the singularity in its mind. That is, the Thing is a principle which /causes/ events to happen. Therefore the Thing, as a principle rather than a material object, is, when those events noticeably affect the minds of the victims it occupies, in immediate relationship with those events. One curve (events) mirror another curve (singularity), generating the potential for recognition.

When the dog wanders through the camp, it is behaving like it would normally do, except that the singularity in its mind is responding directly and immediately to the entire situation, changing as the situation changes. To the degree that the dog exists in a strange situation, it behaves strangely, according to the curve. Get it? So when it wanders into the dormitory, it is following this curve of strangeness in the outside world which corresponds exactly to the curve of strangeness in its inside world. It’s a normal dog, doing normal doglike things, as that dog would do, were it intuitively responding inside to the recent bizarre events and strange situation it now finds itself in. This leads it into the room. At that point, the potential for recognition spikes, the dog starts acting funny to the degree that it registers "correspondence" (i.e. safety, darkness, isolation, helpless victims, etc.) with the future portion of the curve [7], and the dog so advances. At a certain point in the curve comes recognition, at which precise point the Thing becomes self-aware, and once more capable of enormous bodily transformation.

To do this, the imitation’s brain is altered radically, into whatever sort of brain the situation demands, with the restriction that the brain cannot be self-reflectively conscious, and therefore can only execute fight-or-flight responses to material situations. Thus to the degree that it alone is in command of the body, in this sense, rather than an imitation it would hide behind, it is incapable of communication. There can be nothing in its mind but the raw singularity, as proven by the Bennings encounter [8].

Next Section: Where Does It Go?