geekyTHERE WILL BE SPOILERS.
Seriously. If anyone comments here at all, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. So please don't read and then yell at me because you encountered spoilers. You were warned. (I will not reply to every comment; I call partial comment amnesty. But I may well join some of the discussion, or answer questions or whatnot.)
You can also start a book discussion at my website forums, with less need to be concerned that I will see everything you say! In case you wanted, you know, discussion free of authorial influence, since I always wind up getting involved in these things.
Have fun!
May 26 2012, 16:45:28 UTC 5 years ago
Is this involuntary, deliberate, habitual, or reflexive? (Not disputing, just trying to get some idea of how this works.)
"...and probably squint or even almost completely close their eyes to lessen the harshness of a light source. I am speaking of situations where said person is trying to see, though. This is not the same thing as just avoiding light or pain. These are the coping methods when walking around and trying to actually see the world. I'm saying it becomes almost involuntary because it happens all the time for a light sensitive person. It's not just bright sun that is an issue. Simply being outside when it's light out is enough to cause discomfort because the sky itself is a source of light and a damn big one."
I'm aware that the sky is a source of light. (One morning, an unusual cloud formation resulted in my shadow pointing east.)
"I guarantee that the author of that Wiki article -- and certainly you -- are coming from a world where you recover pretty quickly from something like a high beam dazzling you or blinding yourself from turning on the bathroom light in the middle of the night. I don't. Essentially, I'm saying I don't think George should be able to either, but the idea that she doesn't blink as a method of coping and/or recovery seems to side with the opposite."
I agree with you that she shouldn't be able to recover from bright light at all. Would you mind quoting the throwaway line you mentioned? I can't remember the context, and I still haven't gotten Feed back, so I can't remember why George said that she doesn't blink. I can see her not needing to blink as often, but given what you describe, either George is in a different range of light-sensitivity than you are - one where the only practical adaptation is to wear dark sunglasses, such that the blink/squint response doesn't have time to become almost involuntary - or this is one of the places where the science isn't perfect.
May 26 2012, 16:54:15 UTC 5 years ago
From chapter sixteen:
"Actually, Governor, I mean what I said." I turned to look him in the eyes, unblinking. One of the few handy side effects of retinal KA is the alck of a need for repeated ocular lubrication - or in layman's terms, I don't blink much.
So it sounds as though she doesn't blink as much, not that she doesn't blink at all. Now, I'm not sure why, since I thought that blinking mostly had to due to dust, etc, but if KA changes the structure/environment of the eye in other ways... Maybe Seanan can elaborate further.
May 26 2012, 17:11:43 UTC 5 years ago
Lubrication is one of the reasons we involuntarily blink. Though, anyone can train themselves to not blink and they'll eventually get over the discomfort that brings. Except maybe for someone with light sensitivity because unless they had absolutely not qualms with washing out their vision and being in lots of pain. So, yeah, not sure if I agree with "not much."