«Of course, if you’ve read any of the interviews I’ve given over the years you might remember that I’ve always claimed to be an optimist. I build dark futures full of no-win scenarios, critics clutch their bosoms and wonder how anyone with such a nihilistic outlook can even get out of bed in the morning, and I say:

But my characters try to do the right thing! It’s not their fault they’re stuck in such a hellish future, that they have to kill a thousand people to save a million; that’s the future we’re building for them right now. If I ignored that fact I’d be writing wish-fulfillment fantasy instead of SF! [...] Why, when it comes to human nature, my writing is almost childishly optimistic!»

- Все тот же Peter Watts is an angry sentient tumor #books