“I’m a Synthesist.” He knew that. Of course he knew, everyone did: You can’t observe the system unless you stay outside the system.
“On Earth you’re a Synthesist,” he said. “In the Kuiper you’re a Synthesist. Here you’re mass. Do what you’re told.”
Throughout the novel, I’ve felt like Siri has a sort of superiority complex. It’s not a terrible one, but since his introduction in the fight scene where he “helps” Pag, he’s always acted as though he IS different from everyone else, even if he just thinks differently. When he and his father visit his mom in her world, Siri talks as though he’s better than the two of them, almost like an angsty teenager. He can’t understand why his dad clings to his mom the way he does, or why his mom made the decision to Ascend, he just accepts it as fact and looks down on that fact. Going back to the scene with Pag on the playground, Pag tells Siri he’s different, that he’s not the same person he once was. Regardless, Siri is still human, but being treated like he’s not would eventually make him think he is different, especially if those things were said to him starting as such a young age, and from his best friend no less. I think this exchange of words brings Siri back ‘down to earth’, no pun intended. His skills, on Earth, were unrivaled. However, from the time they awoke Siri had been more or less useless. There was no room for him to develop a superiority complex amongst the people on Theseus. The exchange not only puts Siri in his place, but makes his humanity more apparent.