The events of The Thing as well as other happenings are told from the perspective of the alien, a shape-shifting sentient biomass that can absorb and imitate other lifeforms.
The alien thinks of itself as an "explorer, an ambassador, a missionary" of the biomass it consists of, the primary instinct of which is to "commune", i.e. absorb and matriculate on a cellular level with other biologies.
Confused, damaged, and unfamiliar with earthly fauna, the alien eventually learns the horrifying secret of man: Humans are individuals, "thinking cancers" who do not want to be assimilated and therefore seek to repel and even destroy it, unlike all other lifeforms it has encountered across the universe.
[8] Gardner Dozois similarly lauded Watts for his "excellent job of showing a totally alien way of looking at life", but noted that people who (like him) were more familiar with the 1951 film than with the 1982 remake "may be a little confused".
[9] Chad Orzel was considerably more negative, calling it "far from impressive", with "two main weaknesses forced on the story by the basic concept": the extent to which it requires familiarity with the 1982 film, and Watts' effort to "basically retcon the goofy biology of the movie alien, which was based on the goofy biology of a John Campbell short story from the pulp magazine era.