Hive Mind: Difference between revisions

In [[Sci Fi]] or Fantasy series, the [[Psychic Link|connection]] may actually ''be'' a [[Mental Fusion|true shared mind]], either with each member contributing to the whole, or the separate bodies being puppets which some central mind controls remotely. It makes sense that usually the first variant is sensitive to losses and avoids overt violence, but in the second, it's only the question of whether lost bodies will be replenished and it's inclined to expand itself. Expect "individuals" in such hives to be considered [[What Measure Is a Non Unique|very killable]] by everyone else as well. It is not unusual for it to start out as the former and then slip into the latter as a series progresses and the writing staff changes. [[The Virus]] is often a [[Hive Mind]] (e.g., the Borg) and the [[Evil Matriarch]] becomes its [[Hive Queen]].

 

 

Related to, but separate from [[Synchronization]], where each individual ''experiences'' what the other does without necessarily being in rapport with each other. Compare [[Split Personality Merge]], where [[Split Personality|many minds in one body]] become one. The opposite of [[Split Personality]]. A [[Hive Mind]] might be the titular keystone of a [[Keystone Army]]. See also [[Psychic Link]] for other connections between minds. A related plot is [[The Evils of Free Will]]. Contrast [[Pieces of God]]. Opposite of [[Mind Hive]]. For when all the minds are sharing one body, or the person speaks in plural, see [[I Am Legion]].

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

** As Irving Janis said: ''"The more amiability and esprit de corps there is among the members of a policy-making ingroup, the greater the danger that independent critical thinking will be replaced by groupthink, which is likely to result in irrational and dehumanizing actions directed against outgroups."''

* [[Termites]], who are in a hive but possess individual--tiny--brains.

** They also have multiple [[Hive Queen|Hive Queens]], and it's not entirely clear if the queens share their consciousness. They are stated to be separate beings.

* The [[Bee People|human hive]] living beneath Rome in Stephen Baxter's ''[[Xeelee Sequence (Literature)|Coalescent]]''. An example of a scientist [[Shown Their Work|working out]] how an actual human hive might develop over the course of centuries, by means of strict isolation, divergent genetic makeup, social conformity, and pheremonal cues. Turns way creepy with a [[Time Skip|multi-millennia jump]] into the future, when future humans rediscover the evolved, highly hive-ified human subspecies.

** It should be noted that the two bodies share a telepathic connection, which helped reinforce the "one mind, two bodies" thing. It also plays with muscle memory a bit: Only one body can play piano, while the other is much better at their other job. (hint: they work in a brothel (though it's not sleazy, and it's implied that Jesus might be a member)).

* Spider Robinson seems fascinated with this concept, as many of his later novels form a sort of continuity, with not two different takes on the Hive Mind concept.

*** Another TOS episode had an omniscient computer named Landru which controlled and psychically linked the humans of its planet after they had undergone a process called "absorption."

** The changelings of ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'' spend most of their time in a liquid state on their home planet (the entire species essentially resembles a vast ocean). While in this state, they share a collective consciousness, which they refer to as "the Great Link", while still retaining their individuality. It is also possible for ''any'' number of changelings to link in this way.

* Legion in ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]'' is a variation, in that he is essentially a composite gestalt entity formed from the consciousness of those around him; they retain their individuality completely, but he needs them to remain in his space station in order to have any kind of existence that isn't that of a mindless essence. His first incarnation was the sum mental abilities of some of the finest minds and geniuses of their generation. His second was that of the [[Surrounded By Idiots|Red Dwarf crew]].

* In ''[[Dark Angel]]'' transgenics of X7 series (children having disturbing pure black eyes). "The X7s are stronger and faster than the X5 series. They were designed with hive minds and are capable of communicating through sound waves, much like bats, but do so without opening their mouths. Their communications are inaudible to non-X7s. They never speak. "

* An episode of ''[[Sliders]]'' has the heroes travel to three remarkably similar worlds, all of which had invented a miracle cure of sorts that consists of bacteria that quickly repair any damage to the human body. The problem is, the bacteria communicate via pulses of light, which are not limited to just within the body. Thus, all those with the bacteria sense each other, although they still retain a measure of individuality. On one world, this has resulted in an Inquisition of sorts that hunts down any "Believers", as they're called. On another, the Believers are a peaceful commune living in tents and meditating. On the third world, the cure was destroyed years before once the authorities realized the problem, although Quinn re-introduces it from his own blood. The sliders also find a way to shut off the bacteria (without removing the effects of what has already been "fixed" in the body) using an oversized flashlight pulsing a coded shutdown signal. This immediately disconnects the individual from the hive mind and leaves them feeling empty and nostalgic.

 

 

[[Category:Fantastic Sapient Species Tropes]]

[[Category:Hive Mind]]