forum Hivemind

Started February 19, 2018 by @Lavy-the-Nerdy-Sci-Fi-Birdy

tune

(Wasn't sure where to put this, so I put it here.)
What exactly is a Hivemind and how does it work?

A hivemind is collective consciousness i.e. multiple people (minds) linked into a single consciousness and can share thoughts, senses, and emotions.

Collective consciousness is just called 'group mind' when the participants are willing to share intelligence and consciousness.
It becomes a hivemind when the participants have no identity/free will and are possessed/mind controlled as mere extensions.

Ant and bee colonies are similar to hiveminds. Examples of hiveminds in fiction include:

• Phindin (Star Wars)
• Borg (Star Trek)

Examples of group minds in fiction include:

• Doduo and Dodrio (Pokémon)
• The Agents (The Matrix)

Okay, thanks.
I'm not familiar with Phindin. Is that Expanded Universe?

To be honest, I went to Wikipedia for several fictional examples of collective consciousness, and that's where I found Phindin. It's from the book series Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice. Whether or not that's EU, I don't know since I haven't seen SW.

Okay, just curious. I'm pretty sure Jedi Apprentice is EU since I haven't heard of it.
Thanks for the help, @Vexillologist :)

Welcome! :)

Another example of a Hivemind is the Zerg in Starcraft. They're all pretty low-intelligence creatures that can telepathically communicate with their queen (think bees telepathically communicating with the queen bee) who tells them what to do, and they all unquestioningly do it "for the greater good" or "for the hive".

I guess bees themselves are a bit of a real-world hivemind also, though that's very much through instinct and routine toward developing/advancing their hive than a singular being "controlling" them all.

Edit: Oh, @Vexillologist already mentioned bees. Don't mind me! :)

Thanks, @andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer) !