A hive mind, group mind, group ego, mind coalescence, or gestalt intelligence in

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

is a

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...

in which multiple minds, or consciousnesses, are linked into a single

collective consciousness Collective consciousness, collective conscience, or collective conscious () is the set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.''Collins Dictionary of Sociology'', p93. In general, it doe ...

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

Overview

This term may be used interchangeably with hive mind. "Hive mind" tends to describe a group mind in which the linked individuals have no identity or

free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

and are

possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

or mind-controlled as extensions of the hive mind. It is frequently associated with the concept of an entity that spreads among individuals and suppresses or subsumes their

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

in the process of integrating them into its own collective consciousness. The concept of the group or hive mind is an intelligent version of real-life

superorganism A superorganism, or supraorganism, is a group of synergetically interacting organisms of the same species. A community of synergetically interacting organisms of different species is called a '' holobiont''. Concept The term superorganism is ...

s such as a

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

or an

ant colony An ant colony is a population of ants, typically from a single species, capable of maintaining their complete lifecycle. Ant colonies are eusocial, communal, and efficiently organized and are very much like those found in other social Hymen ...

. The first alien hive society was depicted in

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

's '' The First Men in the Moon'' (1901) while the use of human hive minds in literature goes back at least as far as David H. Keller's ''The Human Termites'' (published in Wonder Stories in 1929) and

Olaf Stapledon William Olaf Stapledon (10 May 1886 – 6 September 1950) was an English philosopher and author of science fiction.Andy Sawyer, " illiamOlaf Stapledon (1886-1950)", in Bould, Mark, et al, eds. ''Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction''. New York ...

's science-fiction novel ''

Last and First Men ''Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future'' is a "future history" science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from t ...

'' (1930), which is the first known use of the term "group mind" in science fiction. The phrase "hive mind" in science fiction has been traced to

Edmond Hamilton Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. He is known for writing most of the Captain Future stories. Early life Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he ...

's novel ''The Face of the Deep'' (published in Captain Future in 1942) referring to the hive mind of bees as a simile, then James H. Schmitz's ''Second Night of Summer'' (1950). A group mind might be formed by any fictional plot device that facilitates brain to brain communication, such as

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

. Some hive minds feature members that are controlled by a centralised "hive brain" or "hive queen," but others feature a decentralised approach in which members interact equally or roughly equally to come to decisions. The packs of Tines in

Vernor Vinge Vernor Steffen Vinge (; October 2, 1944 – March 20, 2024) was an American science fiction author and professor. He taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. He was the first wide-scale popularizer of the technolo ...

's ''

A Fire Upon the Deep ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' is a 1992 science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. It is a space opera involving superhuman intelligences, aliens, variable physics, space battles, love, betrayal, genocide, and a communication medium re ...

'' and '' The Children of the Sky'' are an example of such decentralized group minds. Hive minds are typically viewed in a negative light, especially in earlier works, but some newer works portray them as neutral or positive. As conceived in

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

, hive minds often imply (almost) complete loss (or lack) of

individual An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or g ...

ity, identity, and

personhood Personhood is the status of being a person. Defining personhood is a controversial topic in philosophy and law and is closely tied with legal and political concepts of citizenship, equality, and liberty. According to law, only a legal person (ei ...

. However, while the individual members of a group mind may not have such things, the group mind as whole will have them, possibly even to greater degree than individual people (just like a human has more personhood than a single neuron cell). The individuals forming the hive may specialize in different functions, similarly to

social insect Eusociality (Ancient Greek, Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative Offspring, brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), ove ...

References

External links

*Entries o
group mind
an
hive mind
at Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Miguel Nicolelis' Brain-net
{{Science fiction Fictional collective consciousnesses Science fiction themes Collective intelligence

Overview

See also

References

Further reading

External links