Humans and the Hive Mind 2017/11/29
This continues my discussion of an analogy between the human situation and that of a bee. I contend that neither of us knows the most important fact about our existence, namely that we are embedded in a "hive".
"Surfaces and Essences" reminds us that analogies underlie our thinking, but to watch out. Some analogies are better than others.
Humans are not bees.
For one thing, as far as the hive is concerned, the individual bee is expendable and interchangeable with any other bee. We are tempted to regard our enemies this way. Enemy soldiers are robots but ours are heroes with families back home. But the fact is that humans are far from interchangeable. Even if we have been exposed to the same environment and the same education, we manage to draw different lessons from it.
It's also true that humans are not expendable, or at least they have different degrees of expandability. The skills of individuals often contribute to the fate of the "hive".
Another issue with the "hive" analogy is that every bee is a descendant of a single queen. Its identity is solely determined by the genetic code. A bee cannot be a member of two hives. On the other hand, humans tend to be members of many overlapping "hives" - their family, their language, their community, their political party, their employment, their religion and so forth. Since there are so many permutations and combinations in modern society that it makes little sense to see the individual as simply a component in a hive mind.
Perhaps each of us has a unique "hive mind". This would mean that our sense of individuality is somewhat of an illusion but we all have a different illusion.
One way of comparing bee and human society is by examining the "economy". Bee economy is basically all about sugar. The human economy is about money - a common proxy for "value". Value is incredibly rich and complex, including everything from cookies to bungee jumping.
"Surfaces and Essences" reminds us that analogies underlie our thinking, but to watch out. Some analogies are better than others.
Humans are not bees.
For one thing, as far as the hive is concerned, the individual bee is expendable and interchangeable with any other bee. We are tempted to regard our enemies this way. Enemy soldiers are robots but ours are heroes with families back home. But the fact is that humans are far from interchangeable. Even if we have been exposed to the same environment and the same education, we manage to draw different lessons from it.
It's also true that humans are not expendable, or at least they have different degrees of expandability. The skills of individuals often contribute to the fate of the "hive".
Another issue with the "hive" analogy is that every bee is a descendant of a single queen. Its identity is solely determined by the genetic code. A bee cannot be a member of two hives. On the other hand, humans tend to be members of many overlapping "hives" - their family, their language, their community, their political party, their employment, their religion and so forth. Since there are so many permutations and combinations in modern society that it makes little sense to see the individual as simply a component in a hive mind.
Perhaps each of us has a unique "hive mind". This would mean that our sense of individuality is somewhat of an illusion but we all have a different illusion.
One way of comparing bee and human society is by examining the "economy". Bee economy is basically all about sugar. The human economy is about money - a common proxy for "value". Value is incredibly rich and complex, including everything from cookies to bungee jumping.
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