1. This shit is like a drug straight into my writer veins. More please!
2. The Upper Extreme of the Aetherical Cog is the "Psychic Network" stage you've described.
1, Happy to do so!
2, Noted, thank you!
One thing to consider here is that the "death of self" and "hivemind connection" thing need not be part of the same axis.
What is a Memory?
In our imperfect fleshy hard drives of carbon and fat and lightning, it is the recollection of a Moment, of the chemicals and emotions and physiological responses when something happens, the inscription of every bit of data received in that split second of existence-
And those all
fade over time.
Regardless of how strong the impression of an Experience makes on someone, unless they have a specific rare brain structure that says otherwise because mutations, in time all things will fade and that is an
intended aspect of our evolutionary history.
We as a species survive longer when things fade, because the things that hurt us also fade, eventually becoming naught but an uncomfortable phigment haunting us in the backs of our minds in the middle of the night instead of a constantly throbbing trauma burred right into our present experience for what feels like the rest of our days.
I'm going somewhere with this, trust me.
A core aspect of Hive Minds is memory storage and shared access.
You can't have a Hive Mind in really any sort of capacity unless that Mind is able to store and share information across carriers, and that data within a Mind is what we call a Memory, so there really can't be any sort of disagreement on this particular point as I understand things.
So what happens when someone with one lifetime's worth of Memories is drowned by another lifetime of memories? Ten lifetimes? A thousand lifetimes? A billion?
I remember assembling parts in a factory for all of my life- No, I remember decades of picking up litter in the park- no, no, I remember just yesterday how I flew combat strikes against those Chaos Bastards- I am a chef- a ship captain- a demolitions expert- a parent- a sibling-
I am 14 years old.
I remember the blood on my hands like I painted it there myself, yet I have never held a knife let alone a lasgun.
I am 62 years old.
I remember assembling my millionth hab-block wall, certain to my bones that it will stand the test of time and pass with flying colors, just like all the rest of my walls.
I am 8 years old.
I remember watching my children join the job lines for the first time, so proud to see them help make our world a better place one work shift at a time.
I am- how old am I again?
Without
very strict limitations on just how in depth shared memories are allowed to be, even if the Hive Mind system isn't designed to cause personality death, it can end up doing exactly that by providing a mental environment where someone ends up shaping themselves to reflect the behavior of those within their community, which I note is something that happens to people today where they end up slowly changing who they are due to slowly boiling within a community until they reach the point that those who they knew before entering that community would never recognize them.
A Community of innumerable amounts of people who are able to share their memories to such a degree that it is
just like if the viewer had been there themselves? If you can't remove yourself, if you can't explicitly preserve your own Self, then it is just a matter of time before you are fully absorbed into the zeitgeist of the Network.
Every step increase in the "Hivemind Connection" aspect makes the "death of personality" aspect more and more likely regardless of intent and more and more difficult to avoid, but it isn't
impossible altogether.
Just something that takes a lot of effort and a lot of safety measures to ensure you aren't sacrificing people into an ever growing Over Soul.
But it's perfectly possible to have cooperative hive mind, without that "one person defines everything for everyone" thing.
It is!
It's just going to take a lot more effort to get right than these guys can do themselves.
I think most people would be willing to get up to this point...which I guess is where the level of acceptability is. Anything higher and it gets concerning
I said the Geth Step was our realistic maximum for a reason, yeah.
. . . Out of Character, but I feel like we should hit them with the Minecraft ending poem about how you matter cause you are loved cause you are made of love.
Just read it.
Very nice.
. . . out if character, but isn't the general consensus of our civilians contentment? like strife, hunger and suffering are all at an acceptable level and any hardship is one they take upon them self, force themselves to volunteer to fight wars and face the harsh galaxy together, so . . . i don't get this desire for no strife, hunger or suffering.
so they want to have everyone linked together?
It's a declaration of Intent that, if they have their way, everyone
will be joining The Star Child Consensus, even if they need to be forced into it.
Basically "Galatic Crusade To Force Everyone Into The God-Hive-Mind".
Oh, I am 100% being honest here. They are not the Chaos Cult Front.
I
knew those bloodline assholes couldn't be trusted!
