A HiveMind is not the same as a CollectiveIntelligence. A HiveMind has one thought process that controls each of its composite agents. Thus, there is a strong dictating force, the overmind, that implants an idea into the weaker subminds that enact it. ''Why is that the definition of HiveMind? Hives don't work that way. They have no "overmind".'' ---- Yes and this weaker mind is the one who the idea seems hard to. What if the idea was so hard that no one person could think of it. What if the idea were so large that 1000 people could not think it. ByzantineGeneralsProblem But what if the idea were good for everyone, like OpenSource - OS commerce is an example of an OpenSource commercial application which people contribute to, and has fostered cooperation between many online businesses WhatHappensWhenWeNoLongerNeedMoney ---- I'd say television is the best mechanism created for creating a HiveMind (followed closely by religious institutions and the academic tradition). People who watch television share common experiences and thoughts, although these are created by television. Take, for instance, the phenomenon of two people discussing sitcoms they watched the previous night, even if they didn't watch them ''together.'' Many people's entire conversational context is TV. These people are the types who quote MontyPython and TheSimpsons to each other all day long. GlobalVillage. -- SunirShah ''TheSimpsons and MontyPython are possibly some of the few shows that don't fit this category. Many things from soap opera to teen series to sports do, though.'' ''Come to think of it, I never heard people quote either TheSimpsons or MontyPython unless in rare and fitting contexts while I have seen people talking about sports or some series all the time and in all walks of life.'' ---- Did you read OrsonScottCard's EndersGame? It's a very good SciFi novel (in my opinion). The aliens are ant-like and their behaviour is based on HiveMind. -- JeanMarcHeneman ''Yes. Card develops the HiveMind better in SpeakerForTheDead. The buggers aren't truly ant-like because there is a HiveMind. Ants follow the rules of InsectBehaviour. The Pequeninos, on the other hand, are first a human-like society, and then turn into a CollectiveIntelligence of sorts. Jane is definitely a DistributedMind. Card spent a lot of the series contrasting different systems of thinking/society (which are equivalent at some scale). Which means it was very useful to remind us of the series! Thanks. -- ss'' ---- Wow, TheSimpsons, Seinfeld, ThePrincessBride, and MontyPython are some of the most oft-quoted sources among my fellow college students. -- Nick Douglas http://decafsilicon.blogspot.com Alcoholics Anonymous creates a Hive Mind. ---- Another good SciFi example of the creation of a hive-mind (albeit from a negative perspective) is the book ChildhoodsEnd by ArthurCClarke. Rather than talking about the consequences of such a transformation, it talks about the evolutionary necessity of it, and of the possibility that the perfect human is actually an evolutionary dead end. -- Leadhyena Inrandomtan ---- See Also: VideoAddiction, InsectBehaviour, BumblebeeSociety, Movie: StarshipTroopers ---- Book on the subject: ''Out of Control'' http://www.kk.org/img/outofcontrol-sm.gif Contents: http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/contents.php * Birds ** http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/ch2-b.html * Ants ** http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/ch2-c.html * Paralled Processing ** http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/ch2-d.html ---- CategorySociety