How Scientifically Accurate Is Apple TV's Pluribus?

This post contains spoilers for the season premiere of "Pluribus." 

Can the human race share a consciousness? While it's certainly possible from a metaphorical perspective, the scientific legitimacy of such a concept is tough to discern. Take sci-fi author Peter Watts' take on hive consciousness as an example, where he posits that it might be possible to create collective networks based on human stimuli or read somebody else's dreams in the future. Tangible research about hive consciousness already exists — while it's easier to study such behavior in animals or insects, human consciousness is a completely different ballgame. After all, what is consciousness, and how do self-awareness and identity factor into hive mentality? The answers are complicated, and Vince Gilligan's latest sci-fi offering, "Pluribus," isn't afraid to flesh out these implications, albeit on a quasi-realistic level. 

The show's premise feels deceptively simple at first. Scientists pick up on an RNA sequence that quickly breaks containment and unites humanity with a kind of "psychic glue" within a matter of days. In other words, an alien invasion kills nearly a billion people on Earth and leaves behind a hive mind with a complicated outlook on morality. Some, like the easily irritable Carol (Rhea Seehorn), are immune, creating an unlikely status quo between a flawed, assertive individual and a hivemind that appears both scarily effective and suspiciously benevolent. 

Zosia (Karolina Wydra), who acts as Carol's chaperone, verbalizes the will of the collective, who (apparently) never, ever feel negative emotions. Wydra spoke to Polygon to shed light on this hive mindset:

"Vince would say that they're just very content, happy, peaceful, serene human beings that are unflappable, and they're just pure goodness in the world [...] They're constantly in a state of serenity. No matter what's thrown at them, they don't have a negative reaction."

The implications of the hive never having a negative reaction to anything are dire. The show explores this in episode 2, where an enraged Carol screams and inadvertently kills 11 million members of the hive, and also does it a second time despite feeling remorse. The hive's reaction to this is devoid of any strong sentiment: they argue that while the deaths are unfortunate, Carol didn't intend to murder anyone, so there's little reason to be angry or resentful. This can hardly be deemed as a serene mindset — if anything, this kind of docile benevolence leaves the hive wide open to exploitative manipulation (and very real harm).

This, however, doesn't mean that the hive is helpless. We see them mobilize in a perfectly organized fashion, where they infect millions without being detected. This complicates their moral compass, as they are capable of deceptive infiltration and remorseless mass murder under the guise of fulfilling a biological compulsion. Gilligan based the physical movements of the hive on an underwater experience, where he had observed a school of fish move as one:

"I used to scuba dive a little bit, and I was lucky enough to go down to the Caribbean or whatnot. It fascinated me: These beautiful fish, they're all in a line, and then the lead fish all of a sudden turns a corner, like those light cycles in 'Tron.' The fish would all be together, and then they go kchh, and then they go kchh. You can't even see it happen. It's faster than the human eye."

Gilligan also thanked stunt performer Nito Larioza for overseeing hive choreography, while joking that humans can never move as elegantly as a school of tropical fish. Touché.

Can an extraterrestrial RNA sequence infect our minds and blend us into a single entity overnight? Perhaps not, but the principle behind this sci-fi concept is based on real instances of collective consciousness, especially in insects and animals. While herd mentality has always existed among migratory birds, bees, or insect swarms, the term "hive mind" was popularized in the 1950s by sci-fi author James H. Schmitz. Moreover, hive minds usually don't have positive connotations as a sci-fi concept, as they're used as metaphors for the inertia of groupthink and the erosion of individuality. But as a scientific concept, the basic tenets of hive consciousness are already being used in swarm intelligence (a stream of Robotics), where small robots are trained to perform tasks in coordination.

But what about extending it to the elusive human consciousness? We are currently taking steps towards inserting prototypical chips inside our brains to sync them with technological commands, or even creating artificially encoded memories to see if they're compatible with rat brains. While the distant future may offer us the opportunity to simulate a hive consciousness, is it a wise idea to merge our minds? A core characteristic of a hive is identity fusion, which completely erases personal hopes and dreams in favor of a shared goal. Who gets to decide these ideals, and what happens when someone wants to defect?

"Pluribus" hasn't revealed its ace card yet, but it seems to be a cautionary tale about mindless assimilation. Conflict is an undesirable trait, but it is undoubtedly important to a functional society that values diversity. Dissent and autonomy are crucial to prevent power imbalances and protect vulnerable groups, and the hive's inability to comprehend this in "Pluribus" might spell its doom soon.