“Why would you give me a hand grenade?”
“You asked for one.”
Pluribus‘ hive mind contains all the knowledge, memories, and experiences of all but 13 people on the planet. All eight billion members of the enjoined is the greatest doctor, scientist, dancer, teacher, pilot, etc. at all times. With that kind of brain power, the hive mind should be so intelligent it defies understanding. Only, Pluribus episode three, “Grenade,” just showed it’s anything but. Because while “we” might be really smart, the biggest weakness of Pluribus‘ hive mind is that it’s also impossibly dumb. It lacks common sense and emotional intelligence. And that’s an existential crisis for mankind.
On Pluribus episode three, the hive mind sensed Carol might have been speaking sarcastically when she said she wanted a hand grenade. The problem was that it’s incapable of actually detecting and responding in an appropriate manner to even the most obvious sarcasm. It’s so nice, so polite, so accommodating that it lacks even the most basic ability to discern intent. The enjoined takes everything in good faith literally, even when it has a vague sense it shouldn’t. That means Pluribus‘ hive mind has less emotional intelligence than a toddler, and yes, that’s a big weakness. (It’s why the hive mind literally short circuits when Carol is mean to it. It can’t process any emotion more complex than simple kindness.)
Common sense is a pretty useful—to say the least—type of intelligence for a lot of reasons. But it’s especially vital when it comes to self-preservation. The hive mind’s total lack of critical thinking led to Carol almost killing both herself and her Pirate Lady envoy, Zosia.
Of course, we all make mistakes, and in fairness to the hive mind, in some ways, it is essentially a child. Sure, it contains all human knowledge and experience, but it’s an entirely new being. We’d expect even the enjoined to have some growing pains. But with eight billion people’s worth of memories, we’d also assume it would learn from its mistakes. It should at least learn from a really big one. Instead, it told Carol it would give her another hand grenade right now. Worse, there’s no weapon it would deny her. Pluribus‘ hive mind would give Carol access to an atom bomb with only the slightest hesitation and worry. And it would do so even with her point-blank telling them that’s ludicrous. “It’d be okay to say no at this point,” she said. “That would be sane. Not utterly batshit crazy.”
Handing over a nuclear weapon is so absurd that no being with a modicum of critical thinking should need to have that pointed out to them. But the hive mind is literally incapable of saying no to an outrageous, dangerous, destructive request. It told Carol it has a “biological imperative” to not only live the way it does, but to try and save Carol. It’s happy, and it needs to convince her to join it. Giving her anything she wants is how it believes they’ll do exactly that, even if it could lead to the death of all life on Earth. That’s at odds with its stated biological goal.
As Zosia explained to Carol, the enjoined believe the mysterious alien virus was meant to save everyone on Earth from war, suffering, hunger, and sadness. Those things were destined to destroy mankind. Carol said the hive believes that because it now thinks it leads a perfect existence of contentment, like “living in a postcard.” Pluribus‘ hive mind agrees because it can’t recognize that Carol meant that as an insult. Just like it couldn’t recognize she didn’t really want a hand grenade. Just like it can’t recognize you shouldn’t give anyone, let alone someone who hates you, an atom freaking bomb. All of which points to an undeniable fact: this alien virus feels like a trap.
It was scary enough when Pluribus revealed something old and powerful turned almost every Earthling into a single-minded, docile pacifist incapable of even questioning “why” an alien force would want to destroy individuality on a distant planet. But Pluribus episode three, “Grenade,” made clear humanity’s problems are even worse than we realized. Mankind’s new biological imperative has made it smart in ways no individual can fathom. It’s talented and brilliant and happy and peaceful. But that has created the biggest weakness of all in Pluribus‘ hive mind. It has made mankind too stupid to recognize this biological imperative is anything but ideal. It is supposed to be an “inherent, non-negotiable drive within all living systems to perpetuate their existence and reproduce.” Instead, it’s guaranteeing mankind’s doom.
If you can’t understand why you shouldn’t give someone an atom bomb, you’re not smart enough to survive as a species.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post PLURIBUS Drops a ‘Grenade’ About the Hive Mind’s Biggest Weakness appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Fady Askharoun Samy Askharoun
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