the hive mind
In science fiction, beings that are hive minds are portrayed as being superior to mankind. Although these aliens are inevitably defeated, they generally wreak considerable havoc to humanity before being shooed away. In Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the insectoid enemy is is a formidable foe, with whole armies acting in concert no matter the spatial difference. New knowledge is absorbed by the whole species immediately, which means that tactics used against a unit cannot be used against another one, because they would know how to deal with. This capability would surely be useful for us, if ever hostile aliens do exist, but sadly, we don’t have the psychic abilities required to share knowledge in an instant.
On the other hand, the prospects of our technology seem to be leading us to this future. In the future of complete connectivity that is in store for us, our methods of sharing knowledge will become more encompassing and efficient, and some day, we would be able to know everything that everyone else knows. We’re being abstract here, of course, which means that you might not be able to know classified government information, et cetera.
But that’s thinking too far ahead. Even now, education stands to benefit greatly from the application of new technologies. Think hive mind less the single-mindedness. (Pardon the oxymoron but hive minds, for all their worth have only one point of view.) The advantages of leveraging online social networks (through all forms of publishing and collaboration) have been trumpeted by many so I don’t think I need to point those out anymore. Instead, in the next post, I’d like to mention a few aspects that I think is especially relevant to the Philippines.
[Update: I just realized that I'd bookmarked a similarly titled entry by Clarence Fisher.]
