Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCharacteristics of Hive MindThe Science Behind Hive MindExamples and Applications of a Hive MindHive Mind and GroupthinkHive Mind in the Digital AgeFuture Implications and Controversies
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Characteristics of Hive Mind
The Science Behind Hive Mind
Examples and Applications of a Hive Mind
Hive Mind and Groupthink
Hive Mind in the Digital Age
Future Implications and Controversies
Close
The concept of the hive mind is most easily applied to insects such as bees or ants. It’s the group intelligence that emerges when these species work as a unit.But there are other examples in which human intelligence makes up a hive mind. In popular culture it’s often portrayed as a bad thing. Civilizations like the Borg onStar TrekorDoctor Who’s Cybermen have assimilated large groups of people into their vast collective, but have eliminated their ability to think as individuals.
In reality, though, hive mind in humans “involves a collective collaboration in decision-making processes,” saysCristina Dovan, a digital entrepreneur, writer, and Certified Mindvalley Life Coach focused on mindset and transformation.
This leads to a collective intelligence that, according to Dovan, “brings comfort and unity to a group that is pulling in the same direction. [But] it can also harbor the possibility of inhibiting critical thinking in the members of the group, leading to the risk of impeding progress.”
Let’s look at the characteristics and science behind the hive mind, explore applications of the hive mind in human society, differentiate hive mind fromgroupthink, and look at the hive mind in the digital age.
People can behave very differently in groups, where they adopt or get caught up in the prevailing patterns and group dynamics,” saysSiobhan McHale, the author of the upcoming bookThe Hive Mind at Work: Harnessing the Power of Group Intelligence to Create Meaningful and Lasting Change. “These patterns start to influence behavior almost as soon as someone enters a new workplace or other human ‘ecosystem.’” This can lead to faster progress and better results.
Per Dovan, some of hive mind’s most important characteristics include:
The concept of the hive mind comes out of several disciplines including biology, computer science, psychology, neurology, andsocial science. “It describes a network of many entities that can refer to bees and ants but also neurons and humans,” says Dovan.
For example, the neurons in our brains seem to operate a lot like the bees in a hive, in that, like the hive, our brains have multiple, often conflicting interests that must come to a consensus.Of course, brains usually come to a consensus in fractions of a second, so we don’t notice the conflict and indecision.
On a broader scale,tribes, cities, countries, and internet collectives are superorganisms that can have hive minds. For example, the practice of editing and using the global encyclopedia Wikipedia could be seen as a hive mind.
McHale shares the story of Albert Bourla to illustrate the hive mind in action in human society. “Bourla was the newly appointed CEO at Pfizer when, in March 2020, COVID-19 swept around the world. Bourla began to challenge everyone in the pharmaceutical company to… develop a vaccine more quickly than anyone had ever done before.
“Bourla… recognize[d] the siloed pattern that had been embedded in the scientific community for decades. Researchers at Big Pharma A and B worked in their labs in almost complete isolation from one another. [So] he released a five-point plan that enshrined collaboration as the guiding force to steer Pfizer employees and its Big Pharma peers in a joint effort to defeat the coronavirus.
“Researchers began to share insights, tools, data, expertise, and capability and less than nine months later the Pfizer vaccine became the first fully tested COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use.”
This is an example of the hive mind working for good. The company had 79,000 employees across more than 125 countries and Bourla figured out how to get them all talking, harnessing the power of collective intelligence to solve a problem.
Dovan cites other examples of how hive mind can harness the power of group intelligence for the collective good, including crowdsourcing within online communities to solve problems in various fields. “These are examples of how group collaboration outperforms the power of any individual. However.” she says, “this doesn’t mean that the individuals involved in these activities have lost their decision-making ability as individuals in other areas of their lives.”
There are many benefits of incorporating hive mind principles into human decision-making processes. They include faster, better, and morecreative decisions, increased energy, better problem-solving, a desire to learn, and increased initiative in pursuit of an answer.
Says Dovan, groupthink “leads to suppressing critical thinking in individuals [and] discouraging dissenting opinions. [This] result[s] in poor outcomes. It can also have repercussions like inefficiency and wasting resources, conflicts and competitive dynamics because the decision-making process is made without proper analysis.”
Hive mind behavior, when not deployed properly, can have potential risks and drawbacks. In addition to groupthink, it could also suffer from dysfunctions including “overcompetitiveness, greed, disrespect, andbullying,” says McHale. Dovan notes that when hive mind behavior is managed ineffectively and leads to groupthink, people can suffer from coordination challenges and havebiasand inefficiency baked into their thinking.
Strategies to Mitigate the Negative Aspects of Hive Mind
There are several ways to mitigate the negative aspects of hive mind, including:
The internet and particularly social media is an amplifier of hive mind behavior. “[On social media] it is easier for members to connect and communicate, leading to a diversified and innovative decision-making process,” says Dovan. “The internet can also provide access to a wide range of information, which can benefit and enhance the quality of solutions and results.”
But social media also has many drawbacks, Dovan explains, including the spread of fake news, echo chambers, and bubbles, which show information thatonly aligns with people’s preferences and beliefs. As a result, social media can have “a big influence on groupthink behavior and it can easily attract those with poor critical thinking skills, which make polarization and division easier.”
Online communities whose structure and engagement patterns are particularly prone toward hive mind behavior, observes Dovan, include Reddit, Quora, Wikipedia, Kaggle, and Github. These “forums and crowdsourcing platforms all have in common the use of crowd wisdom in solving problems.”
Ethical Considerations of Hive Mind in the Digital Realm
According to Dovan, there are numerous ethical considerations associated with the hive mind in the digital age. They include:
The spread of technology and especially AI around the globe have made the future implications of hive mind all the more crucial. Some of the most controversial issues include political polarization,discrimination, and climate change debates, says Dovan. Because of these things, there’s an even greater need “for governments and organizations to set clear rules and regulations in order to maintain the ethical use of hive mind dynamics.”
For example, hive mind can come up with solutions to parts of the climate crisis or figure out ways to alleviate political polarization, but that’s only if the people spearheading those issues are open to others’ ideas and bad actors don’t get in the way. That’s why, according to McHale, leaders who understand and can navigate the hive mind are needed now more than ever.
Wrapping Up
Capitalizing on the benefits of a hive mind can be a great boon to society. It can help produce solutions to many problems, whether they’re large—like how to invest in the stock market—or small—like household tips.
But with these benefits come many drawbacks, including groupthink, fake news, and other people controlling the flow of information. To make sure you don’t fall prey to these problems, make sure you retain the power to think and make decisions for yourself.
3 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Toker D.The emergence of a hive mind: Should we worry?Knowing Neurons. January 31, 2018.
de Mul J.Encyclopedias, hive minds and global brains. A cognitive evolutionary account of Wikipedia. In: Romele A, Terrone E, eds.Towards a Philosophy of Digital Media. Springer International Publishing; 2018:103-118. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-75759-9_6
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