‘Hive minds’ in media reflect a real-world need for compassion

Maya Sunderraj, Assistant Opinions Editor

I have noticed many people, including myself, often repeat particular language when discussing the current zeitgeist within the United States and internationally. People reference an “extreme ideological polarization” between and within political parties and a growing desensitization to political violence and human rights violations.

Despite these global patterns of chaos, foreign nations and peoples are often characterized by the West as representing contrasting cultures, such as the “collectivist” and “individualist” divide between hemispheres. This veneer of nationalism and superiority distracts from larger, widespread issues that overlap cultural and political borders.

When I look for representations of this sentiment in fiction, I end up with works that employ the “hive mind” trope. This trope features a group that shares a collective identity, often literally, and functions as a whole made up of individual parts. It is inspired by the behavior of real-life species such as ants and bees. 

Authors apply these social and behavioral characteristics to their own work, but often in a dramatized and fantastical manner. In Western media, hive minds are typically portrayed as antagonists, often depicted as an alien civilization at war with individualistic, non-assimilated protagonists. It is unsurprising when the hive mind’s destruction is consequently viewed as the “good” ending. 

There are many examples, from the enemy in Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game,” to the “Arcane” character Viktor’s commune in the show’s second season.

“Arcane” is representative of my favorite use of this trope — when authors don’t debate whether one ideology is superior, but rather whether or not the two must be mutually exclusive.

The collective in the show is born out of a desire to help others, but becomes a problem when it must resort to stealing from normal society to maintain itself. Eventually, the commune is brought down, with the show illustrating that individual identity is more valuable than a collective one, including all the suffering that results from individuality.

The hive mind in “Arcane” is not some alien race or AI that has no explanation for its creation.  It is created due to holes within its preexisting society — including literal segregation, a lack of welfare and neglect of addicts and the disabled. Although I have many other qualms with season two of “Arcane,” certain themes presented by the hive mind are not one of them. 

I do not enjoy how hive minds are typically simplified in fiction as an omniscient and apathetic being that acts more like a math formula — desaturated, deterministic and dull —  than anything that reflects human behavior. While I subscribe to the idea that life is beautiful because of and despite its complexities, including suffering, I am unsure that hive minds, often portrayed as a rejected utopia, are truly the most horrible answer. They are unfamiliar and strange, but that doesn’t mean they are inherently evil or antithetical to life. 

“Arcane” exemplifies this perspective in both fiction and real life. Individualist and collectivist cultures — fictional or not — are not entirely different things. They both have the same needs, fears and problems. It is not just the West that has issues with fascism — it is being characterized as a global descent into the ideology for a reason. 

The exploration of hive minds, of pitting things against one another, reflects the very human desire for a quick solution to very nuanced issues. If a group is characterized as collectivist, real or not, then it is easy to simplify and misunderstand the nature of that group.

In times of growing extremism, seeing the world in its full spectrum is a virtue and advantage. We must resist the human tendency to simplify the unfamiliar and unlikable into rigid categories and instead criticize false dichotomies that delay the progression of individuals and communities alike.