Spoilers Pluribus

[Aeson]

We would have no need for websites like this or TV shows. No more games or sports. No need for music. We will already know what the creative ones were thinking. That thing that makes an artist unique would be gone. That pain so many draw from to make their art would be gone.

They know everyone's secrets. They know who's on the Epstein list. Did sociopaths stop being sociopaths? Do drug abusers stop using? The voice on the phone said there was no more crime. What are the police doing now? Soldiers? Clergy? There's no need for religion anymore.

 

[Morrus]

I did wonder why they needed sirens when the emergency services arrived to help--surely everybody knows what's going on? No sirens needed.

People whose jobs are no longer relevant will presumably just do something else to help society be more efficient. The soldiers are now farming, etc. Everybody just does what's best for the good of everybody.

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards the 'they're terrified of Carol' angle. In their mind, she's the monster that needs to be constantly pacified lest she kill 10 million of them with an angry outburst. Kind of an "I Am Legend" twist (the book, not the movie).

 

[Aeson]

I asked the same question about the sirens.

It seemed to me they wanted her to be happy before they knew or claim to know how her anger would affect them. Am I wrong that came first?

 

[Morrus]

I asked the same question about the sirens.

It seemed to me they wanted her to be happy before they knew or claim to know how her anger would affect them. Am I wrong that came first?

We don’t know what they knew.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I did wonder why they needed sirens when the emergency services arrived to help--surely everybody knows what's going on? No sirens needed.

People whose jobs are no longer relevant will presumably just do something else to help society be more efficient. The soldiers are now farming, etc. Everybody just does what's best for the good of everybody.

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards the 'they're terrified of Carol' angle. In their mind, she's the monster that needs to be constantly pacified lest she kill 10 million of them with an angry outburst. Kind of an "I Am Legend" twist (the book, not the movie).

This show is so fascinating!

The conversation about seeing someone drowning in a lake makes me wonder if the infected see themselves as one single individual, and Carol as another individual of equal value? So if she kills a bunch of their bodies it doesn't actually harm them as an individual. But if she is hurt it's the equal of all 8 billion of the infected being hurt.

The nuclear bomb conversation was also really interesting. They seem entirely incapable of saying no! It makes me think that the virus might be engineered to create a "servant class" of people in order to serve another species?

Another thing that stuck out to me in this episode was how Carol used her independence... She drank and watched old TV. Now she is in shock and super-sized mourning and also it's okay to drink and watch old TV even when things are going well. But to the perspective of the infected it must be mind-boggling that this is how she wants to spend her time and individuality rather than wanting to join them!

And finally I just love how all the infected are so happy. I keep forgetting that they're not robots or empty husks, they're all human consciousness swirled together and with a single biological imperative (that we still don't know a lot about). It's really fascinating!

Can't wait to watch more.

 

[Elodan]

I did wonder why they needed sirens when the emergency services arrived to help--surely everybody knows what's going on? No sirens needed.

People whose jobs are no longer relevant will presumably just do something else to help society be more efficient. The soldiers are now farming, etc. Everybody just does what's best for the good of everybody.

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards the 'they're terrified of Carol' angle. In their mind, she's the monster that needs to be constantly pacified lest she kill 10 million of them with an angry outburst. Kind of an "I Am Legend" twist (the book, not the movie).

I thought the sirens were for Carol’s benefit. So she would know help was coming.

It seems like the hive mind doesn’t really understand emotions. That’s why negative ones cause those breakdowns. They don’t know how to handle emotions. Keeping that non-hive people happy keeps everything simple. You can also see it when they kept associating things with Helen, even after Carol told them Helen was off limits.

 

[Morrus]

I just realised they’re the Nice Borg.

 

[Stalker0]

Two episodes in, so far definately enjoying the premise. I'm....still not sure on the other 5 people. I get it, there are going to be a few people that go with the flow (and some cultures value the group over the individual much higher than western culture so there is that element), but everyone other than Carol seems waaaaaay too relaxed about this whole thing so far. Has anyone even asked the pluribus what their ultimate goal is? Are they still having children? (because if not, humanity is doomed).

And now that we know they are so fragile that a big emotional outburst can kills millions....so does that just apply to humans, or if one of them finds a animal screaming its head off because its injured and its in terrible pain....oops another few million down the drain?

Lakshmi said to Carol "why should we believe you when you haven't even educated yourself"....that is 100% true....but I would hope the rest of them are bursting with questions after that conference, because there is a lot that needs to be answered to be comfortable just giving humanity over to the hive mind.

 

[Epic Meepo]

It makes me think that the virus might be engineered to create a "servant class" of people in order to serve another species?

That was my first thought, as well.

The virus turns the dominant species on a planet into a bunch of selfless people-pleasers. Also, the infected become pacifists who can't willingly take a life, even to save themselves. Also, they might literally die if someone giving them orders is displeased with them. Each of those features by itself sounds like a control mechanism designed to take over a planet. And the virus is engineered to have all three.

I'm half expecting a second countdown clock to pop up after Carol and the guy from Paraguay look back at the source of the signal and discover an incoming alien ship.

Alien invasion or not, I'm also wondering how long it will be before the hive mind decides it's time to propagate further by turning the entire Earth into a giant transmitter. Presumably, that's the hive mind's biological imperative, even if it means retiring the human species in oder to carry it out.

 

[Stalker0]

they're all human consciousness swirled together and with a single biological imperative (that we still don't know a lot about). It's really fascinating!

I think the key question is, is it really "human consciousness?"

They certainly have all of our knowledge, but they act nothing like humans that we know. Do they actually experience anything like a human does? Its hard to say.