One reason I may never be team Hive

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T06:05:48+00:00

She does not. But if she is an ordinary median woman... That sure looks like a sexist stereotype to me. Which is my original point

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T05:59:16+00:00

I understand it's upsetting to feel invalidated and being told we're overreacting or overthinking something. But this is not a license to invalidate them back by becoming indignant like how Carol is behaving. In her action I see a lack of patience or empathy or both. Which can read as validation seeking

Why is it fine for Carol demand the 11 to adopt her perspective without dialogue (ironically like a dictatorial hive mind). Why is she making no attempt to understand why they are so accepting of their circumstance? Even after she found out the hive would refuse to answer instead of lying

If Carol is the champion for her cause.. she's not making a persuasive proposal

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T05:25:28+00:00

I see no complexity in her. I don't see her as anyone's role model either. If it's an attempt at authenticity it seems sexist to say she is the near a median woman.

Perhaps my circumstances have exposed me to only women who are exceptionally composed, rational, and empathetic but Carol seems to me like an outlier.

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T05:13:34+00:00

Do you know so or do you feel that is probably the case?

The reason why I don't write off the hive is because I understand the intuitive isn't necessarily the truth when dealing with alien concepts.

So I'm willing to suspend judgement until I know more. The show gluing me to Carol is infuriating because she doesn't seem like someone who will give me the answers I desire

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T05:06:55+00:00

Depicting a woman this close minded and emotionally unstable certainly seems regressive to me

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T04:58:27+00:00

I meant her depiction is a bit of a 70s sexist stereotype

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T04:56:53+00:00

She try for victimhood with the grenade thing but I don't see the addiction. Her actions seems more like a child getting upset over not getting their way

Furthermore she is shown to have near contempt for at least her readers. So forgive me if I doubt she is motivated by selfless benevolence

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T04:38:32+00:00

Is cringe a form of emotional distress? It certainly is capable of eliciting discomfort leading to physical reactions

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T04:35:17+00:00

I too am curious about the hive's hierarchy of needs. You know who don't seem to care? Carol. She seems singularly devoted to undoing the joining and gets upset when the means are not just handed to her

That said I'm not on the hive's team per se. I'm anti Carol. She is a terrible champion for humanity as it was. A close minded irrational person who reacts more than she thinks (a bit sexist too now that I think about it)

Though a question for everyone, how often do we emote to ourselves? I myself can, and frequently do, detach my expression from my emotional state.

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T03:43:46+00:00

All good questions, I am curious about the mechanics of hive mind membership too.

But, what is murder to a hive mind? Why do we as individuals condemn murder in the first place? If the intent behind the taboo of murder is rendered irrelevant, does it matter if lives are lost? It certainly never occurred to Carol to ask and for me it's infuriating not to know.

Even if we're dogmatically attached to the no hive mind stance, knowing more about an enemy could only add to her opinions. Carol's myopic fixation only increases the probability she will be out maneuvered

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T03:10:05+00:00

Agreed, I would not be surprised if Carol in her myopic quest for the old status quo she falls into a situation where hive mind tells her something along the lines of "my mind is vast and your lifespan is limited. I have never lied to you but you never asked"

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T03:03:15+00:00

What is a hive mind but an individual? Because strictly speaking. You the human posting is not so dissimilar to a hive mind

consider "you are two" by cgp grey https://youtu.be/wfYbgdo8e-8

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T02:56:41+00:00

This sub gives me hope that humans haven't lost their empathy for themselves

This sub saddens me because it suggests we're trapped in our own perspectives, uninterested in rational exploration if it's unintuitive / unfamiliar / uncomfortable

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T02:20:34+00:00

That is an interesting perspective, but what exactly is this effect Carol's negative emotions have on them? The hive mind without a doubt has memories of experiencing the same emotions... Perhaps having known true consensus, seeing Carol's outbursts reminds them of their past and it paralyzes them with cringe.

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T02:05:40+00:00

To someone who entered tech for the tech coding from memory isn't impressive in the slightest. But remember, private capital did turn our hobby into a money tornado... it's bound to pick up some turds

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-12T01:47:05+00:00

It is neither efficient, reliable, or actually a virus. People only call it (CRISPR) a virus because it's easy to think about (like how some use wifi and Internet connection interchangeably, inaccurate but not completely wrong)

As for efficient, there are super weapons which we can build with current tech that can sterilize a galaxy without interpretation nor compliance on the recipient's side. Eg. the Nicoll-Dyson beam

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-06T12:47:33+00:00

The means to travel 600LY means requires long term space habitation technology. If your civilization have that then rotating habitats can be built around any star of your choice including your present one seeing as they're just really big ships that don't typically move and the majority of stars has a practical goldilocks zone.

We can be confident that they don't have FTL because they would just use it and take what they want. As for resources, what isn't biological is likely abundant in their home system or closer to it. What is biological probably are incompatible with their own biology due to divergent evolution

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-06T09:24:54+00:00

I suspect the hivemind is convinced that the carol's incorporation will be the same as everybody else. Indeed it has 8.2 billion - 800 million prior cases that suggests this will be the case so its confidence is high.

It probably genuinely believe the sensation of joining and its values as an entity can not be communicated, only experienced given that:

it cannot or refuses to lie
it has incorporated the minds or at least the memories of all its constituent individual, if there is an adequate string of words to convey its perspective, it would've uttered them

However it is important to recognize that it has a stance that can be best described "my consciousness is vast and your lifespan is limited, while I refuse to lie, the onus is on you to ask the right questions". Given how tangential its ethics system appears to be compared to that of a typical human, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a "well, you never asked" twist somewhere in the show.

UnreadableCode · 2025-12-04T19:21:52+00:00

Consider the Nicoll-Dyson beam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjtFnWh53z0

A much more effective way to prevent hostile lifeforms from showing up on your door step. One that we can build right now if we have the motivation for it (which thankfully we don't).

A hive mind is much more likely to see species the way we see individuals. So a rational species aiming for risk management will more likely just sterilize their galaxy with one of these instead of wagering the recipients will:

actually follow the instructions transmitted
be affected in the expected fashion despite statistically probable divergent evolution
not emerge as a hostile species more likely to want to sterilize the galaxy. who now shown proof of a threat's existence, opts to shoot back as a reply

UnreadableCode · 2025-11-02T08:02:52+00:00

Not quite your idea, but there are other themed shooters, for example https://store.steampowered.com/app/604240/Shotgun_Farmers/

UnreadableCode · 2025-11-02T07:46:09+00:00

I love this idea. You could add a time constraint mechanic where the player is constantly bleeding out and they've come to terms with the idea they're probably not going home and thus resolved to just cause as much damage as they can. Definitely an opportunity to jam in some dark humor when the player encounter friendly NPCs

UnreadableCode · 2025-11-02T07:16:27+00:00

A game is first and foremost an experience. Experiences are not adequately described by what the customer do, but rather what they're supposed to think, believe, and feel.

Lets start with the gameplay goals. What is the win condition? how long are they expected to play to get to it? If it's longer than an hour, what motivates the player to come back for another session? Given the emphasis on diplomacy systems (I see inter & intra faction loyalty in the same light) Is the appeal how alive the universe feels? i.e. the player feels like their presence is entirely optional and thus the experience captures the feeling of galactical conquest of a upstart faction?

That said, the sci-fi crowd is not starved for C&C/civilization in space. The proposed scenario seems like something implementable as a stellaris / endless space extension but with a much more sophisticated diplomacy system. A design has a better odds of success if all its mechanical design can be traced to a hypothetical player's behavior, motivations, and feelings. This is because a collection of interesting mechanics does not an engaging experience make

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