The hive is both dangerous, and fascinating all at once

Teamwork! But is the leaf poisonous?

I remember being fascinated with ants as a child. And, truth be told I still am decades later. I always found them fascinating creatures. Somehow connected to each other without communicating, I suppose by scent. Each one knowing where to go, and what to do. They have jobs and, I always presumed, jobs like you and I. I also had an ant farm at one point. Watching them build their structure before my eyes was really cool. But then I accidentally spilled it one day, releasing my contained friends into my room for my mom/dad to deal with. And, that was the end of that...

So yeah, a hive is really neat. If you go on Facebook, Reddit, or anywhere else people socially congregate you'll immediately see instances of the hive mind at work. Person A posts something, and Person B else counters the reply with a divergent thought. All of a sudden you have floods of people coming to the rescue of Person A. Knight's in shining armor, ready to defend their king's stance! It's bizarre, but interesting. 

I suppose I always considered the hive mind to be something one should avoid. I was always taught to be a free thinker, and not swayed by other's thoughts/comments (obviously not realistic as we're all influenced from others, but that was the ideal to strive for nevertheless). Without getting too political, we all saw what can happen when a president stirs up the hive, and the anger/divisiveness it can create. So, dangerous in theory but for the sake of conversation this week, perhaps beneficial to explore the good as well.

With all of the cons, there's perhaps something to be said for what it can do to bring us together. It, at the very least, forces us to communicate, share ideas, and connect with one another. It can sometimes rally support for the right causes as well, as people unite behind a shared goal.

I recall sitting on a jury (DUI case), and to me (a young college kid who was taking some psychology classes at the time) I found it fascinating how each of the jurors came to the same thought process after one of the more outspoken leaders of the group made their feelings known. Perhaps they would have come to the same conclusion, but as soon as he spoke you could feel a sense of, "You know, I think he's right." fill the room. The defendant was clearly guilty, so in this case our group made a like minded decision for the greater good.

But still...when it comes to learning I do wonder about the hive teaching us things that are more harmful than good. And while education and learning are most definitely not the same things, I think sometimes the two get conflated. The hive educating someone on a topic, presented using falsehoods, can easily make someone feel as though they're educated on a topic. A very slippery slope...