Sf writers imagine alien material conditions generating qualitatively different kinds of consciousness. In Poul Anderson's Technic History:
on Vanrijn, two animals of different species link physically to form a single intelligence;
on Dido, three animals of different species do likewise;
on Babur, many intelligent beings of a single species link by complementarity in their sexual cycles and by radio waves to form a "Band" with a single personality.
A Band does not subordinate individual Baburites who remain unique, each making a special contribution, although communing or communicating:
"...on a level deeper than consciousness."
-Mirkheim, V, p. 85.
Tradition might be neither oral nor written but perceived. The Imperial Band leads although self-regulating Baburites are not mutually conflictive and need little government.
2 comments:
Interesting stuff; always a contrast in how various authors have approached the concept of a group or hive mind, going back to Stapledon and even before. Anderson's portrayals of various "multi-part" intelligences is an interesting contrast to the standard approaches.
Kaor, Paul!
Dang! I completely missed those points about the Baburites the last times I read "Esau"/MIRKHEIM.
Ad astra! Sean
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