hivemind
/ˈhaɪv.maɪnd/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.56 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Collective intelligence, especially when facilitated by communications technology.
noun
A group of people who uncritically share beliefs, behave very similarly or mindlessly follow orders.
Derogatory
Example Sentences
- "It traces the growth of homo gestalt with the uniting of six lovely outcasts of society who have psi powers and come together as a hive mind, thus creating a gestalt super-being."
- "Though now extinct, the rachni once threatened every species in Citadel space. Over 2000 years ago, explorers foolishly opened a mass relay to a previously-unknown system and encountered something never seen before or since: a species of spacefaring insects guided by a hive-mind intelligence."
- "We have the villainous Borg of Star Trek: a hive mind of individuals robbed of their individuality, communicating with each other not by touch or even speech but by omnipresent computer networks."
- "The marvel of “hive mind” is that no one is in control, and yet an invisible hand governs, a hand that emerges from very dumb members."
- "The hive mind should be thought of as a tool. Empowering the collective does not empower individuals — just the reverse is true."
- "In any case, culture and technology are increasingly reliant on the hive mind–and whatever its faults, Lanier's broadside helps us consider the consequences of this momentous development."
Etymology
From hive + mind, originally applied to beehives. As a metaphor for collective intelligence popularized in Out of Control (1992) by Kevin Kelly.