You Will Be Assimilated
Remember The Borg, from Star Trek? A highly advanced group of cyborgs with a unified consciousness called “the collective.” While there are individual members of the borg, they all communicate sort of wirelessly through an uplink with the queen, who is the central processor and consciousness of the species. They are a combination of biological and mechanical body parts, improving upon the weaknesses of our inherent biology. Their goal is perfection, and they achieve this by constantly adapting to their environment, assimilating other creatures through surgical nanoprobe injections, and constantly improving and updating their knowledge through dominance over other species. They are very strong, resistant to most attacks, never retreat, and highly organized. Think of the Nazi army at full strength for a scary example of their potential.
The future that I see, unfortunately, is one in which humanity largely resembles The Borg. As we have increasingly focused on science and acquisition of knowledge over inner subjective experiences since The Renaissance, we have moved far closer towards The Borg as a culture, and further away from being “human,” if you will. We are increasingly becoming dependent on electronic devices that have low error rates to “improve” our functioning. These range from electronic hearing devices to overcome deafness, pacemakers to decrease heart rate variability, and of course smartwatches and cell phones to improve our memory retention, calculating abilities, and visual perception. Presently, Elon Musk’s Neuralink is designed to allow paralyzed patients to manipulate a mechanical arm with their thoughts. I don’t see an end to this continual modification of our abilities and senses.
As we move closer towards logic, precision, factual data, and predictable and observable effects, we move further away from our inner subjective experiences. The world of logic and science is universal - there is little individuality in E = MC2. Eventually, we will be following the same principles, since logic and science will lead us in the same direction. Those individuals who resist what the science and logic imply will be seen as harmful to humanity, and eventually will be eliminated naturally, or pressured to change. Eventually, these individuals will be labeled mentally ill, or a harm to society, and will be medicated, biologically altered, or separated from society so as to minimize their negative impact on society. Creativity and uniqueness will start to decrease in importance, as the data, logic, and march of science largely instruct us in our ideal direction.
It is becoming increasingly clear what a healthy human lifestyle looks like. It is clear that polluted air is harmful to us. It is clear that guns kill innocent people more often than guilty ones. It is clear that anger and violence are unwanted traits in our culture. These unwanted traits will continue to be cleansed and eradicated until we are all functioning in-line with the cultural norms. As technology improves our speed and ability to communicate, our thoughts will become increasingly transparent. Eventually, we will be judged on our thoughts, and interventions will exist to modify or change our thoughts before they even manifest into actions. Over time, our thoughts will become increasingly similar, until we all generally want and desire the same things as everyone else.
As this continues, we will realize that our human bodies are largely the source of much of our suffering, and that the more cybernetic and mechanical we become, the longer we can live, and the less suffering we will have to endure. Eventually, we will be minimally human, effectively a walking robot with a shared consciousness. Any individual who resists or disagrees with this direction of the species will be modified through various means until they are in-line with the whole. Uniformity, precision, efficiency, logic, dominance, progress, advancement: these will become the chief principles directing our actions. The subjective experience of joy and happiness will become less discussed, less emphasized, and less desirable. Joy and happiness is a product of our bodily sensations, and our bodies are weak and a source of suffering.
In Star Trek, The Borg are effectively the most successful, advanced, and dominant culture in the future, and I think that will be the case in our future as well. There is no doubt that a species who values science, facts, and logical efficiency will be more dominant over a species that values joy and laughter; joy and laughter don’t develop weapons of mass destruction.
But one look at the Borg, and it is quite obvious to most that there is something instinctively unappealing about them. We don’t want a world with one consciousness. We don’t want a world with no concern for joy or happiness. We don’t actually want immortality if it comes at the expense of individuality. We value creativity, uniqueness, differences, and all of the flaws of the human experience. Humans aren’t flawed, we are special. A life lived as a cyborg without errors, and following a perfect centralized intelligent program isn’t a life at all, but more of a simulation within a computer. Free will allows for errors, for desires, and for joy. Free will allows for mistakes, and blemishes, and differences. Having a perfect society will inherently remove our free will, subjugating the whole society into a blind army of cyborgs following a carefully programmed algorithm.
This isn’t the world for me. I don’t want to live according to an algorithm. I choose free will, despite the mistakes and flaws inherent in that process. I choose individuality and creativity over logic and precision. I don’t wish to discard either, as they both have value, but as an American, individuality and creativity has largely defined our identity. This identity stands in stark contrast to one focused on a uniform militant mindset, which has largely defined communist countries. If we don’t see the downside of a culture exclusively focused on science, logic, and efficiency at all cost, we need to start doing so. If you don’t wish to become assimilated, then speak up. Acknowledge that joy, happiness, and human creativity matter. Acknowledge that artists, singers, and dancers matter. Acknowledge that science alone cannot dictate our life, and that logic and efficiency do not provide meaning to our existence.
If the current trajectory we find ourselves on continues, The Borg is our likely future. I will resist as best I can, until a surgical nanoprobe is injected into my brain to force me to submit. Even then, I’ll resist. A short life filled with free will, creativity, and individuality is far more valuable than an eternity lived as part of a collective algorithm without joy or happiness. If the time comes, I choose humanity over immortality and conformity. What do you choose?
