This article was originally posted on Northeastern Global News by Cody Mello-Klein.
In “Pluribus,” Apple TV’s new hit science fiction show, the apocalypse seems downright cheery.
After humanity receives a signal from outer space, they accidentally manufacture an alien virus that infects the world and turns almost everyone into part of a peaceful hive mind. The content collective consciousness seemingly has only one goal: tend to the needs of the few unaffected people on the planet. For one of those people, author Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), that might be even worse than all the death and destruction that came with the birth of the hive mind.
Take away all the mystery, drama and dark humor from “Pluribus” and at its core is the kind of ethical dilemma that defines the best sci-fi stories. Is Carol, and humanity, better off joining the collective or stubbornly clinging to her individuality?
It’s a complex question without an easy answer and not the only one posed in the show. To understand more about the ethics of “Pluribus” and what has drawn such huge interest, Northeastern Global News sat down with John Basl, an associate professor of philosophy at Northeastern University.
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