I was reading the wiki page for a game called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in this game there is an entity called "C-consciousness." Basically C-consciousness is a "hive mind" or a collection of individual minds thinking as if they were one. This got me thinking, pooling the brain power of many individuals would produce a more intelligent entity, right? Thinking of an ants or bees which consist of thousands of individuals that act together as a single organism. A lone bee is unable to fend for itself without the hive which it depends on for security, food and reproduction. The same goes for ants. Together they are strong but divided they are weak. Could the same principle be applied to intelligence? After all as the saying goes: "two heads are better than one." But conversely a single ant or bee is insignificant and even dispensable to the mass as a whole. Bees for instance die after delivering a sting. They sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the whole. Individuality is second to the swarm. So if a share consciousness did exist would joining this entity strip you of individuality? Thinking of Minority Report a sci-fi flick in which three individual psychics are united in a hive mind to amplify their abilities to see into the future. They use these three to foresee murders before they even take place, making preemptive arrests for "future" murders. The problem is they don't always agree and when one see things differently the other two overrule her (these events are termed "minority reports" which leads to false arrests). Also like an ant or a bee would you become dependent on the union for your own survival? With your individuality--one of the the only things we do have--stripped away could you revert back? I doubt it. Basically if anyone comes around asking you to meld minds be wary.