Hive Mind
When a group of people are all thinking the same way, they have a hive mind. "Hive mind" can also be called groupthink, group mind, shared intelligence, swarm intelligence or universal mind.
Â
The term hive mind comes from the behavior of some animals (bee and ants are good examples). As a matter of fact the 'hive' part of 'hive mind' comes from bees. Hive means a group of bees. It is also called a beehive. Male bees are thought to be unthinking workers. They are called drones. That is where the word drone (flying toy) comes from.
Â
Bee are actually quite intelligent for an insect. They perform dances to show the other bees where flowers are. Since their dance tells the other bees where the flowers are in relation to the sun, they change their dance during the day.
Bees also act together - with a common purpose - for the good of the group. And that is where "hive mind" comes from. The bees have a shared interest and think / act in a similar way. Even though there are many individuals, they act as one brain.
Â
"Hive mind" can be applied to humans as well. Cults are often accused of hive minds. The people in cults can lose their individual identity for the betterment of the group. "Hive mind" is rarely used as a compliment. HOWEVER, today I saw an interesting use of this term. One person was asking a Facebook group a question. They started the question by calling the group a hive mind. The way in which it was used was very colloquial and friendly. It seem to mean, we are all together. I thought it was interesting enough to make a post about it.
Â
Do your students have a hive mind?
For more English phrases and quotes, follow me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ESL-ToyBox-112152010890485