SIO501: What Pluribus Gets Right about Neuroscience

Subject of much sci-fi media and philosophy discussions, the "hive mind" is also a key element of Vince Gilligan's ( Breaking Bad , Better Call Saul ) new show, Pluribus . Dr. Jenessa Seymour joins the pod to walk us through examples that we have studied of hive mind behavior (in the insect world), and why we can reasonably assert that you could not maintain your individuality if our brains directly communicated with each other (in the human world). Wolman, D. (2012). A tale of two halves. Nature, 483, 260-263. Split brain patient video demonstration Wittlinger, M., Wehner, R., & Wolf, H. (2006). The ant odometer: Stepping on stilts and stumps. Science, 312, 1965-1967. Penick, C.A. & Smith, A.A. (2015). The true odor of the odorous house ant. American Entomologist, 61, 85-87. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here ! Please support the show on patreon ! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

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SIO501: What Pluribus Gets Right about Neuroscience is an episode from Serious Inquiries Only by Thomas Smith.

This episode is 50:41 long.

This episode was published on Jan 7, 2026.

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