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Unlike bee population whereby the worker bee or scout bee feedback news through a complex domino style network to inform the rest of their community and then the queen bee(s) will still be busy shaping the population demographic otherwise it stays in-situ. This apparent intelligent isn't what I'm looking for but similar, imagine the world right now is being populated by homo collectus.

They evolved a brain unlike any other, there is only a single conscious mind shared among all the population by telepathy. This form of telepathy is a passive form of communication shared by all parties in range hence it is inevitable that separate tribes or clans would emerge until they meet, nonetheless I am wondering how could a caste system be integrated into the society and what advantages would it have to ensure their species can continue to enjoy prosperity and content in time to come?

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  • $\begingroup$ That depends mainly on what you have in mind when talking about a hive-mind. Do you want to have a single conscious mind and every homo collectus itself is just one of the bodies of this mind or do you think about a collective consciousness where every homo collectus is a mind for itself but they all are interlinked into a kind of telepathic network (your description sounds a bit like a mixture of both to me, especially 'single mind' vs 'different tribes')? Both ways are thinkable but a caste system would have to be constructed and justified much differently. $\endgroup$ – Charisturcear Jun 5 at 5:30
  • $\begingroup$ @Charisturcear: you mean a decentralised mind $\endgroup$ – user6760 Jun 5 at 5:41
  • $\begingroup$ As he didn't mention a queen-like beeing I think you are right. ^^ $\endgroup$ – Charisturcear Jun 5 at 6:06
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Specialization:

  • I hope I'm understanding your question, but a caste system in this context would simply be a set of sub-species within the collective mind with biology to carry out special functions (think the Zerg). One caste is strong and can do manual labor, another is smart and takes over much of the cognitive functions of the colony so the brain can be sequestered from harm, another has long legs and good endurance, carrying goods and messages, a fourth develops fast twitch response, hysterical strength, and a carapace to fend off non-Homo Collectus.

  • This process would mimic the specialization of cells and organs in an organism. Each has specialized functions, but all serve the common good unquestioningly.

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  • $\begingroup$ I liked how you wanted to make everybody important and equal (hive-like) and divided (caste-like) at the same time. $\endgroup$ – user6760 Jun 5 at 6:42
  • $\begingroup$ If you picture a human being as a bunch of individual cells sharing one electrochemical ‘hive mind’, then this is exactly what you see. Not only that: but one caste might be unable to function without a different caste. If your Warrior caste can’t access the Feeder caste then they die of malnutrition. If the Worker caste can’t access the Thinker caste they mill about aimlessly. Etc, etc. $\endgroup$ – Joe Bloggs Jun 5 at 7:44

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