Here is an imagining of one possible future scenario of transhumanism, a combination of organic and artificial life, the “hive mind” of The Borg from Star Trek. Obviously, this is not the only possibility, but it has been presented in a widely popular television show, so “predictive programming” suggests it is one possible end-game scenario which could result from all people being exposed to nano-particulate contamination and remote radiowave control of the nano-smart-dust we’ve been contaminated with (as described by Elana Freeland).
Picard’s first Borg contact
Picard captured by The Borg
We are The Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.
Freedom is irrelevant. Self-determination is irrelevant. Death is irrelevant.
Picard assimilated into The Borg hive mind
Picard rescued
Picard being de-programmed and un-assimilated
Picard has PTSD after recovery, must fight The Borg again years later
Summary of The Borg culture
What happens when the drive towards more advanced technology overtakes the culture it was developed to serve?
The Borg collective has a complete lack of an individual culture, with all forms of individuality snuffed out as a threat to the unity that the collective requires to function. All traces of free will are suppressed.
The minds of all drones are networked into the collective, and their networked minds are the computers that power their ships.
Their goal is assimilating into their collective network all species that offer any improvement of their biology or technology. When assimilated, an individual’s entire experience is uploaded to The Borg’s hive mind, and all data that person had becomes available to every Borg drone. They may suffer from cultural stagnation, but this form of expansion allows them to develop superior technologies.
Biology itself is bent to the designs of artificial evolution. Individuals are assimilated by introducing Borg nanites into the body, which reproduce themselves, spread like a virus, and begin to convert the biological organism into a cyborg that can accept surgical alteration with mechanical implants. Brain chemistry is re-wired to connect the individual to the Borg hive mind collective network.
The vast majority of The Borg species are drones, and there is at least one queen, who can be replaced if destroyed, because all data is stored in the hive mind. Drones come in many forms, each tailored for a specific purpose: maintenance, fabrication, ship control, computing, combat, medical, assimilation, archive.
There are no true commanders in the collective, no ranking system, no government, only the single will of the collective. The Borg ships are also decentralized, with no distinct bridge, living quarters, or engineering section.