I'd love to hear about what people are doing. I've been working solo for a while and I miss the conversation with other coders. It is a weird and exciting time to be working on code, am I right?
I've started rewatching season 1 and this pet theory I had during the first watch keeps coming up, and I feel more convinced.
I can't help but notice how Carol has a lot of personality traits you see among Americans (or any nationality) who are insulated culturally or feel threatened by cultural change. For example, when she first asks to speak to the other individuals who are not part of the hive mind, she specifically requests English speakers only. When they actually meet and she sees they are culturally diverse she becomes painfully awkward. Throughout the series she has a firm, even sanctimonious understanding of what the world ought to be. She's dismissive or hostile toward anything that doesn't fit. Her biggest fear is losing her sense of individuality and agency, her place in the world that is uniquely hers.
To be fair, a huge part of this is understandable given the very real possibility that the arrival of the hive mind is ultimately the end of humanity. I think that's one thing that makes the show so brilliant, it lets you put yourself in the shoes of someone who is confronted with cultural change that they perceive as a threat.
Over the series I went back and forth about whether the hive is actually a positive change for humanity, and it's obviously still up in the air. Season 2 could make all of this irrelevant, but its my hunch that it will continue to be unclear.
Just a little speculation to tie me over for the next season, and I'm really curious what other people have observed, or anything I might have missed one way or the other.