'Pluribus,' Psychedelics, and AI: Is Individuality Disappearing?

In Eastern mysticism, the renunciation of the self and unity with the world are considered the secret to true happiness. The Iranian poet Hafez said:

Between the lover and the beloved, there is no barrier.

You yourself are your own veil, Hafez, step out of the way

Buddhists believe that the self is not a real entity, and suffering arises from attachment to the self. There is a strange symbolic teaching in Zen Buddhism that says, "If you see the Buddha, kill him." This means that when the mind constructs a concept of a transcendent being, even the holiest one, it hinders the ability to see the truth. In Vipassana meditation practice, it is recommended to make unbiased observations of feelings, thoughts, and perceptions to find that they are not the “self” but, rather, incidental. In these practices, the ego is destroyed by looking, not by suppressing. Likewise, Taoism teaches that problems arise when the ego interferes in matters.[1]

The series "Pluribus" opens with a premise that serves as a stark thought experiment: A decoded extraterrestrial signal, revealed to be a DNA sequence, is synthesized into a virus-like agent. Upon its accidental release, it infects all of humanity. Those affected emerge from a brief seizure seemingly unharmed, but stripped of their individual identities, tastes, and desires. They merge into a single collective consciousness where memories, thoughts, and skills are shared universally; one person can simultaneously be a pilot, a surgeon, and an engineer. While hundreds of millions perish, a handful of immune individuals remain. Paradoxically, this hive mind appears utterly peaceful: It lies not, kills not, and possesses nothing. However, it insists that survivors become similar to themselves.

Psychedelics and Temporary Ego Dissolution

This fictional wiping out of the self has a strange but brief parallel in the real world: psychedelic drugs. Psychedelics create a similar experience; they soften the edges of who we feel we are, shake up our sense of self, and often lead to what’s called “ego dissolution.” This is no accident. Throughout history, substances like psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, ayahuasca, and ibogaine have been used in rituals exactly to bring about these states.

But here is the real question: Is permanently losing your "self" and your "individuality" actually a good thing? Can it even lead to a healthy, happy life? Works like "Pluribus" are extreme thought experiments, but they touch on something important: Getting rid of individuality altogether might not bring happiness at all.

It is a common misunderstanding to think that Eastern spiritual traditions want to destroy the self entirely. In Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sufism, the goal is not to erase your ability to act or make choices; it is to loosen your tight grip on the story you tell about yourself. Concepts like anatta or fana are about detaching from the ego, not losing your ability to decide, take responsibility, or regulate yourself. And importantly, these traditions always include a return, a coming back to yourself, renewed and reintegrated.

Psychedelics work similarly. Drugs like psilocybin and LSD quiet the brain’s default mode network, the part that maintains our sense of self. This temporarily blurs the line between “me” and “the world.” But these experiences are short-lived disruptions, not permanent states. When the loss of self becomes long-term, as in chronic depersonalization, it leads to emptiness, loss of meaning, and poor functioning.[2]

Ancient cultures knew this well. Psychedelics were used within strict rituals, with preparation, guidance, and time to process afterward. They were tools, not a way of life. Today, some people romanticize the idea of a permanent “ego death,” but that ignores both science and history. "Pluribus," though exaggerated, points to a real danger: A world without individuality might have no conflict, but it would also have no agency, no values, and no meaning. Happiness does not come from everyone being the same; it comes from diversity, from trying and sometimes failing, from acting with purpose, and from having a future to look forward to. A world without selves is not a paradise; it is more like nothing matters at all.

Artificial Intelligence and Long-Term Effects on Individuality

Yet even the deepest psychedelic journey is temporary. You come back—changed, perhaps—to a world where you can still think for yourself and where different perspectives exist. The threat to individuality today is more lasting and more hidden. It does not come from a drug, but from something that promises to make life easier and more efficient: artificial intelligence (AI). While psychedelics temporarily melt the self, AI could erase it for good, not by dissolving it, but by making us all think the same.

It is unclear whether the writers of "Pluribus" intended the same meaning; however, a more plausible contemporary threat to individuality is not mysticism or psychedelics. Despite the significant benefits of AI in providing access to information, its recommendation algorithms that insulate users from error, friction, and genuine cognitive struggle may gradually create a homogenization in opinions, beliefs, and thoughts, nudging large populations toward similar patterns of reasoning and intellectual shortcuts.[3] Unlike psychedelic ego dissolution, which is transient and often destabilizing, AI-mediated cognition is persistent, subtle, and normalizing. For this reason, it may pose a far more serious long-term threat to individuality, creative deviation, and the productive role of being wrong.

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It quickly shapes human minds, diminishes their capacity for argument, and makes them more alike. There is no need to physically connect all individual brains to form a global consciousness; a common information system that is freely accessible can easily connect them as a global consciousness. If AI conquers our minds, similar to dependency on psychedelic substances, individuality may be destroyed forever.