Of Heroes - Prologue & Act I Scene I

Prologue
In the movie Unbreakable, Elijah Price makes a very interesting observation. He asks David Dunn (a security guard by profession),

Why is it, do you think, that of all the professions in the world you chose protection? You could have been a tax accountant. You could have owned your own gym. You could have opened a chain of restaurants. You could've done of [sic] ten thousand things, but in the end, you chose to protect people. You made that decision, and I find that very, very interesting.

In Elijah's story, this analysis of Dunn's heroism is merely a sub-plot: a comic-book background for the showdown between Mr. Glass and the Unbreakable. Elijah highlights the contrast between plus-infinity and minus-infinity.

What I will attempt in the next few posts is a comparison between the finite and the infinite. So what is the finite? Any researcher worth his microscope will tell you that ant colonies have a 'life': an awareness greater than the sum of its parts. Individual ants can be really stupid, selfish and short-sighted, but ant colonies are pretty intelligent. In fact, ants survive because of this ability to form colonies that are wiser than just a collection.
It bears thought, that if there exists a being, that could look at the earth in the same scale, it would see humanity as another colony. Hopefully there will be enough evidence to show that humanity as a whole greater than an algebraic sum of its parts.
I will ask you to take my word for this. We are a colony. Humanity, as a collection, is a sentient being with a greater awareness than all of individual ones. I trust you won't have trouble accepting this: It is a better scenario than just being a random collection of humans. Even if you don't, let us take this forward as a hypotheses. It is neither central nor integral to my moot point. It just happens to make for a comfortable (if not comforting) analogy and has the additional advantage of dramatic effect.

As the drama unfolds, we see the action from the eyes of the sentient being. (We shall henceforth refer to this sentient being as HB. That will serve the twin purposes of being easier to type and giving me the little insider joke. More in the footnote.) Lets get straight to action. HB, as part of his/her/its research, is studying the curious and mysterious ways of the human colony. As we turn Voyeur and peer over HB's shoulder into her notebook, the drama unfolds

Act I Scene I
Human ants are mostly either soldiers or workers. the roles seem to involve specific training and characteristics, but it is quite common for roles to be interchanged. The most significant point about the human ant is its myopia. Each one follows its own path; selfishly so. Each is driven by its own testosterone and by the pheromones of those around it. Each seems to be aware of its own individual little goals. Each is awake to its own individual little knowledge. The colony survives on the back of an incredible amount of knowledge gained as a community and neatly warehoused for future reference. The colony also survives on little green pieces of paper (reference: The inaptly-named trilogy by Douglas Noel Adams). The colony itself has a greater awareness. The evidence of the recent financial crisis showcases both the myopia and the selfish short-term interest of individual ants or groups of ants.


Preview to the next episode: Alarums. Hero approaching...

Footnote: HB is a tribute to the one person in whom I have seen the qualities that makes me believe that Nietzsche's Übermensch is not an idle dream. It is but one of life's little ironies that my vision of a personified Overman is indeed that of a woman. 'twas but natural that my sentient being should be an Overman. I apologize to the lady in question for any slight on my behalf, whether insinuated or explicitly stated.

Disclaimer: All resemblances with Asimov's 'I Robot' are but a natural consequence of the theme.