Losing Ourselves in Good TV

Ever since we watched Pluribus, we’ve been wanting to talk about it on the pod. Both of us have been wrestling with the concept of ego-death and the ultimate merging of all consciousness, and the core conceit of this show seems to tackle those very same themes. So, really, how could we not talk about it?

We get into the so-called vampire problem in philosophy, the idea of coercion vs surrender, and why that one ritual conversion scene with the little girl was so incredibly disturbing to us.

Is losing your “self” really the whole point of spirituality? Or is is just the ego? But also what is the ego? Is it even real?!

As always, don’t expect any solid answers, but if you want to take a stroll around the questions with us, come on down!

Highlights:

Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, ex-X-Files) delivers another high-concept sci-fi masterpiece
The premise
The immune few
The Buddhist/Christian tension
Nirvana as “annihilation of the drop into the ocean”
The hive mind as a character
Ritual as theater
The Vampire Problem
Coerced vs. voluntary ego death
Communism, the Law of Consecration, and how to actually make them work
Obedience vs. compliance (Deirdre Green)
AI parallels
A Pluribus plot theory about that, uh, virus
We must have a will in order to surrender it
The ego is already dying a thousand times a day
Acting, improv, and parenthood — all practices of sacrificing plans for presence
“Greater love hath no man than this…”

And in the epilogue…

Mallory in middle school
Our personal versions of hell
Happiness extraction at Disneyland

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