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Systems: Shi Civilization Intro
On a planet far away, refugees from a doom Solar System filled with various different people and species landed and formed their own civilizations. one of these communities is the Shi.
The Shi are a very odd people, even on this new world. Where most people are content living on the surface of the planet, this arrangement doesn't work for the Shi in general. Most of the nation's population lives in cities built almost entirely underground with a network of tunnels to connect the cities to one another. Many members of the Shi may spend their entire lives never seeing what the surface or the sky of the planet looks like.
Another interesting thing about the citizens of this nation is their way of conducting themselves. Through a combination of unique genetic mutation and biological technology, the Shi have been able to form a hive mind. This collective mind allows members of the Shi to act in unison when performing group-based activities & have a united
consciousness with more knowledge that what any individual mind can possibly contain.
Unlike many hive minds in speculative fiction, the Shi aren't required to be part of this hive mind all the time to be fully functional. Certain members of the population choose to leave the collective consciousness at certain parts of their life and exist as individuals, free to live how they see fit and form their own unique identity. However, overtime, many Shi denizens who live as their own people choose to return to the larger hive mind of their own free will later in life. Even the hive mind itself will allow people to act independently during moments of extreme danger.
The Shi see collectivism and utilitarianism as the main ethics to live by. Doing things for the benefit of the collective instead of one's own benefit is considered to be the best way to live. Most artwork the Shi produces is based on a combination of realism and depictions of living beings working together in harmony, with works displaying fantastical elements or only a single individual being rare. We can see more from the Shi, both the collective and its individual members, in the future...
© Tyler W. McFadden
The Shi are a very odd people, even on this new world. Where most people are content living on the surface of the planet, this arrangement doesn't work for the Shi in general. Most of the nation's population lives in cities built almost entirely underground with a network of tunnels to connect the cities to one another. Many members of the Shi may spend their entire lives never seeing what the surface or the sky of the planet looks like.
Another interesting thing about the citizens of this nation is their way of conducting themselves. Through a combination of unique genetic mutation and biological technology, the Shi have been able to form a hive mind. This collective mind allows members of the Shi to act in unison when performing group-based activities & have a united
consciousness with more knowledge that what any individual mind can possibly contain.
Unlike many hive minds in speculative fiction, the Shi aren't required to be part of this hive mind all the time to be fully functional. Certain members of the population choose to leave the collective consciousness at certain parts of their life and exist as individuals, free to live how they see fit and form their own unique identity. However, overtime, many Shi denizens who live as their own people choose to return to the larger hive mind of their own free will later in life. Even the hive mind itself will allow people to act independently during moments of extreme danger.
The Shi see collectivism and utilitarianism as the main ethics to live by. Doing things for the benefit of the collective instead of one's own benefit is considered to be the best way to live. Most artwork the Shi produces is based on a combination of realism and depictions of living beings working together in harmony, with works displaying fantastical elements or only a single individual being rare. We can see more from the Shi, both the collective and its individual members, in the future...
© Tyler W. McFadden
