This is about trans folks ain't it
It's about technological advancement and its augmentation of the human condition (think social media, phones, and the internet). There are people who resist these changes, often mislabelled as 'luddites' (the Luddites of the 19th century specifically opposed automation for its threat to jobs, but were reprehensive of all technology as a part of that).
This meme is just taking those who berate Luddites to their ultimate conclusion, which is a hive mind where all personal autonomy is lost, and it could be argued they cease to exist as a distinct individual. The flesh part of it is merely a means of making it more grotesque.
The problem with that whole concept is that it is often criticized by going the other way, i.e. that everything old is better, when in reality neither everything new nor everything old is great and change has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
IDK, the first thing that came to my mind was an SCP where everyone started mushing into other people and making giant blobs because the sun (?) went crazy.
SCP-001 When Day Breaks. Fucked me up for weeks. 10/10 excellent story.
It's 4chan. When it's not transphobia, it's racism.
I thought it was pretty obviously about the internet itself
Babies need to be inserted from birth? So people are still made the conventional way or does the nexus poop out babies and we need some people outside the nexus to throw them back in? Anon should try get on with nexus maintenance if he doesn't want to join.
get in the flex neshus, shinji
That's basically the plot of EoE anyway.
When Day Breaks.
Ah! That's the name of the SCP short story right?
Basically exactly the plot to SOMA
Is that an anime? I'm interested. I could Google it but I won't so don't leave me hanging.
SOMA is a horror game/walking simulator (depends on the critic) about a man who has his brain scanned as he is dying of brain bleeding caused by a car accident months prior. By having his brain scanned, it actually copies his consciousness, and he ends up transported to a far flung apocalyptic future.
I don't want to spoil too much, it's an amazing game with fantastic dives into rather dense and challenging ethical and philosophical questions. My reference to this post was about the fact that, in the future, an artificial intelligence fashioned a sort of "flesh nexus"—the AI was given the sole task of preserving human life, and in its reasoning, if a person is dying, they can be converted into something different that will live on indefinitely.
PLEASE, either go play the game (it's not extremely long) or watch a good let's play.
idk it kinda looks cozy in there
Is there something behind this premise? I’m noticing it more and more lately, between Elden ring, ender lilies, assorted flesh and/or consciousness blobs in D&D, fullmetal alchemist, etc.. Have there always been stories about horrific amalgamations of humanity pulled together in a state between malignant rage and maddening existential horror? Or is this a recent thought?
I believe it's just a view of humanity eventually evolving towards a hive mind that's a single consciousness.
It's not really new. The concept exists in sci fi. First case seems to be in 'The Human Termites' in David H. Keller's 1929 'Wonder Stories' (according to Wikipedia). The specific idea of the flesh nexus is mostly just an evolution of that.
All things considered, that’s incredibly recent. It’s essentially modern folklore, and that’s absolutely fascinating to me. Thank you!
Some more examples of the trope: the antagonists of the Scholomance books, and of The Interface Series
Join us in the great link, Odo.
