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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