Collective Consciousness in the Posthuman Era: A Study of Select Science-Fiction Films Featuring Singularity

The quest for universal supremacy has been obvious since the creation of humankind with the ways in which humans have appropriated the life around them, as well as through the invention and discoveries led by humans. This quest in today’s posthuman world has put humans at risk from their own creation, artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous robots for instance. This human supremacy is being challenged by the scientific temper, leading to the technological singularity which veils the ultimate reality (eternal consciousness), a concept that lies behind all our existences leaving humans stranded in this prevailing hyperreal world. This singularity, which is hypothetical in the present times, is being debated in several mediums and gathers attention in academic inquiry opening up many a research avenue such as the relation between AI and other fields like space, communications, healthcare, robotics, medicine, humanities, and consciousness. The film industry, for one, is exploring the possibility of this notion extensively, resulting in sci-fi movies with a futuristic aspect. In such a context, this paper analyzes three sci-fi movies: Enthiran, Transcendence, and The Machine, that portray human emotions going haywire due to technological singularity. Analyzing the aforementioned sci-fi movies, the paper highlights the concept of collective consciousness in the contemporary world, by bringing about a contrast between the Western and Indic perspectives of collective consciousness. Examining the aforementioned issues from a universal, nonbinary perspective, and based on the theoretical framework of critical posthumanism, the paper finally provides a scope for transdisciplinary research in emerging technologies involving AI and its impact on human behavior and society.