I really like this one! It is an idea we see frequently in the writing of all sorts...but it is good to verbalize it in this way, and remind ourselves as DMs. The Collective might seem like it has a "mind of its own"...but it is just an emergent property of just that ..a collective of individual minds with aligned ideas. There are different types of collectives, as you've mentioned, and although the main point here is to place the individual in a situation where they need to challenge those ideas, their beliefs...i think there is a deeper philosophy here. The point stays the same, but the scale and flavor of the challenge might come from the type of the collective....An individual with a "rotten" idea that spreads like a virus, might destroy a collective...but even if a certain collective is considered bad in the world we are talking about...is its destruction really good for any of the individuals who might not even be directly responsible for its wrongdoing? The idea of "The Individual vs The Collective" inspires so many ideas! Good one really! Love the example story :)
Thanks for the note, @BarlowKeep - glad you liked this one. Your point about the type of the collective and how the individuals within it are impacted by what happens to it brings up all kinds of ideas. For example, what happens when a character has that "wait, am I one of the baddies?" moments.
