I would be a lot more convinced by the hivemind's offer if they were actually acting like they were the combined souls of everyone on earth, but they're simply not. the first person to get infected would have just been in a hivemind of one, but her behavior changed immediately. if they were every person on earth and nothing much more, then they'd have teams seeing to every major religious ritual, they'd be speaking endangered languages, they'd be looking after pets, they'd be preserving works and sites of cultural importance, they'd be putting on plays, they'd be singing, they'd be doing things that mattered to people, they'd be doing literally anything for fun for themselves. zosia and the massage shows they still experience and appreciate pleasure, but it doesn't look like any of them do anything like that without the presence of an immune person. by the numbers the hivemind should be about a quarter muslim and a quarter christian, but I doubt any of them will be making pilgrimages to mecca or baptizing newborns. seven billion minds all brought together and somehow none of them want to pet a baby goat? not one? a widdle baby goat? no one in the plurb soup wants to pet a goat? fuck you, I know humans, we go crazy for baby animals.