A group mind, hive mind, group ego, mind coalescence, or gestalt intelligence in science fiction is a single, collective consciousness or intelligence occupying many bodies or entities. Its use in literature goes back at least as far as Olaf Stapledon's science fiction novel Last and First Men (1930).A group mind might be formed by telepathy, by adding brain-to-brain communication to ordinary individuals, or by some unspecified means. This term may be used interchangeably with "hive mind". A hive mind is a group mind with almost complete loss (or lack) of individual identity; most group minds are hives. The concept of the group or hive mind is an intelligent version of real-life superorganisms such as an ant colony or beehive.