Stream of Consciousness (The Outer Limits)
| "Stream of Consciousness" | |
|---|---|
| The Outer Limits episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 5 |
| Directed by | Joe Nimziki |
| Written by | David Shore |
| Production code | 49 |
| Original air date | 7 February 1997 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
George Newbern as Ryan Unger |
|
George Newbern as Ryan Unger
Suki Kaiser as Cheryl
Kate Twa as Dr. Annaud
Andrew Airlie as Dr. Kevington
Blu Mankuma as Stanley
Jennifer Sterling as Janet
Shane Meier as Mark
"Stream of Consciousness" is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 7 February 1997, during the third season.
Due to a brain injury, Ryan Unger cannot enjoy the benefits of a neural implant that allows other people to tap into The Stream — a direct connection into all human knowledge. He tries, unsuccessfully, to keep up with everyone else by using a long-forgotten skill: reading books.
Unfortunately for the human race, the Stream has been erroneously programmed to crave information instead of knowledge. Soon, it begins to turn the human race into its slaves to attempt to locate and process every single bit of information, a process that will lead to the Human race's extinction as people stop doing everything to obtain the desired information.
Ryan's injury keeps him from falling under the sway of the Stream, leaving him the only person who can stop it. The Stream will not allow itself to be shut down, however, and it commands the humans under its control to defend itself from Ryan. In the end, Ryan succeeds in shutting down the Stream and saving mankind. Cut off from the mental crutch humanity has used for so long, the entire population (save Ryan) are reduced to a childlike mental state. Ryan finds himself needing to teach mankind the old ways of acquiring information again — from books.
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