Episode no. Season 3
Episode 5 Written by David Shore Original air date 7 February 1997 | Directed by Joe Nimziki Production code 49 | |
"Stream of Consciousness" is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 7 February 1997, during the third season.
Contents
Introduction
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.
Plot
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.