62 pages • 2-hour read
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of religious discrimination.
Sociopolitical Context: Theocratic Movements in the US
We Are Legion depicts a future United States governed by the Free American Independent Theocratic Hegemony (FAITH), a regime born from a fundamentalist backlash against secularism. This setting reflects historical tensions between church and state in the country, drawing parallels to the rise of the Christian Right as a political force in the late 20th-century US and its offshoot movements in the 21st century. Groups like these, exemplified by organizations like Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority in the early 1980 and more recently in censorship astroturf organizations like Moms for Liberty, seek to influence legislation on social issues based on a specific religious worldview, much like the fictional FAITH. Both the real-life religious organizations and the novel’s FAITH rely on a repressive and authoritarian interpretation of Christian theology that repudiates freedoms of speech and religion (Bob is warned that his atheism is grounds for being killed), the idea of unalienable rights, and other ideals espoused by the US Constitution.
Philosophical Context: The Ship of Theseus Paradox
In the novel, the authoritarian government legally defines personhood through a theological lens. FAITH resolves complex philosophical questions of identity by declaring that cryogenically frozen individuals are “truly dead” (18) and claiming their digital consciousnesses as property without rights. This directly confronts the Ship of Theseus paradox, a thought experiment first posed by ancient Greek historian Plutarch, which questions whether an object remains the same after its components are replaced. The original puzzle asks: If Theseus replaces every piece of his vessel with a new part during a voyage, is the resulting ship the same as the one that set out?
Applied to consciousness, the paradox asks if a mind upload is the same as the person whose memories and experiences make up the artificial intelligence that has been generated. FAITH sidesteps this ambiguity by legislating an answer: Bob is not a person but a “replicant” (16), owned by the corporation that bought his brain at auction. This sociopolitical framework results in Bob’s initial powerlessness and struggle for autonomy.
The novel continues exploring the idea of identity and personhood when the Bobs begin manufacturing replicas of himself. Each new instance has a set of identical memories—those of the original human Bob—as well as unique and distinguishing personality deviations formed during the cloning process. The Bobs decide not to regard themselves as the same being; they assume new names and lean into the slight differences in personality to develop distinct identities—a different way to sidestep the complex philosophical question posed by the puzzle of The Ship of Theseus.
Scientific Context: The Science of Cryonics and Von Neumann Probes
The plot of We Are Legion is built upon extrapolations of real-world scientific and theoretical concepts, primarily cryonics, mind uploading, and Von Neumann probes. Cryonics is the practice of preserving legally deceased humans at low temperatures with the hope of future revival. Real-world organizations like the Alcor Life Extension Foundation perform such procedures, mirroring the fictional “CryoEterna Inc.” (3) with which Bob signs a contract.
The novel also envisions a future in which mind uploading, or whole brain emulation, a hypothetical process rooted in computational neuroscience, has become commonplace. The theory involves scanning a brain’s structure to create a computer simulation of that mind, which is exactly the procedure Dr. Landers describes when he tells Bob he is “a computer program that thinks it’s Robert Johansson” (16).
Finally, the novel’s central mission relies on the concept of the Von Neumann probe. Proposed by mathematician John von Neumann in the 1940s, these are self-replicating spacecraft designed for interstellar exploration. Such probes would theoretically use raw materials found in space to build copies of themselves, an idea the novel modernizes with advanced 3D printers. By grounding its futuristic plot in these speculative yet scientifically plausible ideas, the novel makes its exploration of post-human existence both credible and compelling.
Unlock all 62 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs