There are 100 billion neurons in the human brain. There are about 7 billion people on earth- maybe not enough to make a 'brain' yet, but the levels of connectivity permeating our lives is accelerating faster than any one person can fully grasp.
The world's becoming enveloped by broadband, satellites, wi-fi, cellular communication, and all the other magical ways people are exchanging information using pulses of patterned energy. An external hive mind is now steadily increasing in connectivity and content as each moment passes.
When I was a kid in grade school, I knew there had to be a better way to learn and get new ideas than just the Encyclopedia or the Library. In the days before the emergence of the World Wide Web, though, I had no idea what that improved system could be. I just knew back then that getting information solely by looking it up in books really, really sucked.
Now, we have instantaneous information, creativity, and communication through "The Web". Although I'm satisfied with the current state of the internet & its capabilities, the march of progress continues. As technology becomes more ubiquitous and wireless, it's becoming a networked cloud, continuously sharing the collective experiences of humanity.
It seems we are becoming permanent participants in a technological mindstream. Perhaps we will soon be linked up to the hive mind via our iThink and be able to learn even the most difficult lessons instantly. Maybe one day we'll even shed physical networking systems altogether, when we discover how to tap into the Akashic Field. There is, of course, the crappier possibility that humanity will be destroyed before any of this happens.
The future of computing, networking, and how they relate to a global consciousness is something that is compelling to think about. These are links to great articles about the coming Overmind that have caught my attention so I wanted to post them:
Wired.com
"Cognitive Computing Project
Aims to Reverse-Engineer the Mind "
Kevin Kelly
"Evidence of a Global SuperOrganism"
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
"The Singularity: A Special Report"
Discover Magazine
"How Google is Making us Smarter"
Gizmondo.com
"What If the Earth
Is a Giant Alien Hard Drive?"
"Cognitive Computing Project
Aims to Reverse-Engineer the Mind "
Kevin Kelly
"Evidence of a Global SuperOrganism"
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
"The Singularity: A Special Report"
Discover Magazine
"How Google is Making us Smarter"
Gizmondo.com
"What If the Earth
Is a Giant Alien Hard Drive?"
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