Every major developmental change of the
internet has mimicked the functional capabilities and characteristics of our own brains.
The exponential growth of the web reflects the phenomenal learning capacity of our minds.
We are in fact creating the Electronic Mind of Earth itself.
No one computer can accomplish what hundreds of computers can do when linked. This was the idea that created the concept of networking to begin with. A network within a specific company for instance, increases your computing power greatly, but by linking individual networks over a larger network or internet, that power becomes massive. Functionally, computers are great - better than our own minds - at speedy mathematical calculations, yet they have difficulty recognizing the difference between an apple and an orange. Pattern recognition and differentiation have not been a computer's strong suit. By linking our computers via the internet, we can begin to essentially form the neural network that scientists researching artificial life have envisioned, in a new and unexpected way. The same way neurons are linked by fibers in our minds, fiber optics are the acetycholine of the planetary brain.
The internet bears all the same developmental properties of our own minds. It's basic structural, literal, text based functionality developed first. It's more primal & sexual side (hence, internet porn) developed second. As in our own developmental growth as children, the infantile impetus to destroy (in the form of viruses, hate-oriented web sites, etc.) has also developed. As children, the will to destroy precedes the creative act. With perseverance, this creative impulse will far outstrip our more destructive behavior, but it will require care. Censorship and overt governmental control are NOT the answer. In this, we're going to have to actually behave like the adults we claim to be, and manage ourselves responsibly. Obviously this is a major challenge, and one that I hope we're up to.
The saving grace of the internet is its shear connectivity. Throughout history our individual societies have placed importance on different areas of life. In the West, the focus of development has been on the physical and technological, or that which can be proven using the scientific method. In the East, attention has been placed on that which cannot necessarily be seen, but can definitely be felt and intuited, namely, our more spiritual and emotional nature. These two sides have been at odds during our history, partially because they have had no real freedom to communicate and reconcile these two halves of the same coin. It would be as if the two hemispheres of our brain were cut off from each other. Previously, national borders, ideologies, and distance have contributed to this divide. The internet bridges this gap. Borders and other national restrictions are irrelevant and we are limited only by the speed of our connection. This is the real thing that scares governments. Internet porn is not their real concern, but their inability to control us in this medium is. The will to power is the greatest threat to all the potential the internet possesses.
The internet represents a paradigm shift and more. It has been said that life was created so that the universe might see, and begin to realize, itself and it's essential nature. Ending nationalistic thinking and uniting our Earth is a part of that process. The first revelation of this fact came during the Apollo missions when we first saw images of our planet from space. The sight of our small blue planet amidst that enormous black void was a wake-up call to end our petty bickering and begin to grow up. The internet contributes to that process by creating the Electronic Mind of Earth.
