Warning - overly dramatic post with too much html approaching :
The internet is, methinks, one gigantic machine-human group mind
There are many computers involved in it and it's internal communication and processing come in a wide range of types
From private interaction via email/IM to web apps - privately shared & published to Social Sharing Sites (incl Blogs, Twitter, Digg, del.icio.us)
The Machine now understands aesthetics as we collate and share content we find pleasing (eg Daily Dose of Imagery) and we benefit as parts of that machine by having access to this information for
And here's a practical example
- imma
It certainly works as a metaphor (as for metaphors one only needs an idea, and not necessarily an accurate one at that). To be more than that however, you'd have to define what a "mind" actually is...and thence to muddy waters that the greatest scientists and philosophers of all time have floundered in.
ReplyDeleteOf course, one could define a "mind" as a self-organising network of information that interacts with itself, and generates new information and new processes for dealing with information. But as that begs the question of "Is the internet a mind?" it probably renders it a lot less profound.
Not that I understand philosophy anyway.
I'll shut up now. :)