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ICANNWiki:"Philosophy" essay by Marc Perkel (view source)
Revision as of 19:32, 26 August 2013
, 11 years ago→What is the Internet?
What is the Internet really? Is it just a bunch of computers connected together? Is it a toy to be played with? Is it a passing fad? Because it just sort of evolved out of nowhere it seems that we don't appreciate it. It's kind of counter intuitive that something that's really big and important "just happened" without anyone realizing the magnitude of something that spontaneously occurred. We went from a system that hardly existed 20 years ago to something that is so vital to humanity that if you turned the Internet off millions of people would likely die. These days everything is controlled over the Internet. It is central to humanity. And it all formed without a plan, without anyone in charge, and without a government.
What is the Internet really? Is it just a bunch of computers connected together? Is it a toy to be played with? Is it a passing fad? Because it just sort of evolved out of nowhere it seems that we don't appreciate it. It's kind of counter intuitive that something that's really big and important "just happened" without anyone realizing the magnitude of something that spontaneously occurred. We went from a system that hardly existed 20 years ago to something that is so vital to humanity that if you turned the Internet off millions of people would likely die. These days everything is controlled over the Internet. It is central to humanity. And it all formed without a plan, without anyone in charge, and without a government.
Like what is happening in computer memory and processing power the Internet is expanding exponentially. The power of computers increases allowing computers to do more things and server more people. The infrastructure expands and more fiber is laid, more satellites launched, more data centers built. The expansion of capacity and the extension of reach and the lowering of cost allow for more and more of the human population to participate in the network.
Some day soon humanity and the Internet will be as inseparable as bees are to the hive. In reality, although we are individuals humans are more socially interdependent than bees are. As the Internet expands the Internet becomes an extension of who we are. It is a common mind that we all share. When I write this article my thought are instantly in front of the whole world within milliseconds after I click on "Save". Once out there other minds can evaluate these ideas, test them, and improve upon them.