Spike wrote:
[snipped "this"]
> Just one short anecdote on this. I had never heard of the web when
> one of my coworkers showed me a web browser [1992]. He said one
> merely typed in keywords that one is interested in, and the crawler
> finds a website that contains those keywords. So I typed in
> rockets and helicopters and jets. Immediately up came a news
> story that was then only an hour old: American fighter jets had fired
> rockets and downed two helicopters over the Iraqi no-fly zone
> carrying American diplomats.
>
> So, that was extremely depressing, but we immediately realized that
> this web business changes everything. And it has, no? This was an
> incredibly powerful technology that *just showed up* one day. I
> dont recall any sci-fi stories that anticipated the web. Anyone?
> I suspect that many future technologies that will change everything
> will be more like the web than flying cars. spike
>
I just had an interesting though re: WWW and extropians. The web has
pervaded all of our lives, obviously (love that word), evidenced by the very
fact that we are communicating on this list. Also, many people on this list
denounce collectivism (definition of libertarian?), and in predictions of
FutureTech(tm), favour individualist technologies with some high bandwidth
but loosely coupled architecture (does this even make sense?).
I have noticed people talk about how the web has made users functionally more intelligent. A person with a web-enabled PC can do far better on many IQ tests than one without (eg: Mega test?). I find personally that I am increasingly dependant on this new-fangled technology, not just for work but for normal life. I don't think this is uncommon amongst netizens.
Where does this new found knowledge come from? Other people is the short answer. We are connected to lots of other individuals in an increasingly closeknit manner. Lots of people contribute, lots of people benefit.
If you're not convinced, imagine that the whole box and dice could be whisked away tommorrow. We keep the computers, but lose the networking (maybe except for expensive WANs and most LANs). How's that going to affect you? How's that going to affect people and orgs close to you. How's that going to affect the world?
We are Borg (and that includes you, Mike).
Emlyn