The Human Hive Mind
Are we really meant to live in the cloud? Maybe not but here’s how it can help life back on Earth.
Essentially Infinite Opportunities
It’s no secret that the internet has transformed our world on a fundamental level. Information is available at the speed of now and we are more “connected” than ever.
In their lifetime, my parents were able to witness this technological revolution. They went from having to lug around heavy books to googling like the rest of us.
Now my dad, a CNC programmer, watches YouTube tutorials to stay up to date on industry best practices and techniques. The internet has fueled his ambition by offering free, high quality resources and is largely responsible for his development as a programmer. He saw a need to be filled and he adapted himself to fit that need.
Constant learning has enabled him to stay relevant and employable. Often times he is the only person who knows to solve the problem at hand and most times he does the work of two or three people.
The Hive Mind
Never before have we had instant access to anything except our own thoughts.
The network effect has had a remarkable impact on our human experience. People from across the globe can collaborate at the speed of light. They can engage in movements they otherwise would never encounter, meet people they wouldn’t think of talking to, and can learn about anything imaginable.
Remote learning is simply a continuation of this trend. If recent history tells us anything we will continue this path far into the future. Many more staples of “real life” will turn digital. We will continue to increase our reliance on the virtual world until at last we are sucked into a digital “utopia.”
This may seem like a far away fantasy but it isn’t really. Social distancing has already primed us for a life online. There might be those among us who choose to abstain and that’s perfectly fine.
Despite these efforts however, this decreasing minority will in some way or another end up online. Even if they don’t choose to participate they will find that they are represented by a series of data points in either private or government databases.
In this world we exist as a limitless array of nodes. Each person, or user, is but a speck in this massive hive mind.
As more and more of our world is digitized so too the common functions that run our world. Favorite pastimes like paying taxes or registering a car are already digitized. It’s only a matter of time before our entire personal history is online. Paper trails will, and already are, being replaced by a collection of 1s and 0s.
Raised on the Internet
As far as I’m concerned, the internet has shaped my life in ways I can’t fully articulate in a single post. By learning to use a computer at eight years old you could assume I was raised here (and rightly so).
Back then the web was markedly different than it is today. Not everything was as known as it is today. Instead it was still the sort of wacky, weird, arcane place that it was in the 90s. It’s full force would not be felt by the wider public until after the release of the iPhone in 2007.
This is when everything changed. In less than a decade intense competition led to easy, affordable access to the web. It seemed as if though democracy had finally reached the masses.
Fast-forward to today and the internet connotates a completely different image. To many, it may no longer seem like that magical place of infinite possibilities. Rather it is fast becoming a scapegoat for society’s problems. These criticisms surely have their merits but I maintain that it can’t all be attributed to a single source.
The internet exacerbates, not causes, these problems.
Yes the internet was built by humans and is therefore subject to bias but no the internet does not (yet) have a mind of it’s own. These systems are not cognizant. They are merely working off the definitions we gave them. The algorithms they run on, intelligent or not, are our doing.
It is definitely a balancing act to be sure.
To much of a good thing isn’t a good thing at all.
Main Takeaway
If there’s anything I wish for you to remember it’s this: the Internet is a tool like any other technology before it and it can be used however we deem fit.
It can be used to extract the maximum amount of revenue from addicted users or it can be a fun, exciting place to share our creative pursuits.
It can be a rabbit hole into extreme ideologies or it can be a microscope with which to closely examine the world.
It can be a catalyst for mass unrest or it can be a tool to climb to socioeconomic ladder.
Every click is a choice, a vote, for the future we wish to build.
Every day you decide.
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Inspirations
This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered Legal Advice. Please consult a professional before making any major decisions.
