Intelligence in the Internet age

An article called 'Intelligence in the Internet age', and published in the New York Times today (19/09/05), asks the question: Do innovations and new technologies make us more intelligent?

The article revolves around the question of whether technology decreases our memory capacity as we rely on computers and technology to become our external brains. One answer to that is given as:

'It's true we don't remember anything anymore, but we don't need to...We might one day sit around and reminisce about having to remember phone numbers, but it's not a bad thing. It frees us up to think about other things. The brain has a limited capacity, if you give it high-level tools, it will work on high-level problems'.

This is a debate that goes as far back as Plato's 'Republic' in which Thales discusses whether the art of writing will cause people to stop using their memories/minds. Yet with increased access to information, is there another function behind this directionality. I feel there is. And it's down to field theory.

The species-mind is inherently connected, although on a sub-atomic wave level and not in a physical sense. We often have ideas that are simultaneously shared with our friends or associates. Minds in close contact/proximity entangle together and share thought-forms. The species-mind is moving toward being awakened - our collective conscience - yet we require triggers, stimuli, in order to activate latent neuro-biological processes. If increased access to information is available, and ubiquitous connectivity allows not only a rapid sharing of information, but a simultaneous timeframe for emotional and cognitive responses, we have the potential to 'lock-on' to a shared mind that is able to resonate at a greater frequency if there are similar resonances around the globe. We can all trigger each other - like neurons in a global brain.

"The key thing about all the world's big problems is that they have to be dealt with collectively...If we don't get collectively smarter, we're doomed." (Doug Engelbart)

Have you noticed recently how many more people/friends around you are understanding similar ideas and feeling about the state we are in?

collective intelligence