The Global Collective Consciousness

In 1994, Danny Hillis gave a TED talk centered on the idea that human beings were embarking on a rapid, computer-enabled stage of their evolution, where change was happening at an exponential rate. What he couldn't pinpoint, however, was the final destination of that change.



Fast-forward 18 years later, and the end-state of this stage of our evolution has become a little clearer. Robert Tercek touches on it nicely:



Specifically, in the last year or so, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit have begun to demonstrate that they are incredible tools for enabling the global collective consciousness. A protest in Egypt is no longer a story told on the BBC that you pick up on your shortwave radio. The story is instead told in real-time by the protesters themselves, with videos, pictures, and words. The mainstream media has also begun using social media as its primary reporting tool (and making itself redundant in the process). More recently, the SOPA fiasco showed the US government that it can no longer pass laws in the shadows of secure government buildings where previously only hand-picked media puppets could "report" on the comings and goings of elected officials. The global collective consciousness is demanding transparency and accountability, and world governments are beginning to take it seriously.

Don't let stories of social media "addiction" shame you into stepping away from your computer. There's nothing wrong with fulfilling a desire to be part of something bigger than yourself. The fact that you realize this, either consciously or unconsciously, simply means that you're evolving with your fellow humans to the next chapter in our story. Whether this will all lead to borders falling, poverty disappearing, and some sort of Star Trek utopia remains to be seen, but we're certainly headed in the right direction.

Posted in: Danny Hillis,global collective consciousness,Robert Tercek,TED