You Say You Want An Evolution? - Ryan John

Start an evolution.

Imagine a company that is able to sell all the material you’ve ever put in e-mail or Google, blogged or commented in response to someone else’s blog, posted on MySpace, Facebook, dating sites, or special interest groups, weird chat forums, or whatever Internet site you frequent. Imagine that one or more companies owned the rights to all that information for nearly everyone in the country. Let’s say that for a fee, they might sell it to anyone interested in viewing all that content, for whatever reason. Would there be a market if a company could do so? Probably. Needless to say, we’d be totally exposed and things we thought were personal would suddenly be available to anyone willing to pay to see them.

How would this come about, you ask? If cyberspace threats continue to mount, the government will eventually control all Internet content by way of security intervention. Already, the National Security Agency is investing $100 million in a program called “Perfect Citizen” to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies that run such critical infrastructure. It makes sense to start with the energy and utility companies that control our infrastructure, but it will eventually lead to an increasing number of private companies relinquishing control, all in the name of patriotism and national security. If there is one thing that both sides can agree on, it’s that the government should control national security. Soon the government will encourage companies to encourage their access, ultimately leading to almost universal government control in the public and private sectors.

There are theorists who believe we are advancing in technology to create one giant brain-like, super-organism amongst all human beings webbed through the Internet. It is, after all, a “world-wide web.” Although individuals may have a hard time recognizing this hyper-interconnectivity as it’s happening, someone from the outside -- say, outer space -- can certainly perceive the evidence if our connectivity is observed on a macro level. Perhaps it’s the intelligent next phase of the evolutionary process.

There is a strong argument to be made that Internet activity encourages a short attention span, which could arguably lead loss of concentration, which is ultimately bad for the individual. I would say that’s probably true. However, the Internet undoubtedly collects and connects group thought which is ultimately good for the birth and sustainability of group consciousness. Sure, the average visit for two hundred people a week to americancurrents.com might be less than a minute, but we represent a minute fragment of the technological consciousness, considering all that is out there. Perhaps through the cognitive convergence in technology, we’re creating an environment where honest communication amongst humans is almost forced. Joe Rogan is the guy who introduced me to this concept, and I’m finding that it is shared by others, including Kevin Kelly, who wrote the book What Technology Wants. Both predict a very slow, yet inevitable collective dependence.

So beware of what we’re doing out there.  I know we’re mostly all pretty normal, but how comfortable would we be if all our technological communication were made public for anyone to read? If you say pretty comfortable, you’re leading the evolution.

A company that could make it all known, however, will probably get those who are currently lagging behind, up to speed.