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Humanity is in the early stages of the most significant evolution in its history: learning to think as a species.
This is the linking of human minds, values, information and solutions at lightspeed and in real time around the planet, via the internet and social media, says science writer Julian Cribb.
Global thought is opening the way to solve some of humanity's greatest threats – including climate change, famine, global poisoning, weapons of mass destruction, environmental collapse, resource scarcity and overpopulation, says Mr Cribb, who is the author of 'Surviving the 21st Century' (Springer 2017), a new book describing the ten mega-threats and what can be done about them.
"Thanks to the internet and social media, people are for the first time communicating across the barriers of language, race, nationality, religion, region and gender. While the internet contains much rubbish and malignance, it also contains huge amounts of goodwill, trustworthy science-based advice, practical solutions to problems – and people joining hands in good causes."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @02:58AM (1 child)
Regardless, we are destroying the planet in the process.
The fact that we can coordinate the destruction of entire ecosystems with our information means that the checks-and-balance functions of nature will be held off until it is far, far too late.
We will kill ourselves off precisely because we are very, very good at communicating across distance. And our downfall will be the very Will to Life embedded by Nature within us.
But, alas, that is the nature of Nature. Equal and opposite reactions.
What's more, I would argue, is that this is actually a misnomer that we are "thinking as a species." If you've been berated on social media for your opinion, you know the effect that morality and ethics plays in communication, and have suffered under the bludgeon of morality. Whoever has the biggest psychological stick will provide the direction for society to travel. Whether that bludgeon is ecology or the Quran, it informs what and how we do things. We are not really "rational" by any measure of the word because we primarily act when we are moved to do something, not necessarily when we know it is the right choice. If enough people call me a Nazi and throw eggs at my house, I might just stop disagreeing with them and go along with the flow because it is too painful as an individual to do so (Truth is a function of power and so on).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @04:28AM
I would compare the situation with the internet as opposed to the situation without the internet.
The morality and 'wrongthink' police are a great example. Social pressures, repeated by dominant media sources, used to have a near mind controlling level of capacity. But I think the internet is changing things. Trump and Sanders wouldn't have gotten a fraction of the vote in years before the internet. Concentrated media attacks against them paired with social labeling of their supporters would have been a death sentence to their support. Yet Sanders nearly won and Trump is now president. I think this pattern of the people picking the winners instead of the media and establishment powers is going to be something increasingly common.
People being able to attack others who's views they disagree with is easier than ever, yet those attacks are simultaneously more meaningless than ever.