The Internet: A Living, Breathing Entity

Jan 2
22:32

2024

Paul Siegel

Paul Siegel

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The Internet is not merely a tool for information exchange, a library for reading, a playground for gaming, a beach for surfing, a platform for chatting, or a marketplace for shopping. It is a dynamic, thriving, chaotic, growing, and learning organism. It is a global society, a living entity with a skeleton, a circulatory system, a nervous system, and organs.

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The Internet's Skeleton: A Framework for Communication

The skeleton of the Internet is not made up of physical components like wires,The Internet: A Living, Breathing Entity Articles cables, modems, and computers. Instead, it is a broad system for the communication of ideas. This mental skeleton supports the Internet, providing a structure upon which a circulatory system, a nervous system, and various organs are placed, creating a living, expansive, global entity.

The Internet's Circulatory System: A Network of Ideas

Unlike humans who have a single heart, the Internet has millions of pumps, each Internet site acting as a pump. While the human heart pushes blood to deliver oxygen to the body's organs, each Internet pump pulls people to it with ideas. The Internet is alive, and ideas are its lifeblood.

The Internet's Nervous System: A Web of Choices

The Internet's nervous system is akin to the human nervous system, but it works with people rather than neurons. Just as neurons receive signals from other neurons and vote in favor of an action when the sum of the signals exceeds a certain threshold, people on the Internet make choices with their browsers and other software. User actions determine what happens on the Internet, making people its masters.

The Internet's Organs: Intellectual and Evolving

The organs of the Internet are intellectual. They have been developing in phases since the 1960s, starting with the technological phase when ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, was developed by the Defense Department's Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA). The business organ began developing in the early 1990s and has been growing rapidly since the Internet was privatized in 1995. The social, political, and cultural organs are also developing, offering support groups, art shows, concerts, and voting platforms. The Internet is a network for learning.

The Internet as a Global Society

The Internet is not just a living organism; it is a living society comprised of people who form networks to make choices and learn. The Internet is a network for the flow of ideas, not just information. Ideas flow through the Internet in unpredictable ways, brushing against each other, merging, and colliding to produce sparks that may lead to brilliant breakthroughs.

People on the Internet are autonomous individuals who can act, react, and interact. They can initiate actions, respond to others' actions, and participate in exchanges. This autonomy and power to choose sets the Internet apart from other media like TV, making it a powerful tool in the hands of its users. The Internet is alive, and it places power in people.