Just came across this:
http://www.internetlivestats.com/
The amount of STUFF is almost incomprehensible.
The image it evokes is an endless stream of consciousness constantly expressing itself in an infinite number of ways.
Two things in my mind after seeing this:
Thing One
The noosphere. I’m not sure if its accurate to say that the internet is the noosphere, but rather that the internet is digitizing part of the noosphere which is already present. If you aren’t familiar with the noosphere, here’s a Miriam Webster definition:the sphere of human consciousness and mental activity especially in regard to its influence on the biosphere and in relation to evolution Etymology — noo-mind (from Greek noos, nous) + sphere I first came learned about the noosphere from Teilhard de Chardin’s The Phenomenon of Man. If you are interested in this so far, maybe check it out.
Thing Two
The other thing that comes up is its relation to the mayakoshas. The koshas are the shells covering the Atman. I don’t think the mayakosha framework has to be limited to a human being perspective. It makes sense that the Earth itself has them too.In this case if we are going to make the internet-kosha relation, it must have to do with a piece of our planet’s Manomayakosha. I say one piece because other species stuff isn’t included, nor is too much data from our motor organs (all that is coming soon though). Definition for Manomayakosha:
the mental and emotional sheath which also is included in the sukshma sharira (subtle body). Manomaya means composed of manas or mind. The manas (thought, will, wish) along with the five subtle sensory organs is said to constitute the manomaya kosha. The instinctive-intellectual sheath of ordinary thought, desire and emotion. It is the seat of the indriyas, sensory and motor organs, respectively called jnanendriyas and karmendriyas. The manomaya kosha takes form as the physical body develops and is discarded in the inner worlds before rebirth. It is understood in two layers: 1) the buddhi and 2) the manas. The manomaya kosha, is said more truly to approximate to personhood than annamaya kosha and pranamaya kosha. It is the cause of diversity, of I and mine. —from veda.wikidot.com
I then came across a blog called 3rdkosha.com, which doesn’t have too much activity, but gave me some hope for my hypothesis.Conclusion (for now)
These two (and I’m sure a bunch of other) frameworks shed a very cool light on what the internet actually is. As we start to learn more about our-self through data, we can evolve in ways which were not as apparent before.