# is the internet the beginning of the collective conciousness? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-internet-the-beginning-of-the-collective-conciousness/325131 "2005-10-07T01:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-internet-the-beginning-of-the-collective-conciousness/325131/1 "2005-10-07T01:46:32Z")
Depending on how you define collective conciousness, it seems as though the internet, as it is now, is the start of it, it stores information that we can all search and parse through, then directly comment on and essentially alter in real time. Is it becoming our collective memory (except when all my posts get deleted…GRRR!) ? I mean…how close are we to becoming the borg? ---
**Author:** ![SomeGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SomeGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-internet-the-beginning-of-the-collective-conciousness/325131/2 "2005-10-07T02:04:15Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-internet-the-beginning-of-the-collective-conciousness/325131/3 "2005-10-07T02:11:29Z")
As our guest said, the correct answer is that humans are still humans just with better tools. If you want a longer answer, almost this exact question was just posed in GQ two days ago but moved to IMHO since there can be no factual answer. > **[Is the Internet going to "come Alive" soon?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338204)** > > Howdy! Several nights ago the host of Coast to Coast AM, George Noory, was interviewing a guest (whose name I forget) and the fellow referenced a magazine article that was written a couple of years ago by a guy (whose name I forget) in which he... ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-internet-the-beginning-of-the-collective-conciousness/325131/4 "2005-10-07T02:52:08Z")
Before you define “collective consciousness”, it helps to define consciousness. Without that we can’t answer the question, since there are lots of ideas about how to do so that haven’t been proven. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-internet-the-beginning-of-the-collective-conciousness/325131/5 "2005-10-07T13:33:13Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > Depending on how you define collective conciousness, it seems as though the internet, as it is now, is the start of it, it stores information that we can all search and parse through, then directly comment on and essentially alter in real time. Is it becoming our collective memory (except when all my posts get deleted…GRRR!) ? I mean…how close are we to becoming the borg? No more than any other library, excepting the faster data retrieval tools we have now. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-internet-the-beginning-of-the-collective-conciousness/325131/6 "2005-10-07T15:04:10Z")
Not to turn Carl Jung over in his grave or anything, but I think it’s more likely the beginning of the collective _un_consciousness.