>Glen: From the Star Trek series. The Borg are a science-fiction race of alien
beings that had incorporated technology into their anatomy and whose
technological advances had led them to a state where all members of this
collective could communicate via sub-space transmission by simple
thought.
They operate purely as one.
The idea is interesting to me in relation to democracy because, on the
one
hand, democracy celebrates difference of opinion but on the other is
designed to unite us in a common objective of bettering humanity (or...
bettering the One).
Gerry: This concept of the Borgs operating as one is also of interest
to me. Have you read any of Howard Bloom's stuff on the memes? It's a
lot like the Borgs. Only it applies to our culture as a group rather
than as individuals. And as far as democracy operating for both
similarites and differences, I really don't have a problem with this
idea. Actually I see this "both" as the new paradigm.
Glen: The only way for democracy to truely take place would be in fact
to set up
such a Borg-like system. As well, I am starting to believe that this is
our
ultimate future, where the individual is unimportant and whose sole
purpose
is to serve the collective as a whole. The analogy is similar to how
heart
cells first start by beating individually to their own erratic rhythm
and
then they eventually learn to beat together as one larger unit. The life
and
death of any individual heart cell becomes unimportant because the
heart
itself continues to beat.
Beginning with the internet, humanity is itself becoming a sentient
being.
Gerry: Yes, I certainly agree. And with a meme type society, perhaps
democracy in its true form can occur. Actually this sounds like a very
exciting idea in this idea-less time. I think it's time that we forget
our individual selfish pursuits and think in terms of the "total
heart". What I'm about to ask is a vey peculiar question but at times
do you feel as though the internet has a mind and being of its own?
Gerry
--
Gerald Reinhart
Independent Scholar
(650) 321-7378
waluk@...
http://www.alekseevmanuscript.com