Every so often, on the lines of a few thousand years to an epoch, a revolution in evolution transforms the very foundation of society. As stone gave way to copper and bronze, then to iron, and to steel, so does steel give way to silicon.

We find ourselves, during this first decade of the 21st century, experiencing the very first rays of the dawn of the Age of Silicon - more accurately, the Age of Information. And at the hub lies the highway that now and in succeeding years will connect all of mankind so that information can be freely shared and accessed by all who desire it.

The internet is not just a tool for research, as it was intended at its inception. It is not just a social tool, or a means of communication. It is not just a universal library where all kinds of data, opinion, news and entertainment is viewed and manipulated - it is greater than the sum of those parts. And it is growing.

The idea of a computer - a machine that stores and processes data - is in itself astounding, with unlimited implications and applications, and quite obviously broke the ground for the Age of Information. But it was the idea to link these machines together that over the next century (centuries?) will redefine the way humankind deals with information.

It's a bit like a vast, interconnected web of minds. We all know the adage, 'two heads are better than one;' in a nutshell, a hundred million computers are better than one.

So what does the internet hold? One can only guess to a point. What we call Web 2.0 - the integration of the user - is only a step, albeit a rather large one. As the internet becomes increasingly user-driven, one can apply the theories of Adam Smith and John Nash to the picture. Each user contributes a unit or series of units of content, and each piece carries a bit of momentum. As the internet expands, so does that momentum, and so grows the model of human thought that is forever preserved on the vast multitudes of servers on the planet Earth. And with that growing momentum dies the ability to regulate the internet in any way but through individual domains.

The internet, in short, is a complex dynamic system, and will continue to expand as long as computers are manufactured; as long as more and more people and places gain access to it; as long as information drives every instance of human behavior - as long as humanity survives.

Learn more about this author, S. Othelo Antonn.
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