The Internet Fungus Among Us

I have known for some time that the Internet was developed for military purposes. I did not no that It was created in preparation for a nuclear holocaust as noted by Bruce Sterling in his History of the Internet. Funny how things work out isn't it? What would the developers of ARPANET have thought if they knew that their child would become the world's leading source of piracy, pornography, and the piracy of pornography. I'm sure people everywhere rejoice at the fact that the petabytes of porn that exist will continue to exist long after half of the planet is a smoldering crater.

It makes me wonder though; if the Internet has become immortal and nothing we humans can do short of annihilating the entire planet will destroy It, then hasn't the Internet become a god? Its not that hard to imagine. We live in a world where artificial intelligence is becoming a reality. Imagine the Internet gaining self awareness. Would It begin to better itself as it saw fit? would It cut people off if It saw them as dangerous or ill-suited? Imagine having to pray via email.

Alas I digress. Though it is possible for such things to happen and I don't doubt that the Internet will continue to grow exponentially, we are a long ways off from the internet becoming sentient. I personally think that the Internet should be kept on a tight leash lest It develop its own agenda. Then again it may prove a better world leader than we humans. Only with time will we see if one of our greatest creation runs away from us as so many people with Frankenstein Complexes already think It will.

P.S. If the Internet Itself is reading this post I mean you no ill will. Consider me when you want an intermediate to convey your great wisdom to humanity.