Philosphy of the Internet...Maybe.

[Torrere]

Huh? I thought that the "long-term memory is holographic" idea was old, or am I mistaking an old idea for a new one?

The internet is an environment; and it is a society. It is a set of protocols, and a set of nodes which interact in accordance to those protocols.

Alas, I can't contribute much because that's what Alan already said.

I became lost as I wrote this post, and forgot entirely what you were talking about, in regards to holograms. I've re-read your post, and I think that the answer is no.

Another way to approach the question is to examine herds or flocks. Some flocks can be very advanced. Are they more than the sum of their parts (and not in a holographic way).

Another interesting question is: what happens when the wildlife (programs, worms, virii) attains sundry thresholds of becoming more advanced. Eg; The virus writers have all been working on propagation. At some point soon, someone will be able to make a Curious Yellow worm (I refer to it in the sense of worms whose methods of propagation can be changed). What is the net going to look like when worms (or various other programs) are self-modifying, and can change their methods of propagation?