Realtime access to the world's largest encyclopedia has changed how humans interact. Our conversations are further reaching. I'm often in a group where one person takes on the role of data gatherer to fill in the factual blanks of a conversation. What other movies was that actor from the Golden Globes in? How many people live in that country? While much of this "trivia" is mindless, once in a while it provides a solid reality check on someone's unproven assertion.
To paraphrase Eric Kim, co-founder of Twylah, if our conversations become even 1% smarter and that ability gets multiplied across the entire planet, imagine what kind of societal shifts could happen.
They're happening already. We still have conversations, we still meet friends for coffee but it is socially acceptable in many circles to use an iPad or smartphone to add factual information to a conversation.
I agree heartily with Ray Kurzweil's take...
Better the government shut down than Wikipedia go on strike. That would be part of my mind going on strike. Just give them [Wikipedia] whatever they want — we don’t even need to hear what it is.
Kurzweil describes the consequences of accelerating intelligence. Losing Wikipedia for a day has definitely but the brakes on.
There is still some light...
#wikipedia blackout hack. You can take a screenshot of the page you want to read if you've got gamer reflexes.
— Jim Letourneau (@JimLetourneau) January 18, 2012
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