Notes on the Coming Network Civilization

I’ve often said some of my best work comes in response to good questions. While I would agree most people are capable of synthesizing from their own memories and intelligence, and need only someone to ask the right questions, sometimes it’s far deeper than that. When I bounce things off my spirit, the answers are of a totally different quality. Today someone asked some really good questions and I wanted to outline the results here.
We define a civilization as a social structure with rules and customs by which people can live in close proximity without killing each other. The nature of the coming Network Civilization changes the phrase “close proximity” to a figure of speech. That is, not physical geographical proximity necessarily, but a virtual proximity.
We see that developing as more and more people become reflexively Net-savvy. Some of the old swindles simply don’t work any more. People are becoming aware of how to have a viable Net existence without getting “killed.”
At the same time, we have a growing sense the Net is essential, such that there is now a solid core group of Netizens willing to commit mass murder to prevent losing the Internet. That is, if someone were to threaten broad access to networking and network access, you would see them willing to figuratively, or even literally, nuke someone to protect the Net. There is something so important, people will defend it with their own lives.
The essential elements are already in place.
I’m just guessing, but I am pretty sure the future infrastructure will be more wireless and less based on physical wires. Something tells me the undersea cables will go away last, but will go away. We will the Mesh, instead. Already, the technology and practices are growing to insure this becomes safe and viable in ways not yet obvious to most users. And despite the mass of users who are happy with merely consuming what comes over the Net right now, I believe those who actually use the Net to communicate and produce will double down on the demand for technology which supports their imperatives. It may not be what’s commonly used right now, with keyboards and so forth, but the cellphone and tablet interface is not the future. I’m quite certain it’s just a fad.
Whatever else we see going on around us today, or seeming to be the real story of the day, this business of the Internet is the real battleground. The West is rotting and collapsing from within, and the Networking Civilization is taking its place.