The Greatest Invention In History

Before we get to what is the greatest inventionbirthedone of the most significant early cultures of
in the history of the world, we should visitthe Western World.
Germany in 1447. In that time, a goldsmith andBecause there are so many contributors to the
printer, Johannes Gutenberg, created theWorld Wide Web, neither governments nor
Gutenberg printing press. This technology spreadcorporations nor media organizations have much
like wildfire throughout Europe and then on to thecontrol over it. Blogging, especially, has evolved to
rest of the world.a place where absolute candor is possible. In
The impact of it is comparable to the invention ofaddition, writers are free to wax eloquent in their
the alphabet and the development of writing.pdf or exe files without waiting for somebody to
Prior to the printing of books on a massive scale,approve the marketability of their ideas. Discussion
books were painstakingly copied. This resulted ingroups for everything under the sun exist. Then
both fewer books and also more inaccuratethere are the social networking websites, like You
books, because the copying of the originalTube and others, where all kinds of opinions are
changed from one version to the next. In addition,expressed through videos. Never in the history of
since in Europe, Latin was the language ofhumanity has it been possible for the common
scholars, only a small population could even readman or woman to speak their mind to so many
them. When books were printed, popularpeople in complete freedom.
European vernaculars were used to communicateAnother face of the World Wide Web is like The
to a wider audience.Great Books of the Western World series.
Our next evolutionary leap was creating aThe quintessence of the value of that series has
medium of instant publication and a worldwidebeen captured by the original associate editor, the
audience. This is the World Wide Web.late Mortimer Adler.
It may be as significant a leap in theHe said that to read them was to be involved in a
consciousness of humankind as was Albertgreat conversation because it was like
Einstein's revolutionary reinterpretation of the"authors sitting around a table in the same
Universe. Despite the brilliance of Isaac Newton'sroom--totally oblivious to the circumstances of
work, the new theory of the Universe changedtheir own time, place and diversity of
the consciousness of humankind forever.tongues--confronting each other in agreement,
The World Wide Web may very well be thedisagreement or otherwise differing about what
greatest invention in history. Tim Berners-Lee hasthey have to say on the subject. The sessions of
invented something that reminds one of athe conference thus imagined would take many
multifaceted diamond. When you look at eachdays, months, perhaps even years, for it would
face, you discover a new reality.cover the whole range of ideas and issues that
One face of the World Wide Web is like Theare the objects and concerns of human
Glass Bead Game.understanding, always and everywhere."
In his Nobel Prize winning novel, Magister Ludi, TheAs you surf from one website to another, from
Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse defined theone discussion board to another, or as you
nature of knowledge and intelligence in a beautifulcommunicate instantly by email, is this not like a
metaphor. He described it as a game wheregreat conversation that informs your mind and
pieces were played on a board.feeds your soul?
"The Glass Bead Game is a mode of playing withFinally, another face of the World Wide Web is like
the total contents and values of our culture. AllA Global Brain.
the insights, noble thoughts and works of art thatPhilosophers from Plato to Aristotle, from Thomas
the human race has produced in its creative eras,Aquinas to Herbert Spencer have always
all that subsequent periods of scholarly studyconsidered knowledge to be a unity, where
have reduced to concept and converted intoeverything is potentially connectable to everything
intellectual values, the Glass Bead Game playerelse. The human brain is a powerhouse of
plays like an organist on an organ."networks of infinite complexity, where every
Like the Glass Bead Game, the World Wide Webneuron has the potentiality to connect with every
ranges over the entire intellectual cosmos.other. Similarly, knowledge itself, as described by
Another face of the World Wide Web is like thewriter James Burke, is "a gigantic and
marketplace of Ancient Athens.ever-growing sphere in space and time, made up
Here democracy evolved in its purest state.of millions of interconnecting, crisscrossing
People talked to each other, shared information,pathways."
challenged points-of-view, and understood eachKnowledge has never been so linked together as
other. This informal gathering of thinkersit is now on the World Wide Web.