Tonight, I see the Internet as a sort of controlled state of dreaming: directed, curated... semi-lucid, like a dream.

Vague interests, inklings, compel us to a certain place of knowledge, a node of interest amid seas of information. This place, though unique, is not independent or separate from the rest of the network of which it is one; instead, it exists only within the context of the network as a whole, in relation to the complementary, surrounding, and otherwise-relevant nodes with which it is connected.

So in this way, to use the Internet is to enter into a group network, one which compliments and interacts with your own individual node. Your ideas, preferences and interests determine the course of your interaction within the network, yet there is always some degree of separation distancing you, a whole person, from the content and concepts with which you are interacting.

Is not the use of the Internet, then, akin to a state of dreaming?

In both realms, we play a role which is both active and passive; we exist in a state which is both reactive and proactive.

We read, and we write.

To what extent can we suspend our individuality in favour of a more networked experience?

Should we, in fact, do so?

Do we want to do so?

These are brave questions, which I expect will be met with brave answers in the years and decades ahead.

Humanity’s future, though uncertain, is ever-changing.

We know this much is true.