sjefMon, Jan 21, 2008 What is the significance though? Even added up all together, those 4billion consciousnesses have only perceived an infinitely small part of the events of the universe.
The amount of raw data processed may be incomprehensibly large to us, but relatively still a drop on a hot plate. Especially considering the fact that for millions of years already, almost all that perception has been lost, left to us only in the form of some tablets, drawings and legends.
As we now start to more heavily document our experiences this data will amass more steadily, but even if the stream of consciousness could be completely recorded, the data is still useless until something is done with it. At that point it's significance would increase. As we would need supplemental technology to record & data-mine these streams, their usefulness would be coupled to technological development, which does have an exponential curve, so the growth of accessible consciousness certainly would be exponential.
Still not sure how that would work out for us though, I guess we would realize the significance with time through use, but it's not easy to get your head around now...
What is the significance though? Even added up all together, those 4billion consciousnesses have only perceived an infinitely small part of the events of the universe.
The amount of raw data processed may be incomprehensibly large to us, but relatively still a drop on a hot plate. Especially considering the fact that for millions of years already, almost all that perception has been lost, left to us only in the form of some tablets, drawings and legends.
As we now start to more heavily document our experiences this data will amass more steadily, but even if the stream of consciousness could be completely recorded, the data is still useless until something is done with it. At that point it's significance would increase. As we would need supplemental technology to record & data-mine these streams, their usefulness would be coupled to technological development, which does have an exponential curve, so the growth of accessible consciousness certainly would be exponential.
Still not sure how that would work out for us though, I guess we would realize the significance with time through use, but it's not easy to get your head around now...