Where are internet developments going? The social web which was always there is like a herd. Some are in front, a lot in the middle and a few lag to the back. Others are like the grass in the landscape. Oblivious to any development at all.
Just as in a herd in nature the social technological herd is an ecosytem. Where even the dropping of the herd are fertilizer for other developments.
And so there are vultures and wolves who prey on the herd. They are not enemies though but part of the ecosystem. They clear the old, the frail and weak and develop their own ways of life.
A herd is a center of developments, a center on which all the other ecosystems thrive.
But to which watering hole is the internet herd going? Where is my herd going? Am I here for the ride in the herd? Not leading or following, just dipping in and out?
It is exhilirating to realize all the perspectives and connections. The view up high of the vulture, the view down below of the grass and dung, deep down into the earth. The crocodiles waiting in the water for fresh meat.
The newborn of the herd, their potential and zest for living. The struggle of the herd to get to the lifesaving water. The victory when the water has been reached.
I love my detached overall view. I love all participants in the herd ecosystem. I see what they do and I see how I can influence it. But should I? What will be the endresult and am I not arrogant to try to change the course of ages? It is not about I, it is about we, but my spirit is aloof, I can not be we. I can not be the collective.
It is the curse of man to appreciate natural developments and then to try and artificialy modify them for improvement. But have we really improved through our technological innovations? We are still the herd ecosystem relentlessy pursuing the same old paths to the water. It is all we know and all we can do. Even our imperfect striving for artificial perfect solutions is part of that natural cycle.
We like to think that we are higly individualzied in this modern time. With our screens and keyboards and ubiquitous connectedness. But nothing has changed. We are still part of a system. And we keep repeating the same patterns in different forms. Everything changes yet stays familiarly the same. Still we keep trying to surpass ourselves, while there is nothing to surpass. It is in the nature of the beast.
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