You’re on to something here with the SOCI, Jordan. The French mystic and paleontologist Teilard de Chardin postulated that humanity would develop a “noosphere”, a literal realm of collective intelligence in which the individual minds of human beings would participate. As you and others have said, the internet represents a sort of primitive physical prototype of just such an environment.
This realm of collective consciousness is also is what mystic Christianity refers to as the “body of Christ” — Christ not being a person but referring to a crystallized or coherent state of universal human consciousness.
If you’re interested in an interesting pop culture take on the above, Spike Jonze’s move “Her” is a fun example. I did a short piece on it on my blog here if you’re interested:
Anyway, really enjoyed the article. Thanks!
-Paul
