Consilience--the bringing together of information to enhance knowledge--is the natural twin of the online world. The barriers between information sources that We have endured for centuries is practically gone, and what were once called "monks" are now called "infomediaries."
When it comes to synergizing information, AI constructs don't work well, for they become less specific given more information. Humans, on the other hand, become increasingly specific and simultaneously more capable of creating new connections when given more information.
Science, the method and process of adding information to achieve or confirm conclusions, is the beneficiary of this new interconnected world. The image of the scientist working alone in his lab is replaced by the light-speed flashes of dozens and hundreds of messages, papers, articles and reports an hour, an immense supply of information illuminating new paths, uncovering new options and revealing previously-unseen horizons.
Fact: 99% of all the scientists in history are living today. They, and the online world, are one of the greatest sources of potential progress We have ever had. Whether that potential is entirely positive or balanced strongly away from the negative, is up to Us and the use We make of this consilience-enhancing online world.
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