We are in a "Thoughtverse" Economy

The "Thoughtverse", a term which I myself have coined, is not a descriptor of a future reality. Rather, it is a descriptor of our present reality. It is here, right now, and it has been here for almost a decade now.

We knew at the start of the 21st century, that technology was going to evolve very rapidly, and very exponentially, through the course of the next 100 years, and that we would see massive unprecedented sociotechnical shifts before we would be able to brace ourselves for them.

It is 2024, almost a quarter of the way through the 21st century, and much of humanity is edging on its paranoid awe of the hyper-hyped Generative AI (extremely over-hyped really, despite all its great merits), while wishing that the Metaverse is already dead even as it yet remains in the conception/inception stage. And yet, we have already been living, working, shopping, consuming, playing and learning in a "Thoughtverse" environment and economy, for almost a decade. Read that again, and let it sink in. We've constantly been in the "Thoughtverse", for almost a decade now. And who noticed?

What is The Thoughtverse?

Everybody connected to the worldwide web in any and every way possible, to any extent, directly constitutes a universal collective of human thought transcending all borders, barriers, and demographic silos. And that collective of human thought, non-linear, dynamic, and ever exponentially evolving, is mediated by, and intertwined with, a vast ocean of online algorithms of very wide varieties that constantly emerge, fluidly evolve, and rapidly transform exponentially in their synergistic effects. Quite a mouthful, I know, but there is no simpler way of putting it frankly. And yes, that is a lot to take in. And that is the “Thoughtverse” in the present stage as of 2024.

The "Thoughtverse", in the way it functions, is as complex as a human brain. In fact, the "Thoughtverse" is almost the "Global Brain" itself, something which has yet to manifest fully but is steadily manifesting rapidly, as it has been since the birth of the Local Area Network or LAN. ?The “Global Brain” has long been a hypothesis too often dismissed as impossible in reality, and now, it is manifesting, starting as the “Thoughtverse” in its infant stage. Think of the “Thoughtverse” as the caterpillar, and the “Global Brain” as the butterfly.

And the "Thoughtverse" will be around, and it will grow and evolve to become that long hypothesized "Global Brain", after a certain period of “development”. And then it will be around, defining and dominating the human experience, for a very long time. The “Global Brain” will outlive and survive the Metaverse.

How has the “Thoughtverse” been forming?

Everything about the internet has been getting “smarter” and “responsive”. Cookies are not even a scratch on the surface. All our behaviors, online movements, even offline movements, queries, and questions, but importantly, our thought preferences and patterns, have been tracked, sequenced, analysed and dissected, automatically, autonomously, and “intelligently” by algorithms, every single time we have touched or used or moved around even with a data or web connected digital device like a smartphone, smartwatch, tablet, laptop or anything else. If you have touched an app, a vast array of algorithms has dissected your thought process. If you have used any search engine, not just Google, anywhere for any purpose, your thought pertaining to whatever you have searched has been tracked by lots of algorithms simultaneously, and massively analysed. And then, the output of the analysis is used by algorithms, to respond, and influence, your behaviors, and your thoughts.

Skipping a long chain or nitty gritty events, ultimately, the way in which the ocean or algorithms respond, your activity, in part influences the experience of other internet users, in terms of what they see on their social media feeds, their search results and so on. No, it is not just you. In precisely reality, the collective use of all internet users, shape a collective response from a vast ocean of internet algorithms, that shape a collective user experience outcome for internet users – a subtle but significant terraforming effect, that is happening constantly all the time on a whole-of-internet level. Simplified, internet-algorithm mediated convergence of human-thought. Outcome: “Thoughtverse”.

One final piece of the puzzle. Embedded and intertwined therein the converged human-thought, are deliberate and strategic, intentional, influences organically and autonomously emerging from AI-driven algorithms, that act in massive spontaneous convergence with each other.

Each algorithm is created to achieve an intended purpose and outcome by programmers. Collectively though, the huge number of algorithms across the internet, do create convergent effects, that begin to run well beyond the collective control of the entire tech industry. And the effects are neither social, nor technical, in nature. The effects are sociotechnical in nature.

Present State

We are “how we think”. Our ability to think is in significant part defined by what we know. What we know is shaped by the information we acquire. Our collective search behaviors influence the search results or returns of our queries on app and search engines. Our information acquisition is therefore currently defined by the global collective of internet users. To a degree, this brings about a homogenization of thought across demographics, geographies, borders, and cultures.

And there is a very significant present risk to the vast majority of internet or digital device users – the diminishing capacity for independent thought and enquiry, as well as action (how think determines our actions), especially with the rapid rise-and-rise of Generative AI. This is no less an existential threat for the human species than climate change. We are a species that has gotten pretty good at threatening its own continued existence.

The Future

That nothing happens in a silo is something that must be constantly reiterated when looking towards the future, which is a product of convergences of what emerges in the present.

The foundations of the “Thoughtverse” lie in the emergence of online algorithms across channels and platforms. The key future constituents with be Advanced Artificial Intelligence beyond Generative AI, Brain-Computer Interface, Advanced Internet of Everything, haptics, holographics, X Reality and 3D-Printing. The culminating result of the convergence of these constituents will be a move from Opensource-Software to Opensource-Thought enabling:

• Barrier-Free Communication and Interaction
• Instant Access to Information and Learning
• Spontaneous Collaboration
• Spontaneous Crowd-Production
• Free-Sharing of Fully-Democratized Production Resources
• Spontaneous Production of Physical, Cyber-Physical and Virtual-Only Products
• Instant Production
• Rapid and Constant Terraforming of Consumer Needs, Wants, Preferences, Tastes, Demands and Expectations
• Constant and Fluid Terraforming of Consumer Behavior and Business Culture

Necessary Digression: Brain-Computer Interface

A key element to consider when trying to comprehend The Future of The Thoughtverse is the Brain-Computer Interface (no, I am not talking about electronic chips being implanted into the brain. Ever heard of non-intravenous?). Deal with it, the keyboard, the keypad, the touchscreen, will all go extinct within the Millennial’s lifetime, and we will interact with the Cloud and everything connected, directly, where you think it, and tech instantly executes your will. That it hasn’t already happened, is because those who are currently privileged by the lack of advances in technology to that state and are fearful of the disruption that mass market Brain-Computer Interface will bring, have in concert meticulously impeded the progress, kept it slow, and kept the talents who can make it a mass market reality brutally pinned down.

Note, that when Brain-Computer Interface does become a mass market consumer reality, the world, and the human experience, will be absolutely nothing like we’ve known them to be thus far in history to this day. And that is imminent and inevitable. And the resistance cannot hold on for too long. Just look at how Generative AI is rolling through, and that is merely a pore on the skin of what Artificial Intelligence actually is (AI is far more and is supposed to do much more than just “Generative AI” lest you need someone to spell it out, or perhaps, go change your coffee supplier!).

When you interact directly with the internet, the cloud and everything else connected or digital, using your thoughts, and AI-powered technology directly interacts with your thoughts “intelligently”, imagine the amplification of your possibilities and abilities. Now, think what it would be like if that was the reality for every tech or gadget user on the planet. And when we are all directly or indirectly affecting each other’s use of technology in that sort of an environment, what then happens to the barriers, boundaries, and the go-betweens? They do not exist. Now you know why I still had to type this using a keyboard, is because too many people are too petrified of the Brain-Computer Interface, and how it will evolve the “Thoughtverse”.

Conclusion

I have not scratched the surface. Not yet.

End Note

This is a request to students and academic researchers. Please do not deny me the due credit for “Thoughtverse”. Especially not by replacing it with another term just to pretend that you have never come across my work. The world is unconscionable enough at present. Please preserve the role of academia in making things better rather than worse. Much appreciated with humble thanks.

About Harish Shah

Harish Shah is Singapore's first local born Professional Futurist and a Management Strategy Consultant. Endearingly known as "The Singapore Futurist", he runs Stratserv Consultancy. His areas of consulting and Keynote Topics include EmTech, Industry 5.0, HR, Digital Transformation, Product Development, X Reality, Marketing, Strategic Foresight, Systems Thinking and Organisational Future Proofing. In an Open Letter in 2019, Harish has called on his fellow Futurists around the world to raise the emphasis upon the need for Environmental Salvation, in the course of their work.

In 2022, Harish released his first Futurist eBook titled: Life in Techtopia (available for free reading, download or request in PDF format)