This question arises out of the essay
Preprint Collective consciousness first
That essay observes thatlanguage is invented and improved by society collectively. The collection of ideas thus enabled creates a collective consciousness. Individuals then can acquire individual consciousness by acquiring language and ideas from the collective consciousness.
The essay further observes that collective appraisal is more indicative of collective problem solving than is invention that adds to a society’s lexicon and store of ideas.
Perhaps networking that enables collective problem solving is not just a means of collective problem solving but is necessary for consciousness itself. Perhaps appraisal of new words and ideas proposed by an individual or specialized group can enable the development of collective consciousness only if the words are repeatedly and continuously tested by the entire network. In other words, does deciding whether a new idea is added to the network’s collective information resources require appraisal by the rest of the network acing as an audience for consciousness to emerge?
And if networking combined collective appraisal leads to collective consciousness for human societies, should we be wary of networking computers?