One

One day, I believe, we’ll all become one. Look at human history. Since the beginning of time, we’ve wanted to convey our thoughts, feelings, and events to someone else. We did it through content: first, through primitive cave illustrations, then music, and gradually moving on to complex forms, like literature or visual arts, or news broadcasting. Through careful depiction, description, and craft, we communicate what we have felt, smelled, known, or seen to other humans. And if someone feels, smells, knows, or sees like us — then they are us, even if temporary.

When the radio was invented, people experienced the magic of broadcasting: millions of people, united by one communicative mechanism, interconnected like a giant brain. (The Germans in the early 20th century figured out that people believe anything they hear on the radio — no matter whether it’s true or false — and famously used it during the rise of the Third Reich to spread their propaganda.)

Then came TV and live news. In 1953, when Queen Elizabeth II was coronated, the BBC led its first live broadcast in colour. 20.5 million Britons had the experience of a lifetime by watching a monarch close by. Imagine sitting at your table next to a perfect hologram of Steve Jobs and discussing innovation and design. That’s the kind of awe people in Britain experienced.

Finally came the Internet, and it connected us in a way nobody believed was possible. We’re now truly one intelligence. Nothing can be hidden; everything can be accessed in seconds. The crisis in Ukraine is a clear indicator of the power…