Power of Networks and the Global Brain

Early today I read this paper titled Conceptions of a Global Brain – An Historical Review which led me from the middle ages to a vision of the future. Then I just viewed this video from RSA Animate.



I talk about building networks of purpose in blog articles and essays like this. I encourage you to browse these articles over the coming months...or even years. This learning process and network-building is not a sprint, but a journey.

Mapping the networks that already exist is a different challenge than building the networks that need to exist to solve a complex problem. One requires extensive talent and manpower to map existing knowledge. The other requires a vision of what information and what people need to be involved, plus a perseverance and ability to communicate to a constantly expanding world of people and organizations who need to be involved.

The network maps in the articles I've been viewing show that no one can do everything. However, we can be part of many things by the way we share ideas on our web sites and blogs and by how others add their own talent to our efforts while we add our talent to their efforts.

We need to harness the same tools use to map existing networks to show the growth of new networks and hopefully use this to demonstrate to donors the value of our network-building so they continue to supply the resources. The image below shows the network of youth and adults connected over a 35 year period.

The map below shows a network of research articles aggregated in my web library over the past 20 years.

If you're interested in helping build this network, or map these ideas, or interested in helping expand the networks surrounding inner city kids, I look forward to connecting with you.