Human Rights in Darfur, Sudan popped into my email today - and though I don't know much about Human Rights affairs in Sudan, I'd like to applaud Amnesty International to coming one step closer to removing geographic boundaries in the global village. Ask a question if you have one. Certainly, it isn't an online discussion in real time, but it does allow everyone to operate fairly independant of time as well.
It seems that more and more people are becoming awakened to the fact that on the internet, geographical borders melt into the ether of TCP/IP interactions. I recall the eGovernment for All Virtual conference of last year, and because of it's success, word has it that another one will be happening this year.
More and more people and groups are beginning to realize the online ability of such 'meetings'. Instead of being limited by geography and time, we are limited by internet access and time.
There's been a lot of discussion on the internet about discussion itself - from the Cluetrain Manifesto to the U.S. Presidential Election, and it's very good to keep abreast of these things. But the real power is not in using these technological tools to retain the geographical separation of minds which persists.
We can now participate in discussion around the world with people around the world, as diverse as the IP addresses which allow us to communicate. We can discuss human crises outside of the general media, and really research a topic instead of taking someone's word for it. This is the new level of collective intelligence, and we need more people to use it.
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