In the 1990's there was a group that included Parker Rossman focused on the World Brain and the possibilities inherent in the proper integration of human and machine intelligence. OSS '97 was fortunate to have a member of this group present some ideas.
For a time it appeared as if the US IC might actually listen, and a short standard briefing emerged that appeared to capture the essentials. Below is the outline as it appeared in the Proceedings for OSS '96.
Doug Engelbart invented the mouse, hypertext, and other foundational elements for what we have today in the way of cyberspace communications. He received $10,000 from the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) for his mouse patent. They sold it to Logitech for $80,000, and of course today there are billions of the little suckers generating perpetual revenue. He remains devoted to achieving the Holy Grail: enabling the human species to fulfil its role as Earth sense-maker and cosmic force. Below is the presentation he made to OSS '94.
John Perry Barlow is known for being the lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and with Mitch Kapor, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Howard Rheingold made his acceptance of our invitation to speak conditional on our giving John Perry Barlow time to speak as well, and the rest is history. He nailed it.