The Digital Collective Unconscious

Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious proposes that there is a layer within our unconscious mind that is comprised of knowledge and iconography that is shared amongst all of humanity that is inherited from birth.

For instance, across every culture there is a universal idea of what a mother or maternal figure may be, commonly shared phobias such as the unknown or the dark, and an idea of what good and evil are. On an individual level, we are the sum of these shared ideas, however we invariably contribute and add to these collective concepts, causing perpetual growth and change. While a literal interpretation of inheriting these concepts through genetics is within the realm of pseudoscience, the symbolic interpretation has arguably become reality. When thinking of the collective unconscious as a database or comparing it to cloud computing, it's almost analogous to the internet and social media.

The world wide web has eroded borders between people. In this virtual domain, no one is segregated by geography by geography or social-economic status. Social media interconnects us, allowing complete strangers to share experiences and pass down concepts or memes. This collectively shared pool of knowledge is more than a communication hub. Nothing here is forgotten, everything added to the amalgam known as the internet will mold and influence future cultures and humanity as a whole.