| (note : there are several other nodes like this, they are hardlinked in the text : if you feel this is too redundant, vote it down.)
There are certain interesting senses in which E2 is intelligent. If you are a computer scientist, however, you may not be seeing the trees for the bushes. That is, it is undeniably true that the software of E2 is unintelligent. It is a dynamic system, for sure, but only as a recorder of impressions; a sandy beach to leave footprints in. The most important components are us (don't you feel important?:) because we not only record our impressons in the sand, we also take note of other's marks. This human-computer hybrid organism, therefore, has several important features of intelligent systems. It can learn; node style has undoubtedly adapted to the pressure of capturing and maintaining the attention of other noders. Also a more brain-like property; the collective mind has thought streams that not only fill nodes but overlap, and emerge from, series of nodes. A single node is read by some fraction of the community; this subtly affects the noder's thoughts by becoming part of the noder's own community of mind. Subsequent nodes are coloured by the memory of that older node. You may well be thinking, at this point, that since individual noders are intelligent (so I'm told) it is'n't very surprising that a group of noders exhibit intelligence. Cynical, you are. However, I would agree that the effects are weak - and sometimes difficult to distinguish from mere individual thought.This node is mine (fo' shaw) but could draw upon, or be linked to, several others with similar themes. Given an open ended set of possible topics, E2 tends to stick to a relatively closed set.
For a different point of veiw see : Everything as a Knowledge Base.
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