Shamanism and Google Consciousness

Multimedia shaman Rome Viharo is a musician, filmmaker, and founder of Media Social. In a recent TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) Talk titled "Google Consciousness," Viharo made the correlation between Peruvian shamanism and Google search -- two contradictory models of consciousness that share a share a metaphor in common -- collective problem solving. In the talk, Viharo draws a parallel between how Peruvian shamans access plant consciousness and how memes or ideas spread from person to person within a culture. Viharo says, "It essentially refers to an idea that spreads virally called Google Consciousness that plays with the idea that the Internet could become sentient, meaning conscious -- aware. The Google algorithm, especially the way we use it, is now actually a contender for being conscious. We use it as a metaphor for a collective intelligence or a collective consciousness with the participation between technology and people using the Web. What is more bizarre to consider: intelligent plants or intelligent computers?" View the TED Talk video "Google Consciousness," based in part on Daniel Dennett's model of consciousness in his landmark book Consciousness Explained.