In the late modern period, these threads were made stronger and denser, so that the spider's web of Columbus's days became the steel and asphalt grid of the 21st century. Early modern explorers, conquerors and traders wove the first thin threads that encompassed the whole world. This dream became a reality during the fourth and last stage of history, which began around 1492. At least since the first millennium BC - when coinage, empires, and universal religions appeared - humans began to consciously dream about forging a single network that would encompass the entire globe. Political and commercial links between different cities and kingdoms also tightened. Human groups bonded and merged to form cities and kingdoms.
Thanks to writing and money, the gravitational field of human co-operation finally overpowered the centrifugal forces. The third stage kicked off with the appearance of writing and money about 5,000 years ago, and lasted until the beginning of the scientific revolution. Just building roads between ten cities won't be very useful if they are plagued by robbers, or if some autocratic despot doesn't allow merchants and travellers to move as they wish. Connecting processors is hardly useful if data cannot flow freely. **4.**Increasing the freedom of movement along existing connections. A trade network linking ten cities is likely to result in many more economic, technological and social innovations than ten isolated cities. There is little point in increasing the mere number and variety of processors if they are poorly connected. **3.**Increasing the number of connections between processors. A conversation between a peasant, a priest and a physician may produce novel ideas that would never emerge from a conversation between three hunter-gatherers. Using several kinds of processors in a single system may therefore increase its dynamism and creativity. Different processors may use diverse ways to calculate and analyse data.
**2.**Increasing the variety of processors. A city of 100,000 people has more computing power than a village of 1,000 people. **1.**Increasing the number of processors.
0 kommentar(er)
