The behavior of ants has been likened to a distributed mind, a demonstration of collective intelligence. In Douglas Hofstadter’s book Gödel, Escher, Bach an ant colony is even used as a main character to drive home the point that the actions of dumb individuals can add up to a smart collective. Xanadu was supposed to enhance the intelligence of the human race, too, but a new feature in your web browser is unlikely to have ramifications that profound. Yet in both language and art the act of linking nouns together creates new meaning, which is a nice bonus we’re sure can be pulled off with a few hours of surfing.
Smart Mobs? Does linking and back linking and networking make a mob more intelligent? I don’t know.
OK, I have done it, will this happen:
Link to this page and it will link back to you automatically
Have a response to something said on this page? Want others to see it after reading this article? This page can detect where a visitor is coming from and provide a permanent link back to it that all other visitors can see. Link to this article from the page where you’ve posted your response, and a reciprocal link to your page will be made automatically and for free.
Later: But it won’t happen… only the top 20 referrers get listed! Could I make my weblog do this?