Introduction

Human beings are inherently social creatures, bound together by networks of interaction, shared knowledge, and collective meaning-making. Our lives are shaped by social training, cultural influences, and the transmission of knowledge across generations. In the 21st century, psychology, science, and technology — especially brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) — are accelerating this process, transforming the ways in which we learn, communicate, and evolve.

Social training

We are all connected through shared social behaviours and training. Our shared social training is from birth to death. It also comes through schooling and outside influences such as the media and books. We continue to learn and develop throughout our lives. We gain specialist knowledge in some areas as well as general knowledge. The brain continues to learn and constantly acquires and updates with new information, like a computer or a library of collective knowledge.

Socialization is the foundation of human development. Psychologists such as Albert Bandura (1977) demonstrated that learning occurs through observation and imitation, a principle now visible in how children adopt behaviours from influencers on TikTok or YouTube. Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (1978) emphasizes that learning is inherently social, reflected today in collaborative online classrooms and multiplayer digital environments.

Knowledge

Knowledge exists not only within individuals but as a shared repository across cultures and generations. Karl Popper’s concept of World 3 (1972) describes this realm of objective knowledge, encompassing science, religion, and history. Similarly, Émile Durkheim’s collective consciousness (1912) emphasizes the shared beliefs and values that bind societies together.

Each of us contribute to society and community.  People share information and knowledge through books, radio, television and now the internet. Due to the internet, we can now access more information than ever before. Intellectual knowledge is now much easier to read in every language of the world and often free.  Making information more available to anyone who is interested makes the world of knowledge much more democratic. Now anyone can gain skills in any subject and add to knowledge in any field.

Cognitive psychology shows that memory is constantly reconstructed, much like how Wikipedia evolves daily. Neuroscience adds another layer: BCIs such as Neuralink are experimenting with direct brain-to-computer communication, potentially allowing humans to store and retrieve knowledge instantly, bypassing traditional memory processes.

Shared knowledge

Wikipedia is a perfect example of this. It is the free global library and encyclopaedia. Wikipedia can be added constantly to or edited by anyone in the world who has suitable academic credentials. Their work is constantly reviewed and further references added.

The internet moves knowledge from a passive process where information is received by the reader to an active process where information is constantly exchanged and updated. Every version of that information and every opinion is represented on the internet. However, due to search engines, the internet tends to reinforce existing points of view by monitoring the users’ preferences and presenting information they will approve of. The information is there, but we do not necessarily look at subject from all perspectives. Information and the media should be viewed with critical awareness. It is better to read the spectrum of information and opinions to have an accurate view of the entire subject.

The internet transforms knowledge into an active, participatory process. Distributed cognition is evident in open-source projects like GitHub, where programmers worldwide collaborate. Philosopher Andy Clark and David Chalmers (1998) argue in the Extended Mind Thesis that smartphones, wearables, and external tools act as extensions of human cognition.

BCIs extend this further: experiments with EEG-based interfaces already allow paralyzed patients to control devices with thought alone, turning individual cognition into shared technological action. Religious analogues persist: the Talmud’s centuries of debate resemble Reddit threads or Stack Exchange discussions, where collective reasoning refines understanding.

Shared consciousness

Social media makes the internet part of a new level human development. For the first time we can share information globally and immediately. Science and every field of intellectual development is able to progress much faster, and is accessible to everyone. Not only do we share collective knowledge, we are sharing a collective social sphere. The internet is a much fairer system of social interaction. People can be whoever they want. They learn about any subject, share experiences and ideas. This wider social acceptance and equality can only help understand other people and cultures.  The capacity to translate any document or conversation is massive progress for humanity.

Social media externalizes Carl Jung’s collective unconscious (1968), making archetypes visible in memes, viral trends, and shared symbols. For example, emojis act as universal emotional archetypes.

BCIs push this concept further: researchers are exploring brain-to-brain communication, where signals from one person’s brain can be transmitted to another via computers. This is a literal manifestation of shared consciousness.

Human evolution

We are all part of the shared consciousness that knowledge, media and the internet bring. We are all related to each other and to society. We now understand genetics and that every spectrum of humanity is all part of the wonderful variety of nature and life. Like every tree and every bird, we are we all different genetically but related to one another. We are all part of evolution. All life on earth is related somewhere on the family tree to every other species and part of an entire system, that constantly evolves and changes.

The closer the link between human development and technology, the faster we will evolve. The brain is capable of many things, but computers calculate and store information faster and on a massive scale. It increases our capacity to learn, interact and share knowledge. The future of human evolution is through our shared knowledge and our increasing capacity through computing.

Human evolution is increasingly shaped by the interplay of biology and technology. Evolutionary psychology explains our drive for cooperation, now extended into digital collaboration — from crowdsourced disaster relief to global scientific networks.

BCIs represent a frontier in human evolution. Projects like Neuralink and BrainGate aim to merge human thought with machines, enabling people to control prosthetics, communicate without speech, or even share thoughts directly. This accelerates Teilhard de Chardin’s vision of the Omega Point (1955), where humanity evolves toward a collective consciousness. Genetics confirms our shared ancestry, while neuroscience and computing suggest a future where human cognition is networked, creating a new layer of collective identity.

Conclusion

The Collective Consciousness is not a distant ideal but a lived reality. Through psychology, science, and technology — especially brain-computer interfaces — humanity is weaving a shared fabric of knowledge and identity. From social media movements to open-source science, from VR classrooms to neural implants, our interconnectedness is both our inheritance and our destiny. The future of human evolution lies not only in biology but in our ability to integrate collective wisdom with technological progress, ensuring that diversity, inclusivity, and shared understanding remain at the heart of human development.

References

BrainGate Research Consortium. (2023). Brain-computer interface studies. Retrieved from https://braingate.org

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Clark, A., & Chalmers, D. (1998). The extended mind. Analysis, 58(1), 7–19.

Durkheim, É. (1912). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Paris: Alcan.

Jung, C. G. (1968). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton University Press.

Popper, K. (1972). Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford University Press.

Teilhard de Chardin, P. (1955). The Phenomenon of Man. Harper & Brothers.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.

Neuralink. (2023). Neuralink clinical trials and brain-computer interface research. Retrieved from https://neuralink.com