# Internet > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this node within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Networks / Infrastructure **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition The Internet is the global network of interoperating packet-switched networks built through shared protocols and distributed infrastructure. ## Nexus Context The Morris Worm exposed how self-replicating code could propagate across this environment before the World Wide Web, turning connectivity into an ecological resource and vulnerability. ## Evidence Boundary The Internet is not a single organism or unified mind. Distributed effects emerge from protocols, institutions, hardware and users with unequal control. ## Relationships [[wiki/Morris Worm|Morris Worm]], [[wiki/Computer Worm|Computer Worm]], [[wiki/Distributed Intelligence|Distributed Intelligence]], [[wiki/Infrastructure as Power|Infrastructure as Power]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "Almost any medical condition with an acute episode—like an asthma attack, seizure, autoimmune attack, stroke, heart attack—will be potentially predictable in the future with artificial intelligence and the Internet of all medical things." > **— Eric Topol**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Digital Life/AI May Predict Medical Crises Before They Happen by Eric Topol|AI May Predict Medical Crises Before They Happen by Eric Topol]] > "An artificial intelligence will quickly find its way to the world library, the web." > **— Matthew Ritchie**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Digital Life/Artificial Intelligence Will Enter the World Library by Matthew Ritchie|Artificial Intelligence Will Enter the World Library by Matthew Ritchie]] > “The vast majority of humanity now has a two-way digital connection that can send voice, text, and most recently, images and digital sensor data because cell phone networks have spread nearly everywhere. Information is suddenly something that is potentially available to everyone. The Data Revolution combines this enormous new stream of data about human life and behavior with traditional data sources, enabling a new science of ‘social physics’ that can let us detect and monitor changes in the human condition, and to provide precise, non-traditional interventions to aid human development.” > **— Alex "Sandy" Pentland**, *2016, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC”* [[reminders/Information/The Data Revolution Can Monitor Changes in the Human Condition by Alex Pentland|The Data Revolution Can Monitor Changes in the Human Condition by Alex Pentland]] > “For the last half-century, digital technology has delivered the most powerful tools in the form of processors, networking, and sensors. Processing came first, providing the brains for space probes and the computational bulldozers needed for tackling computation-intensive research. Then with the advent of the Arpanet, the Internet, and the World Wide Web, networking became a powerful medium for accessing and sharing scientific knowledge—and connecting remotely to everything from supercomputers to telescopes.” > **— Paul Saffo**, *2016, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC”* [[reminders/Information/Digital Networks Connected Science to Its Instruments by Paul Saffo|Digital Networks Connected Science to Its Instruments by Paul Saffo]] ## Sources / Provenance - Internet protocol histories; FBI Morris Worm history.