The living world is thus to function as a super-organism, controlled by a global brain consisting of people with access to the decentralized network. Humans as 'equals' among other 'equals' use and support this non-egoistic community by sharing information. Some may find this reminiscent of Communist ideas and ideals, but in this vision, material cycles are no longer governed by goods or money. No, the only thing that counts in the Cyberspace is more information. It replaces gold or other coveted substances, because the withholding or providing of necessary information is becoming increasingly valuable.
Information is both currency and controlling element.
Supporters of the global brain vision seem to more or less be of this opinion. In much the same way that a human fetus experiences a growth of cells in the central nervous system starting in the eighth week, and the acceleration of this growth breaks off during the twelfth week, thus forcing the formation of links between the nerve cells, the human population and its now emerging interlinking via Internet seem to be undergoing a similar development. Peter Russell, one of the foremost thinkers in the 'Global Brain Group' has described and analyzed this phenomenon. Here, Russell proposes an analogy to the population explosion on our planet. According to Peter Russell, the Earth's population will stabilize at some 10 to 12 billion people in the future.