Pentland framed smart infrastructure as a global nervous system for humanity.

Evidence

New digital systems are required that must be “integrated,” “holistic,” “responsive,” “dynamic,” and “self-regulating”: “We need a radical rethinking of societies’ systems. We must create a nervous system for humanity that maintains the stability of our societies’ systems throughout the globe.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1359

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the ‘nervous system for humanity’ metaphor that animates the totalistic instrumentarian vision.
• XREF: connects to: Pentland recasts society as a causal system to be engineered from behavior data — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1382; Industrialism’s communication technologies shaped humanity’s global self-awareness — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 190; Modernity’s globalising tendencies connect individuals to large-scale systems — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 409

Broader Connections

• Modernity’s globalising tendencies connect individuals to large-scale systems #expands (0.72) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 409
• Industrialism’s communication technologies shaped humanity’s global self-awareness #expands (0.70) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 190