I tweet, therefore I am

The effect of randomness in our lives is very understated. The brain is essentially a neural network of neurons. You have millions of neurons that are connected through synapses. Each connection between neurons has a 'weight'. All of our thoughts, decisions, memories etc. (viz essentially who we are) is affected by how this neural network is represented. Because of the millions of random connections between neurons, every person is unique in the way he/she thinks and interprets the world. Even congenital twins will never have the same neural network even though they have the same DNA.

Coming to the external world, it is not very different. Our lives are very much determined by when/where we were born, parents, neighborhood, friends, relatives etc. All these are the 'neurons' of the external world and each has its own 'weight'. Our senses connect the neural network of the brain to that of the external world.

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert calls it the 'exobrain'.

Given this backdrop, it is not hard to see why things like Twitter and Facebook are important. To a lot of people it is a tool to showcase vanity. But what the new toys have given is a new dimension to the 'exobrain'.

There are a a gazillion use cases of Twitter in our practical lives - like following techies so that you can keep up with the latest tech trends, what to read/eat/watch. It motivates you to run longer (for bragging rights) and to take better photos (lest your friends comment about bad photos on FB) and recently, even sparked revolution in Egypt, Libya etc. (despite what Malcolm Gladwell says here). The least you can do then is to help serendipity find you.

But the bigger picture of a more connected world is far more fascinating. It represents 'Whats happening' with everyone in the world and 'What's on everybody's mind'. Now, if that is not the greatest thing to happen to human civilization since Gutenberg's press, what is?