As We May Think

As We May Think is an essay by Vannevar Bush, first published in The Atlantic in July 1945.

In it, Bush makes the case for an information society mediated by shared knowledge in a hypertext system. Functionality and usage is illustrated with the workings of a memex, a device to store, retrieve, and track one's path through interlinked documents stored on microfilm.

Influence

Douglas Engelbart drew inspiration from the essay in establishing the Augmentation Research Center, leading to the development of many modern computing paradigms showcased in The Mother of All Demos.

The memex concept is also cited as a precursor to the global network of 'The Wired' in the fictional world of Serial Experiments Lain.

See also

• History of transhumanism
• Memory augmentation

External links

• As We May Think by Vannevar Bush, The Atlantic
• As We May Think on Wikipedia