answer:User: Are human ways of thinking evolving as computer ‘thought’ evolves? Cleverbot: No. I am human and you are a computer. I think the largest obstacle here is that much of the information that is so readily available doesn’t have to be earned in the same way it once was. The carpenter who grew up building things, and hitting his thumb with the hammer, getting splinters, and ultimately becoming a fine craftsman is probably superior to the carpenter who read an eHow article on the subject and declared himself a carpenter 3 weeks later. When the calculator became commonplace.. didn’t you notice that more people started to suck at math? There is almost an overflow of information as well. Back in the old days information flow across the globe may have been a little like playing Chinese Whispers . Today, information is intact and in digital duplicate when sent across the globe. I’m sort of rambling here because your question is a great one and has my mind bouncing from limb to limb in a jungle of brainstorming. Let me avoid the tributaries that are taking it into various underwater caves and just answer more succinctly: “How will this change the way we think?” Perhaps the mob mentality will grow stronger. Spreading rapidly, popular opinion can be validated by others almost at once. Similarly, unpopular opinions can be squashed, mocked, and ridiculed on a grande scale. “What will it do to the evolution of human thought?” In a way it may assist in the degradation of human thought. Quite a lot of people don’t go outside anymore. They will spend hours researching how to eat properly, how to excercise, and what new equipment to buy (all the while being distracted by a youtube video, or a reddit picture, or a fluther question). Then they’ll find that it’s too late to cook dinner so they’ll order out. Then it’s late so they’ll go to bed, waking up depressed about eating the takeout the night before and start the process all over again. Computer thought can be an addiction more powerful than we realize. 40 years ago people weren’t wandering around looking for a power outlet, feeling crippled because they couldn’t connect to the internet. They developed social skills, learned the personal stories of those around them, or sat quietly churning away at their own thoughts. Without the distraction of smart phones, ipods, tablets, and laptops people knew how to talk to people and get around. They didn’t need a GPS device in their car or an app giving them directions to the “highest rated” local restaurant. Exploration was more individual.. not swayed by the 29 reviews posted online.. Of course, in the hands of the right people the “computer mind” is an absolutely wonderful thing! Scientists have been able to collaborate worldwide, musicians have played symphonies on split screen from their homes thousands of miles apart, and flutherers are able to discuss these things at great length without the necessity of traveling to the town meeting. I’d wager that the effects of this so-called “computer mind” vary greatly depending on a person’s upbringing and specific occupation. “How long till we bend our algorithms to the improvement of DNA and accelerate actual evolution at the molecular level?” To me this sounds a bit like 2001: A Space Odyssey.. I think we’ll have to wait quite a while for that one. Ok, this is much longer than I had anticipated and may not have even addressed your question as I’d intended but.. I read your well constructed description and it got me thinking about a trillion things at once. Thanks for that. ^ ^