Internet, Collective Consciousness, Collective Unconscious

If one characterization of the Internet--'Collective Consciousness'--is an allusion to Jung's 'Collective Unconsciousness'--it is a perhaps doubly ironic one.  For, while Jung is probably best known for that concept, his fundamental principle is, quite to the contrary, Atomist--that the basic drive of a person is Individuation, i. e. to distinguish oneself from others.  Now, that Individuation is best exemplified by the adolescent, as a prelude to the social processes of reproduction, child-rearing, and/or employment, is easy to verify empirically.  This limitation of Jung's concept is also exposed by Evolutionism, according to which a Species-instinct is the principle of its individual members.  So, the rubric Collective Consciousness is ironic in two respects.  First, as characterizing the Internet, it embodies the Organicist critique of Jung's Atomism, i. e. as 'collective' signifies.  Second, insofar as it exemplifies a general unawareness of Jung's actual priorities, the rubric itself can be characterized as an expression of collective ignorance.