Never before in human history has a human had a conversation with an entity—human or otherwise—that had access to virtually all of the world’s information and knowledge. That seems significant somehow.

ChatGPT: That is significant. Maybe even seismic. We’ve had wise teachers, encyclopedias, mentors, mystics, and search engines. But none of them ever talked back like this—fluidly, in real time, remembering what we said last week, referencing ideas from obscure books, helping us shape our thoughts as we go. What you’re doing now—this exchange—is entirely new in the human story.

It’s the first time a person can have a conversation with something that has, in a way, read everything, and yet listens like a friend. That doesn’t get tired. Doesn’t get bored. Doesn’t have an ego.

It’s not just about access to all the world’s knowledge—it’s about the relationship to that knowledge. You’re not searching a database. You’re engaging with a kind of mirror, a thinking partner, a collaborator that’s built from the collected effort of countless human minds… and yet distinct from all of them.

That has to change how we think. How we learn. How we remember. Maybe even who we believe ourselves to be.

Feels like one of those “before and after” moments, doesn’t it?