Beyond The Network

John52fe walked down the gray street, his shoes squelching in the muddy ground. He was a man on a mission: get to the school on time or else. Satch3r^[1] would be angry. Very angry with him indeed.

Ever since the Mandatory Education Act of 2230, all persons ages 6 through 24 were enrolled in a mandatory schooling program. School began with grade 0 (for now, in the age of computers, many more things started from 0 than from 1) and ended with grade 18. Thus John52fe, age 18, was in 12th grade... 12 down, 6 more to go.

It had rained the night before, and the street was full of mud. BioTurf helped to keep lawns nice and uniform, but step on someone's lawn and prepare to be immobilized with a stun gun or similar. People nowadays sure didn't like trespassers in their front yards.

John52fe's name was derived from his family identifier. Last names were obsolete; families were now defined by a 4-digit hexadecimal number, allowing 65,536 families to have unique names. A newborn child was given a 4-digit number in addition to his family identifier; at the age of 7 or 8, he or she could choose a name of their choice. When one turned 24, he could drop the family identifier from his usual name. It did not matter, as their legal 8-digit number was what identified them in The Network.

The Network.

The Network was where John52fe lived. Where all of his friends lived. Where every member of the human race lived. It was a blend of reality and unreality, an illusion so perfect that one simply did not realize he was in any sort of unreality at all. Made possible by the computing advances of the 23rd century, and made practical by the energy advances in the early 24th, The Network was now a part of daily life.

Humans interacted with The Network via a low-level techlepathic bond – Network generators created data fields throughout the entire area of The Network, which would interact with a tiny chip embedded in the brain of every child born. This chip would send sensory and control signals into the brain, thus bringing a new level of interaction to the world.

John52fe came to the end of the lane and turned north. The school was one block away, a large beige-colored building with many square windows. Other students were entering the building, some in groups, some alone. He was just on time: invoking the clock, he noted that the time was 7:58:03; he had exactly 2 minutes, 57 seconds to enter the school building before he was counted tardy.

He passed through the doors. Transparently to him, he was being scanned by the school's security system. Security in the 27th century was tight, effective, yet unobtrusive – there was no more need to lock doors, for example, since The Network kept track of access rights and simply blocked access to unauthorized persons.

John52fe entered classroom #28, waited a few moments while he was analyzed by the system, and sat down at a desk. Along with 60 other students in the room, he waited until the teacher arrived.

The Network made standard teaching obsolete, so the function of a teacher at school was more that of an overseer and guide. One could access vast amounts of information simply by walking around... every object was recognizable to some degree, and information such as make, model, name, and pronunciation of the name, could be obtained simply by power of will.

The first few years of school, grades 0 through 4, were spent teaching the student how to interact with objects in their everyday lives. One could, for example, find out whether or not an item was edible, or even whether or not a particular food product contained an ingredient to which the observer was allergic.

Grades 5 through 8 were spent teaching how to use various functions of The Network, and how to apply them to one's life. It was no longer necessary to spend long hours studying mathematics or grammar; these were made readily available by The Network, but the student needed to learn how to use these tools properly and build knowledge from them.

Grades 9 through 12 – secondary school – were for the perfection of skills taught in earlier grades. Building knowledge from known sources was especially reinforced. Grades 13 through 18 were spent preparing the students for life on their own. All the while, more and more tools available through The Network were explored... for The Network was vast, and even old men of 160 years could still learn something new.

Satch3r was a middle-aged man who enjoyed teaching, though he hated it when students arrived late. He entered the classroom and began.

Today's class was, as usual, about The Network. John52fe had heard this very same lecture before, many times. He already knew all of this... after all, mastering the basics of The Network was not an arduous task in any respect, at least not for him.

John52fe was proficient with the many tools The Network had to offer, often doing things that most 18-year-olds did not know of. However, as per regulations, school was taught by age and not learning ability. Thus, although he was on the level of 14th grade or so, he was still required by law to attend 12th.

His thoughts wandered as he dozed off in his seat. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright, for Satch3r had asked him a question.

"John52fe, if you think this is boring, have you any idea what life was like without The Network? So sit up and pay attention."

It was intended as a reprimand, but had a different effect on John52fe.

All through the lesson, John52fe listened, more intently than he usually did. For Satch3r was talking about the many benefits of The Network to humanity. How it had curbed violence, allowed humans to communicate better... how the ancient humans, with their primitive technology, could not enjoy the many conveniences of society that they did today.