I couldn't help but think of the Arthur C Clark novel when reading this. It's not the first time the concept of a collective mind has been explored, nor will it be the last. But comparing it to Childhood's End brings up other pertinent questions as well - what effects would a technology like this have on our evolution as a species? What effects might it have on us even within our lifespan? We simply cannot know. We're still completely clueless when it comes to the human brain and, as Animats and others have already pointed out, by the time we have the technology to implant chips in our brain that allow us to receive a stream of other's thoughts or emotions, filter that stream out at any time, detect when emotions we're feeling are not our own and identify whose they are, we'll have done plenty of other things with the technology first.

Furthermore, it seems the general reaction from the /. crowd overwhelming focuses on the potential dangers and downfalls of such technology. Then again, when has anyone on /. ever argued for anything that would make them be (gasp) social?

A rather hilarious example of the absurd level that content farming can reach on Google is the first result when "female serial killers" is entered as the query:

"Famous Female Serial killers; Top Serial killers; Best Females in their Field
List of notable or famous Female Serial Killers; incl. professionals who went on to have careers in other fields..."

What a great way to dissuade people from participating in - or signing up for - anything at all.