Paul Otlet described a future networked environment – the Mundaneum – that in many ways resembles the present-day Internet. But his vision extended well beyond the scope of a simple information repository.
The Mundaneum that Otlet imagined would serve as the intellectual nerve center of a a post-national world order, connecting governments, universities, bookstores, and other institutions in a utopian collaborative network.
Ultimately, Otlet imagined that such an environment would allow national boundaries to dissolve, eliminate the causes of war, and allow humanity to make a collective leap forward towards a more harmonious and enlightened state of being.