from the needs hierarchy as reflected in the composition and utility of the Internet and the Web. One assumes that the progression of needs hierarchy stimuli progresses from the deficiency needs through the growth needs. We suggest that in considering the transcendent personal device the impetus actually begins with the highest of the growth needs; that of transcendence itself. Thus, we will consider the potential capabilities of the device beginning with the goal of affecting the transcendence facilities provided by computer networks through the device to its individual bearer.

The Transcendent Personal Device

Transcendence builds upon the cognitive abilities of the mind coupled with its communication capabilities that are enabled through the human mastery of language. As we’ve noted previously, fulfilling the higher order needs in Maslow’s hierarchy mandates a social structure. These are not needs that can readily be fulfilled for a person in total isolation. Indeed, this requirement for a supporting social ecosystem might be a significant, contributing factor to the observation that complete isolation of a person affects their cognitive functions. So, our interpretation of transcendence is a need aimed at actually bringing the required social ecosystems into existence. In a rather counter-intuitive twist, we suggest that this prospect can perhaps be illustrated by reflecting on the bottom left elements of the pretergenesis table of Chapter 5 and through them considering the rather complex behavior of the beaver (Castor canadensis).

The beaver is a large rodent that prior to 1700 lived throughout most of the lands of North America north of what is today the border between the United States and Mexico. Beavers are social animals, grouping together in multi-generational family units through which they pursue a variety of group-centric behaviors. Their natural habitat is comprised of small, meandering streams. Beavers are well suited to an aquatic environment, having a lush fur that provides insulation and excellent streamlining properties that allow them to move easily through water. They have webbed hind feet that provide strong propulsion and they have a large, flat tail. Like most rodents, they possess two pronounced upper front teeth that grow at an accelerated rate and allow heavy use that in turn keeps them worn down. These teeth are supported in an oversized jaw bone structure that gives them great power as the beavers pursue one of their prevalent activities, cutting down trees along the banks of the streams in which they live. They use the bark and leaves from such trees for food, and they use the main bodies of the trees and their branches to construct dams within their resident streams. Their teeth, paws and tail are well suited to the cutting down of trees, the movement of branches and the use of mud to bind materials together to form their structures. The dams they construct form pools or ponds of water, some of which may be relatively large, encompassing thousands of square meters. Such pools provide constant water sources for the growth of trees and shrubs along the banks, thus providing a continuing source of food for the beavers.

Beavers also use the ponds that result from the dams that they build as a means of safety and security for themselves and for their young. Within the ponds and along the banks, the beavers construct nests; in some instances, they create small floating islands on which to build their nests. These nests are completely enclosed and typically have only two entry points, one being a hole in the floor inside the nest that leads directly into the water. Through this hole, the beavers have ingress and egress to the nest by swimming underwater and coming up into the nest through the hole. For any predator that seeks to attack the nest in this fashion, it immediately places the beavers inside the nest on the high ground and in a position to use the formidable close combat weapon presented by their teeth. If predators use the other door, then the beavers have a

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