By and by, the World Wide Web has become a mirror of the human species. Everything is there for everyone to see. Behold, a perfect vehicle for collective shame.

Addendum (March 16, 2016)

Speaking of collective shame, the MIT Pantheon comes to mind once again (pantheon.media.mit.edu). Among other things, the website lists the most famous people around the globe over the last six millennia in terms of World Wide Web searches and other things over the last couple of decades. There are amazing matches galore in the rankings of different people, which are shown in parentheses in what follows. For instance, Hitler (15) is one place ahead of Mozart (16), and two ahead of Charlemagne (17); Stalin (83) is one place ahead of Ramesses II (84), and two ahead of Lenin (85); Marilyn Monroe (143) is one place ahead of Hegel (144), and two ahead of Botticelli (145); and Bruce Lee (233) is one place ahead of Pompey (234), and two ahead of Charles de Gaulle (235). Wow! But collective shame will not cross anyone’s mind when going through the ranking, for fame cannot be equated with esteem. True enough, but the two are pretty much indistinguishable after a few centuries, let alone a few millennia. Much is forgotten in the meanwhile, that is. Were it still remembered, many famous people in the Pantheon would make the visitors of the site turn red in their faces. Indeed, the human species is there in plain sight.