Some related works from my notes on the extended mind thesis:

The Extended Mind Thesis, Andy Clark and David Chalmers (1998) - https://www.alice.id.tue.nl/references/clark-chalmers-1998.p...

Man-Computer Symbiosis, J. C. R. Licklider, (1960) - https://groups.csail.mit.edu/medg/people/psz/Licklider.html

As We May Think, Vannevar Bush (1945) - https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-m...

Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework, by Douglas Engelbart (1962) - https://www.dougengelbart.org/pubs/augment-3906.html

Characteristica universalis, Leibniz (c. 1679) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characteristica_universalis

Edit: Also, if you're interested in Licklider in particular, The Dream Machine is essential reading.

https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Machine-M-Mitchell-Waldrop/dp/1...

My favorite book on this topic is The Dream Machine which tells how Licklider believed in the "Intergalactic Network" and then worked through all the bureaucracy to make it a reality.

* https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Machine-M-Mitchell-Waldrop/dp/1...

Didn't find it in the list, but I heard it from Patrick Collison: The Dream Machine

"The story of the man who instigated the work that led to the internet—and shifted our understanding of what computers could be."

https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Machine-M-Mitchell-Waldrop/dp/1...

High confidence that most HN users will like the story. The book gave me a sense of purpose and belonging in the 'computer industry'. Software and the internet were already magical to me. After reading the Dream Machine, even more so.

Learning about computing pioneers' vision for what could be has kept me motivated to learn and one day contribute to humanity's greatest endeavor.

Depending on how deep you want the answer to be?

On one of the levels without ww2 and the cold war afterwards — there would never be the Internet and modern computers as we know them [1]

On a philosophical level — as long as there is a dualism, there is a constant battle and interplay between the sides. So war in one form or another is as inevitable as peace.

In a sense the whole life itself is a constant battle between good and evil, chaos and order, entropy and information [2]

On the surface — scarced resources, justice, religions are just silly stories that people create for themselves to sugarcoat and rationalize those (or other) deeply embeded into the reality drivers.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1732265119/

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Into-Cool-Energy-Flow-Thermodynamics/... and other similar books

Also Jordan Peterson “maps of meaning” and any serious book on roots of religious myths and stories.

Here are the good books trying to answer your question among others:

https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Machine-M-Mitchell-Waldrop/dp/1...

https://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer...

I recently read, and recommend, The Dream Machine - great walk throught this and many related topics and events. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1732265119