I hope I didn't come across as downplaying the significance of the internet and the previous forms of human communication. I do think the transfer of information is a vital thing. It's just hard to fit it into Maslow's hierarchy because it can influence the acquisition of every other need. I completely understand the idea of including it, however. I think Maslow might have assumed informational know-how as a given when he came up with his hierarchy. Maybe it should be the first item after all, as a subset of knowledge to enable the rest of the needs.