EXT. STREET OUTSIDE OF 30 ROCK – 1:30 AM
Wendolyn, December, and Nick have been waiting eleven hours for tickets to see Saturday Night Live with host Zach Galifianakis. The temperature is hovering above freezing. An unknown SNL cast member exits the building and heads toward those waiting in line with doughnuts and coffee.
CAST MEMBER: Hey guys, do you want doughnuts and coffee? It’s really cold. We appreciate you waiting all this time!
WENDOLYN: Coffee! Great! Thank you!
CAST MEMBER: No, thank you for waiting!
NICK: See you tomorrow!
CAST MEMBER: Yes, it will be a great show!
Cast member continues down the line.
DECEMBER: Who was that?
NICK: He’s a cast member.
DECEMBER: What’s his name?
NICK: I don’t know. I think he used to be on Nickelodeon.
Nick pulls out his iPhone and brings up the IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base) application.
WENDOLYN: Look at the SNL cast page!
DECEMBER: Go to this season! See if you can find the featured cast members!
WENDOLYN: Type faster!
NICK: He isn’t here. I don’t see him anywhere on this listing.
DECEMBER: Google it! Google it now!
WENDOLYN: Type faster!
Nick goes to Google and types “SNL current cast” and views search results. Wikipedia is brought up on the screen. Nick scrolls down to the 2010-2011 Season. But there are no pictures.
DECEMBER: Who is it? Is it Paul Brittain?
Nick returns to Google Images and searches for Paul Brittain. The images return no familiar result.
DECEMBER: Is it Taran Killam?
Nick uses Google Images to search Taran Killam. The pictures match the face of the man who had given them coffee. Satisfied, Nick returns to IMDB and searches for Taran Killam. He examines Taran Killam’s acting credits. Finds The Amanda Show!
NICK: See! I told you he was on Nickelodeon!
December Lange, Wendolyn Ebbert, and Nicholas Scoufaras Wait For Saturday Night Live Tickets Outside of 30 Rock
Although it took a relatively long time to discern the identity of the cast member using several different searches (Google, Wikipedia, IMDB), we eventually got the information that we needed. We had to rely on previous knowledge of casts to narrow down people and on facial recognition to match pictures. Once information was found, we double-checked it against other sources to ensure that we were correct in our assessment. This process worked out well. If it were not for the collective brain, we would not have been able to correctly identify the cast member we were able to meet and therefore would not have been able to update our Facebook statuses and gloat to all of our friends safely at home, warm, and in bed.
*As a note, this was an actual conversation that took place while waiting for SNL tickets. However, the dialogue may be slightly altered due to the passage of time and fallibility of memory.
So the course is now officially over, your final grades are posted, and I'm having a hard time admitting that we're finished! But since we've had a course (and a terrific course, thanks to all of you) about the future of education, I guess it doesn't really have to be done. When are we "finished" with the future? 
Sketch comedy works in more ways than one! Here’s another way your searching succeeded: You now have a post that will be “googlable” for others. I just tried it. If you google
Zach Galifianakis wendolyn december
this post is the first result.
Now, I sort of cheated in constructing those search terms, but it’s also possible, someday, that someone will need to know the name of that actor, and this sketch will give the answer.
We have met the collective brain. And it is us.