Ellsworth

The first neural net, was the totality of verbal and directly physical/bodily based, non-verbal communication between the earliest members of our species*.

Then recorded symbols expanded the abilities/range/effectiveness of the original net.

Eventually the order of the printing press led the species to create the internet version of its earliest, native / natural / biologically intrinsic neural net.

And with help from the early hard wired internet, neural nets evolved quickly to weird: a single species manufactured into more + AI + lab grown brain bits in petri dishes.
All combining to form a larger intertwined online+offline bio-techno neural web.

*This is a deliberately Homo sapien sapien centeric perspective. Only because we live in this moment of time.