Information Overload, or Information Overlords?

That's the central question of our current and foreseeable future. Are we accidentally distracted and increasingly ADD as a civilization, or are we being deliberately encouraged by classes above us to pay attention to the bright shiny things, and not the hand that's reaching for our wallet?

Is our mental universe going to be forevermore a duct-taped pastiche of websites, blogs, overheated cable hosts and MySpace/Facebook/Twitter hearsay? Or is this a passing phase of out-of-phase waves, and information will soon reach a blur in which we'll either be mashed beneath white-water rapids, or bourn to a stable place where we can build a new foundation like the frog in the bucket of cream who kept paddling until he churned an island made of butter?

And most importantly, what can we do about any of this?

This blog is my attempt to answer that.

It's also, as a corollary, a place where I'd like to explore an actual art of Mind Fu.

Mind Fu is not just the first two syllables of mindfuck. Or mindfunk, for that matter. (i.e. George Clinton or Praxis.) Mind Fu is my concept for a system of mental self-defense, based on a philosophy of truth as not only moral but necessary as a foundation for self-preservation.

Like all the best self-defense systems, it is designed for those who don't necessarily have the resources of the wealthy. I want it simple, logical, and something that will work well for any human regardless of their formal education or class level.

I'm making it up as a I go along. Like all of us. I know along this path have been many others. No less than Socrates I consider as a formidable sensei. In the semantic field, a giant like Korzybyski. In linguistics and politics, Noam Chomsky. In a unified view of design and life, Buckminster Fuller. In the culture wars, such heroic warriors such as Hunter S. Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut, and modern-day red belts like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

'Cause whether it's accidental overload, or occidental overlords (or Asian for that matter, what with the rise of China) - the key need for us peasants is the same: to keep our heads, know our direction, and constantly have balance. To not fight energy with energy, but cut straight to the center of whatever is coming at us.

Because while information is always increasing, our brains won't be getting bigger. At least unless we all get booted up into computers during the coming singularity. In which case, I' might need to start another blog.