Well hello again everyone. If you were expecting to receive a short story or a piece of refined leisure curation, then you may have meant to subscribe to a new project I’m part of with some fantastic fellow authors. Or perhaps you’ve somehow missed the memos we’ve been crumpling up and throwing into your office windows. We send out 4-5 pieces a week, every week and we hope you’ll make the magazine a part of your relaxing Friday evening or Saturday morning routine. So far I’ve published one short story about spirits at war and one about a future that never was, alongside some of the best poetry, annotated playlists, and film reviews available on this platform. Join us for the revival of the pulp magazines of yesteryear, infused with a brand new spirit!
Welcome (or welcome back) to our irregularly scheduled programming. As life invades my carefully prepared plans for this year (or more accurately, as God graciously redirects my plans for my good and His pleasure), it has become clear that the previous pace and style of Theofuturism will need slight adjustments. Never fear, I’m not going anywhere! And we will occasionally return to form with a ponderous and dramatically lengthy essay or two. But we need something a bit more fit to my current lifestyle (fully embracing the Side Hustle Economy) and I suspect to my readers’ tastes (less Manifesto, more Transmissions from the Underground). Here we go…
Let's talk about psychic shields. I think an important part of our current “are you very very much online vs. very very much not online” social media rancor/discussion is not addressing the potential for moderation. To put a fine point on it, what about self-control?
The fact that media exists is not new, and human need to control our mental environment isn't an innovation. We need to rediscover a kind of studied ignorance or intentional lack of attention as a mental tool. The barrage of information assaulting our senses daily is not going to magically disappear, and for many it is neither possible nor even beneficial to respond by withdrawing into some sort of anti-technology monasticism. But neither can we afford to simply shrug and allow our tools to dictate our behavior and carve trenches into our mental landscape.
This is the thought technology I want to suggest for us today: imagine your mind as a vessel, bombarded by attacks in the form of information. An immediately necessary task is to strengthen the defenses that will prevent uncontrolled information from striking your brain-craft. These deflector shields need to be actively managed in order to best perform their function. In order to focus on anything, completing a project, sharing a conversation, or enjoying time with a child, you cannot simultaneously be focused on everything. Begin disciplining yourself to consciously choose which informational sources are allowed to matter to you. At any one time this can be literal devices and channels, or more abstractly types of conversation or issues and controversies.
As you begin this filtering process, you will probably notice many different forms of informational attack which have breached your inner defenses without so much as one conscious thought or decision on your part. These ought to be the first deflected by our new psychic shielding. I was inspired to think about this issue from a brief exchange on twitter with a creator I appreciate.
Their concept of paid mute groups on Twitter (or whatever the Bird Site is called now) sparked my imagination. I was reminded that we have probably already reached a zenith in terms of how much information a human being can usefully process in a given day. While this boundary could be pushed outward in a number of ways, I don't believe that would be a particularly wholesome way to respond. My guess is that the next few decades find people much more willing to explore increasingly inventive methods for personal psychic shielding, protecting themselves from the corrosive nature of unrestricted information warfare. Conduct your own inventory. Watch out for gaps in your defenses. Protect your awareness.
Have a good day in the metaverse. Shields up.
To me a very strong starting place in the world of self-curating information is just to ask yourself "Is my opinion or knowledge of this topic both relevant and useful?" enough that you eventually get to the point where you can say, out loud, without worry, "I'm not in a position to have an opinion on that topic."
Once you get there other tools of self-moderation come naturally.
It's easier to say than to do, though. You will always have an opinion and your brain will always work to justify it. It takes a lot of work to recognize that your opinion has neither relevance nor usefulness. The good thing is it becomes easier over time.
As someone who liberally blocks/mutes people on Twitter and even Notes, I'm liking the idea of a personal information defense system. But there has to be a systematic way of doing it. As it is, I feel like I'm just killing the worker ants while their queen/hive is still out there somewhere.