Concentration In the Age of Information

Sauron from The Lord of the Rings was a villain with an unusual appearance. Though he had once possessed a body in Ages passed, Tolkien decided to give him an ethereal form. The titular character was a great, flaming eye and his gaze followed the Fellowship across middle earth. It was gigantic and could see for leagues in every direction and even through stone (I think).

My faulty memory aside, there is a reason that I bring your attention to this fabled antagonist: the only power that Sauron ever needed was to focus. As the dark lord of Mordor, he was bent on world domination. In order to do this he needed several things. First, an army of orcs to fight for him. Second, the erosion of old alliances (Saruman). Third, the destruction of Kings (Theoden through Grima) and the corruption of heads of state (Denethor via the palantir). And fourth, though he never achieved it, the One Ring. He came very close to acquiring all of these things without a body. All he had (besides untold magical powers but that defeats my point) was the ability to focus his energy and thoughts into his goals.

In the Age of Information, we have more information than any generation has ever had yet for some reason we use almost none of it. We use the internet as an extra special television set. We use it to connect with acquaintances thousand of miles away yet we allow it to destroy the relationships we have with our families because of petty idealogical differences. We use it much as Denthor used the Palantir: to spy on others and entertain ourselves. It corrupts better than Grima in our ear, and it unites people who before would have never had the ability to muster resources and band together. Extended metaphor aside, we can do better.

How? by using the internet as what it honestly is: the greatest tool that mankind has ever devised. Coupled with our incredible powers of focus, I believe that we can transcend the vapid thrall of cat videos and dopamine draining pornography that it currently is. What creature has more focus than a determined human being? Who built the Pyramids? The Great Wall of China? Who got to the moon and back and has sent a probe hurtling past Pluto and beyond? It was not chimpanzees that designed and launched the worlds greatest telescope into space so that we could see into the womb of creation itself. Just like the warrior who claims to be the storm in the face of danger, human beings are the archetype of God. We are resilience and determination. There is no doubt in my mind that we are currently enduring an assault on our morals and on our minds through the internet. I don’t know what Sauron is attacking us, but I believe that as soon as we decide to accept our destiny they will be routed and deleted from the world forever.
All I know is this: if we do not utilize our concentration for ourselves, then someone else will turn it against us.