The mind is a terrible thing to waste

[Flux Trends] The mind is a terrible thing to waste. The plethora of stimuli and information available to the average urbanised person has reached stratospheric levels and the digital revolution has offered a host of new social networks and the rapid mobility of ideas.

By Mokena Makeka

24 Feb 2010

Mokena Makeka

Despite this transformative state of accessibility, this overload of content has created the context in which instant gratification is nurtured by this mobility and the ability for a discerning and discriminating public is steadily being eroded by the illusion of choice.

This constitutes a subtle assault on reason and considered decision-making, the paradox being that more information has led to a erosion of reflectivity, substantial cultural production and the over commodification of society.

Soundbites replace sound arguments

Soundbites replace sound arguments, straplines sideline strategy; we run like addicted rats in a maze in search for the next fix, unaware and unquestioning of the maze we are in.

This assault on reason has eroded our humanity, and our aesthetic of the commons, and the public realm. As we retreat behind high walls, and participate in a disconnected reality, where avatars march forward in first-person shootout games, or launch off rooftops in Persia in the guise of assassins, our sense of humanity is being replaced by frequent retreats into alternate realities and conditions.

Our public spaces, seat of the common man, the everyday, the extraordinary and ordinary, have become paradoxically pictureseque, functionally stale, and often dangerous places to be and have little to speak towards founding an interactive society of cultural productivity and vibrancy.

We have lost the momentum

We have lost the momentum and gestative conditions to bring forth the geniuses of tomorrow, partly because we are bombarded by ‘fluff,' there is not enough mental and physical space for reflection, repetition and original thought, and lack the tools for a discerning engagement with easy access to ideas.

We have become an irrational nation of consumers, not producers, and our sense of humanity is at stake. How do we locate the production of cultural knowledge, discernment and the role of public space and its associated public institutions to contest prevailing modes of (sub)urbanism and the consumption of information?

Source: 2010 Flux Trend Review

In February 2010, Bishop Geoff Davies, Dianne Bayley, Dr Craig Nossel, Ferial Haffajee, Menzi Mthethwa, Mokena Makeka, Randall Abrahams, Sylvester Chauke and Toby Shapshak –10 of the country’s leading thinkers in a broad array of disciplines – will gather to present their insights into trends beyond the economic meltdown at a one-day conference in takes place in Johannesburg: the 2010 Flux Trend Review powered by BlackBerry.

Hosted by trends analyst Dion Chang and building upon the recently published Flux Trend Review The State We’re In (published by Pan Macmillan and available at bookstores now), the conference will give a unique South African perspective to social, business, technology, political and marketing trends. For more trends and information about the conference taking place at the University of Johannesburg Theatre (Kingsway campus) on Thursday, 25 February 2010, go to www.fluxtrends.co.za. Cost is R2280 per delegate. Bizcommunity.com is a media partner.

Go to: http://www.fluxtrends.co.za

About Mokena Makeka

Architect and creative director Mokena Makeka founded Makeka Design Laboratory during his studies in 2002 and months later graduated with a distinction in architecture. He is a two-time recipient of the Cape Institute for Architecture Award of Merit and a 2010 nominee for the Johnnie Walker Celebrating Strides Awards in Design. He chairs the boards of the CAPE Africa platform and the Isandla Institute, a member of the World Economic Forum on Global Agenda Council for Design, an external examiner at the Columbia University School of architecture and a guest lecturer at the University of Cape Town. While you may have missed Mokena at Design Indaba today, Wednesday, 24 February 2010, he will be speaking at Dion Chang's Flux Trend Review Conference tomorrow, Thursday25 February.