Disclaimer
What I’m about to bring up is not a unique observation, but it does represent something that I deeply resonate with. The idea I’m about to talk about is the subject of countless essays and is even on the wikipedia entry of the topic. Still, I don’t think it’s common knowledge so if there is any chance that I can spread it, I’d like to do that.
A God’s Eye View
In Lord Of The Rings, there is a mystical artifact called a Palantir. These devices are magical glassy objects that allow users to view events that are far away from themselves. According to wikipedia, these are its’ properties:
A single palantír enabled its user
to see places far off, or events
in the past. A person could look
into a palantír to communicate
with anyone looking into another
palantír. They could then see
"visions of the things in the
mind" of the person looking
into the other stone.
So it’s magical glass that can be used to learn things, talk to people, and view things remotely. It’s essentially an enchanted medieval smartphone.
On top of this, it has a property that is uniquely fictional. It’s never wrong. All the data, visions, and information that a palantir gleans is correct.
The Effects of the Palantir on Users
Given the remarkable power to have the internet in the age where people didn’t even have guaranteed access to clean water must be pretty advantageous. How did the Palantir users do with that god-like power?
Pippin - Pippin briefly held the palantir and was sticken with anxiety as Sauron noticed him online, got an incorrect idea, and sent an army after him. That’s right. Sauron tried to cancel Pippin.
Aragorn - Aragorn used the Palantir to taunt Sauron in a literal flame war. It aggrevated Sauron so much that it devolved into all out combat. Aragorn also came down with Anxiety since he saw terrible visions while using it.
Sauruman - The white wizard used the Palantir to spy on Sauron to find a weakness and was eventually convinced to switch sides. He was literally radicalized by his use of the Palantir.
Denethor - In the book, Denethor had a Palantir and got so freaked out by a vision of a false-flag attack that he lost all hope and committed suicide. Yup, he unalived himself because of fake news. The boats may have been waving the bad guys’ flag but the Palantir didn’t show Aragorn at the helm.
Sauron - The big bad himself! He makes two distinct mistakes with the Palantir. When he is looking for “the hobbit”, he sees Pippin and assumes that Pippin is “the hobbit” that he’s looking for. This sends him on a wild goose chase. Second, he gets rage-baited by Aragorn who he assumes has the ring, given how cocky he’s acting online. In reality, his use of the Palantir ended up keeping him occupied on stuff that didn’t really matter.
Woah, So Everyone Had a Bad time?
Yeah. Pretty much. The Palantir gave each of its users accurate, but incomplete information that lead them to make silly mistakes. It also caused everyone to act emotionally, sometimes to the point of serious mental problems. It seems like relying on these things is a TERRIBLE idea!
So is the Palantir useless?
No. It gave Sauron tons of practical tactical information that he used when deploying forces, spies, and resources. It did facilitate communication between Sauron and Sauruman. It helped Aragorn force a conflict as a distraction. It did give everyone more information that ultimately helped them make decisions.
The difference?
The Heroes in the Story learned a fact from the Palantir and then put it down, processed it, and acted rationally whereas the villains used it constantly and let it consume them.
The heroes also seemed aware of the ways it could be exploited and fed it deceptive information to keep the villains feeling confident. Did you know that Aragorn was a hacker?
The metaphor is obvious.
Social Media, Analytics, News… All of them give you a view of the past and present from the comfort of your house, but also give you stress, anxiety, and hopelessness.
The greatest irony to me is that there is a surveillance company called Palantir that promises the government a magic crystal ball that’ll show them everything.
Bro, Sauron lost BECAUSE he over relied on the Palantir. I gotta wonder if Peter Thiel, the CEO of Palantir, knows this and is doing the surveillance thing to specifically give it a blind eye to activities he wants to remain hidden. You can’t know about the Palantir and think it’s a good idea to make it the cornerstone of your operations. Even when the information is always correct, we’ve seen instances where false assumptions lead to losses.
I’m not here to tell you how to live your life
But I do want to give you that insight if you didn’t have it. Access to infinite knowledge:
- Caused a hobbit to have a panic attack
- Caused a King to faulter
- Caused a Governor to kill himself
- Caused a Wizard to commit treason
- Caused a Dark Lord to make an ass of u and me (assume)
Do what you want with that information.