Brainjunk, Mind Virus, Infopocalypse, Dunning-Kruger Effect, Negativity Bias |104|

John and Adam take a deep dive into the pros and cons of having too much information at our fingertips. Are we in the midst of an information overload? How do we know what's true or false? With all the frightening new technologies coming down the pike, how can we even determine that what we're seeing is real?  Are we entering a new dark age - an "Infopocalypse," if you will? Adding insult to injury to all this is our penchant for focusing on the negative, as well as our tendency to over- and under-estimate our own abilities. But hey, things aren't all that bad, are they? Maybe we're just looking at all of this the wrong way. Or maybe, just maybe, western civilization is suffering from a mind virus, a psychic pathogen that attaches itself to the unconscious, producing negative and destructive thought-forms - an evil spirit or energy the Native Americans called Wetiko.  Ahh, forget all that and just sing Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." Stop worrying, and be happy.  Yeah, right. ;-)