WTF is VoodooLogic?

VoodooLogic is the manifestation of an online persona.

In 7th grade, there was no 'Internet'. However, using a modem, you could dial into a local bulletin board. I could download a full screen photo of Cindy Crawford in under 5 minutes.












I had been signed on to several bulletin boards and found that having a universal screen name and password was simpler. I had chosen the screen name, Oldbones, because of the movie, The 13th Warrior. The movie was based on the book, Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton.

In the movie, a witch provides the necessary criteria for the warriors to hunt down an evil race plaguing there countryside. Her "rationale" was a psychic reading of mice bones that were thrown to the ground. She knew what to tell the warriors by interpreting how the bones landed. I actually wanted the name of the psychic witch's technique, but Oldbones provoked something in me that resonated; the dead, bleach-white bones of a mouse.

High school were the days of AOL, Prodigy, and Netscape Navigator, I hit a problem. My free trial versions of AOL wouldn't allow me to keep the same screenname. I learned to append numbers to the end of oldbones (oldbones45) in order to hold my identity during a new free trial period.

Antonio Banderes in, The 13th Warrior.

My friends were perplexed by Oldbones. He couldn't spell worth a damn and his ability to articulate hadn't reached maturity. The concept of the witch and her old bones did not have a noun. Back then, it was impossible to Google it . Her clairvoyance wasn't insanity because the technique was legitimized by those who sought her wisdom. My quest for definition drifted into understanding the human archetype of shaman.



The shaman deals with the difficulties of his tribe with techniques that aren't rational - aren't logical. However, the shaman moves with a purpose that is not inhibited by doubt. VoodooLogic became a paradoxical concept of legitimacy in faith and cultural that I could relate to.

I've found VoodooLogic becoming a portal of knowledge for other paradoxes, specifically the concept of Random. A random number sequence, as defined, will never follow a pattern. Despite this, the absence of pattern is a consistent and reliable trait within every random sequence. In other words, it is possible to encapsulate a concept with the opposite of it's meaning. It moved me to study brand identity marketing, SEO, and Taoism. =)

Armed with this knowledge, I wander the internet as a shaman of paradox in a digital world where anything is possible.

D9C