Science fiction fans will be familiar with the word “mentat.” With the release of the latest movie version of Frank Herbert’s Dune it may have become a tad more mainstream but I’m guessing it’s still pretty esoteric. In that far future story, computers have been largely replaced by human versions called mentats. If you needed a real-life exemplar, probably Ken Jennings would be as close as we can get. On a more commonplace level, you almost certainly know someone who would fit the description.

            Before everyone carried a phone that connected them instantly (more or less) to the mighty internet, people with excellent memories who were well-read and well-informed (think someone who not only watched the news but read newspapers [hard copies that once contained currents events] and magazines) served a similar function. Sometimes they specialized, say for example, in popular music or film or finance. Other times they were true generalists with a wide-ranging knowledge. These were people who were forced into handicaps or banished from Trivial Pursuit.

            What has become of this segment of society? Where they were once revered as oracles and seers, now any yo-yo with a phone can retrieve the name of the drummer from Vanilla Fudge (it’s Carmine Appice), who Crispus Attucks was (first American killed in the Revolution) or some such trivia. It has been a serious and demeaning demotion to the ranks of the every day. I think this has played mightily to the high rates of depression in Boomers. It’s a loss of a sense of worth. In the quiet circles of folks you may know there could be festering cliques of neo-Luddites, nursing a resentment of that world wide web of interlopers.

            Still, the popularity of Jeopardy and Trivia Nights speaks to our continued admiration of “mentats.” Your phone may be a great equalizer, but we’d best remember- the Geek shall inherit the earth.