Unscrambling the Mind

Unscrambling the Mind – A Journey Through Time and Thought
June 26, 2025

At 65, I find myself reflecting on the whirlwind of thoughts that have shaped my life, especially over the last few decades. My mind feels like a “white tornado,” as I described it today—a chaotic swirl of ideas, sticky notes of inspiration, and fragments of analysis spinning endlessly. This blog post is an attempt to tame that tornado, to pull out a few of those notes and make sense of the patterns I’ve observed, both in my own life and in the world around me.

A Life of Lists and Reflection

For years, I’ve turned to lists and blog posts to anchor my thoughts. They’re not just tools for organization but lifelines to clarity, helping me highlight what matters most. My website may not draw crowds, but it’s a personal archive—a way to reflect on my life, my choices, and the world I inhabit. Writing, recording, and even dictating thoughts, as I did today, feels like a way to capture fleeting moments of insight. I’m experimenting with AI to transcribe and refine these thoughts, hoping it can simplify the chaos and sharpen my logic. After all, memory at 65 isn’t what it used to be, and I’m looking for ways to harness technology to keep my mind clear.

A Quarter-Century Deep Dive

The last 25 years have been a deep dive into technology—web design, off-grid solutions, solar power, and self-reliance. These pursuits weren’t just hobbies; they were about survival, whether for an individual or our species. From building websites to exploring solar electric systems, I’ve been driven by a desire to learn, create, and share knowledge. Today, that focus has shifted slightly. Economics and monetary policy—Bitcoin, alt currencies, gold, silver, and the Federal Reserve—have taken center stage. These aren’t abstract concepts tostickynote to me; they’re urgent in a world where financial systems feel increasingly unstable.

Planning for the Future, Reflecting on the Past

I’ve always been a planner, guided by what I call the “15 and 10 rule”—looking 15 years ahead and 10 years back to guide my decisions. But at 65, with no children to carry forward my legacy, that perspective feels different. There’s a sense of finality, a shift in priorities. My fight isn’t for myself but for the posterity of humanity—my nieces, nephews, friends’ children, and the broader world. Yet, I see a troubling lack of “grit” in today’s society, a diminished will to confront challenges like healthcare, food systems, or the information war raging around us.

Thinking in Transparencies

My mind works in unique ways, often visualizing thoughts as transparent overlays, like the old 1960s projector slides. I see timelines—monthly, yearly, or lifelong—layered atop one another, revealing patterns and similarities. It’s like stacking anthills to compare their structures, looking for differences in flow, color, or design. As a self-taught engineer, inventor, and artist, I process information through analogies, mechanical flows, and potential bottlenecks. My thoughts churn out new ideas—product designs, systems, or information flows—sometimes emerging in dreams or random moments of clarity.

This morning, I watched a video by Jordan Peterson, whose thought process resonates with mine, though our philosophies differ. His ability to dissect complex ideas inspired me to keep exploring my own mental landscape.

A Tornado of Memory

One vivid memory stands out: as a young boy in Miltona, Minnesota, standing amidst the ashes of our burned-down barn, I watched a tornado shift from brilliant white to black, then to a surreal chrome. That image—a pristine force turning chaotic upon touching the earth—feels like a metaphor for my mind. The barn fire taught me about loss; unlike a hurricane or tornado, fire leaves nothing to salvage. That lesson, paired with the tornado’s transformation, shapes how I process destruction and creation, chaos and order.

Taming the Tornado

My goal now is to harness this mental tornado, to empower it with AI tools for planning—short-term and long-term. I want to streamline my thoughts, clarify my focus, and make sense of the patterns I’ve observed over decades. Whether it’s economics, technology, or the fight for humanity’s future, I’m still learning, still creating, still reflecting. This blog is one step in that journey—a snapshot of a mind in motion, reaching for clarity amidst the storm. With that said, of course The good Lord is always the wind in my sail and my circle of influence are always the legs to my Captain’s chair of this boat I’m taking on my journey of life.