Panopticonfidence Man
In the 16th century the air was thick with ideas. They were a dime a dozen, inspirations, factoids, anecdotes, novelties, apparitions, one hit wonders, fads, phenoms, news and notices. It was far worse than the iPhonies that clog the streets today, this ancient populace was chock-a-block know-it-all without worrrying about reception.
The 16th century was a real boon for panopticonfidence men like Nostradamus who realized the future was where they would make their marks. Aggregating feeds from the heavens, angelic shills, nutmeg-induced visions and other divine schemes, Nostradamus knew how and when to author prophecies, as he pre-empted the virtual economy by several centuries. 
All that info-pollution and data smog was churning in the open air in the 16th century, being without the cybernetic filters that now funnel so much of those excess emanations onto wayward blogs, and other abysmal outlets. Old Michel de Nostradame offered a difference that feigned a difference, staking a claim on swampland in virtual space long before scam became spam.
