Mike (Schwann Cybershaman) Kawitzky was born in a post-war Apartheid South Africa and (purportedly) survived being indoctrinated by state, culture and corporate influences to emerge, years later, as a social commentator, columnist, author, (a gonzo autobiography titled: "Journey to Everywhere"), and independent filmmaker, Cognition Factor [2009], and The Terence Mckenna OmniBus 2012. Mike has been a commentator on the ascent of consciousness, via social networking, from a unique South African viewpoint since the net became available in South Africa, back in 1990. Mike's first column, The Schwann Column', was published by Intelligence Magazine (Hardcopy) in 1995.

Mike has contributed media to several international conferences, plus a live performance at the LSD Symposium in Basel in 2006 on the occasion of Dr. Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday, where "True Hallucinations", a prequel of Cognition Factor was shown.

In Mike's post-corporate existence he lectured college students, filmed rocket launches and observed solar eclipses for South African Astronomical Observatories, for whom he also produced educational programs. Mike was responsible for the first official international press release for South African Large Telescope's (SALT) 'first-light' images and directed and produced videography for the International Astronautical Congress in Cape Town in 2011 while also making a presentation called; "A Zeitgeist Accelerator - The Cyberspace Evolution of the Psychoactive mind", at the Khanyisa Psychedelic Plant Symposium at the University of Johannesburg with Kilindi Iyi and Graham Hancock.

For the last few years Mike has been working on a six part afro-futuristic TV series called; "Xelexnia", a unique tale of the past, present and future of South Africa, somewhere he calls home, in a leafy suburb of Cape Town in an old Victorian house. Mike has a lovely wife, four children and two grandchildren and a dog called Remy. He enjoys riding his 1300cc V2 motorbike whenever he can and doesn't like aeroplanes. You can sometimes find him inside a space game called Elite Dangerous.