My Riffs

We live in the information overload age. But information alone doesn't make people smarter. Information  has become difficult to trust or even know what's true. Learning to parse information is where intelligence can be found. If you can learn to find good information you live in a good time. If you’re unable to filter information you may live in the worst of times. This is exactly how very bad ideas can become “viral”. Technology takes things to market much faster, its expanse is worldwide and bad ideas travel fast. The best “fact checker” is you. Become your own fact checker. Find better information and use it to fact check. Don’t just allow yourself to be told what’s correct and incorrect. It seems the official fact checkers are really just agenda pushers.

Noise doesn't matter, information does. It gets harder to differentiate the two due to the volume of noise now. Filtering out the noise though increases the value of the information.

Those who have control of information have the power. We’re seeing big tech hold more power than any other group.  They hold all the data and they control the flow of information.  It’s time to educate ourselves on privacy and alternate platforms. They only way these companies will be beat is if they lose their user base.  Research which search engine you should use, which email provider you should use and learn about the privacy settings on your mobile device. 

The full story is impossible to get or tell. You can’t capture the full background of every character. You can’t capture the full complexities of every situation. So when you’re told a story, know this... There’s much more to the story than you’re hearing. Always.

Information is critically important. We need it in order to make decisions, communicate and learn. But you have to know what to do with information. Buried information is rendered useless. So the information has a value, but where the true utility is found is in its use. In other words, informations true value is only found in how it's used. Learning how to filter information, clarify it and spread it is a range of skillsets that aren't easy to master. The ones who master these things have a distinct advantage over those who don't.

I couldn't complete a task today, simply because I wasn't given information. Information enables. Lack of information immobilizes. Leaders need to spread information in order to mobilize their team. Incomplete or lack of information immobilizes and harms team functionility. One way to check if the information is spreading is to watch team members most furthest from the source of information. Are they performing in line with the vision?

Every coin has two sides. There's two sides to every issue... at least. I'm learning that I can never convey the full story, and the full story is never conveyed to me. Every story can be told from a different view point based on the observer or participant. Every story has a background. Every story has outside influences not even in the story. The point being, things are more complex than we often can even get credence to. Don't get so set in your way of thinking, or your version of the events. There are so many other aspects that you likely haven't even considered. So, to tell a full story is nearly impossible. Take every story with a grain of salt, there is almost infinitely more to it then what is being told.

We have an innate instinct to put more weight into the first source we encounter on something. I think it’s the way our brains work relying on previous information to inform current and future information. So it may be instinct, but it can get us into trouble. Weigh and measure the first source you encounter on something. It may not be as valuable as other sources and we may get tricked into relying too heavily on a misinformed or weak source.

The amount of publicly available information today is staggering. And it's not slowing down at all. The rate of ignorance hasn't improved with the rate of knowledge. Today it could be argued we have as much or more ignorance than ever. Whether educated or not. Ignorance at so many levels too. The access to knowledge doesn't cure the problem of ignorance. People who have knowledge still often lack wisdom. So today in a world of so much knowledge, we need to teach people how to use the knowledge they have available to them, have to process it and how to put it to good use. If knowledge doesn't lead to wisdom and ultimately to betterment, it's a complete waste. Don't assume having knowledge will make you or anyone less ignorant. Gaining knowledge doesn't push out ignorance, the two can live quite fine together. Wisdom will push out ignorance though. So seek wisdom and understanding to overcome ignorance.