Information age knowledge.
The information age is changing knowledge in ways never previously experienced. Certain aspects of information are now more important. One of them is the ease in which we can access vast amounts of knowledge. The amount of questions we can answer with only our cell phones is incredible. Abundant access is one thing; it, however, adds a lot more complexity. We don’t know the source of the information nearly as well as a close friend or family member. There may well be reasons why we shouldn’t be listening to somebody we don’t know.
Understanding different perspectives are also more important than ever. Even if a belief is common, it doesn’t mean that following it is in our best interest. Then there is the age of information, and how long it will stay current. We live in a fast pace world; much information has a very short lifetime before it becomes obsolete. The significance of these factors has certainly amplified in the modern age. These aren’t things we typically consider, but what if we did?
The abundance of data in the information age.
The information age is unique. Information can now come from many different sources. The internet has connected billions of people, all with different experiences, backgrounds, and expertise. With so many people being connected, and sharing knowledge, finding someone knowledgeable on a specific topic, is easier than ever. If we want to know about something different, we look for another person experienced in that field. We no longer rely on those close to us, to give us all the information we need. We now have access to countless resources from all over the world.
Paying attention to what we learn from the vast amounts of knowledge available, is becoming paramount. What we find out from those in our close vicinity, is typically going to be fairly stable. The internet, by contrast, can have some very radical ideas. Stability has a downside; it’s slower and takes longer to change. In a fast-paced world, this can make information obsolete quickly. A critical consideration of anything we learn is how relevant it currently is.
Information age data relevancy.
The speed in which the world changes is accelerating, and isn’t going to slow down. Information becomes obsolete quicker than ever, as new information replaces it. This can occur several times during a person’s lifetime. Historically, it could take someone’s entire life, or even multiple generations, for something to become irrelevant. We didn’t often have to discard what we know and relearn. Now knowledge relevancy is much more important than accrual. We need to consider our ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn, as well as the ability of others to do the same. The best advice that somebody can pass on, may no longer apply as much as it previously did.
Let’s consider a fifty-year-old born in 1970, passing on career advice to a twenty-year-old. They are thirty years apart, and during that time the world has changed a lot. The Internet boomed and smartphones started. Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube, and e-mail, were launched allowing data creation and sharing. The fifty-year-old created physical things, such as cars on production lines.
Many careers shifted from this to creating information. Car manufacturers release more data than ever before. They show car upgrades through full specs and marketing info. Third parties create car reviews and compare them with others. The company has forecast expected sales by looking at previous sales data. People earning a living from information about the car, compared to those directly involved in its creation is higher than ever. Following career advice from someone with dated experience isn’t ideal. We should also decide if there is a hidden failure bias.
Failure bias.
Another consideration is if someone had a bad experience. They might have tried something and failed. That doesn’t mean what they were trying to do was necessarily wrong. They may have been on the right path needing only minor path corrections.
Let’s consider an example everybody is familiar with. When babies are first learning to walk, they don’t just stand and start walking, they try to get up, and fall. Their legs aren’t strong enough to support their weight but they keep trying. Over time with persistence, their strength and balance improve, and they learn to walk. This doesn’t just happen the first time they try, it takes practice. While learning to walk, we certainly wouldn’t give up, just because somebody else who never learned, tells us it’s not worthwhile.
This is common for things in life that are less essential. We could certainly go through life, not getting a car license, never learning to swim, avoiding travel, etc. These can, however, be incredibly rewarding. If we get advice that getting a car license or learning to swim is too hard, we may never experience doing these. We may get told overseas travel is too dangerous, so never travel, and miss out on many experiences.
We need to take a deeper look at the advice, and the person giving it, to decide if there is a hidden bias. If we follow someone’s lead, it should come from somebody who has tried, possibly made mistakes, but persisted through to success. We certainly need to scrutinize information to check for bias. We can do this by getting a different perspective from someone else.
Different perspectives.
If we receive advice, we should seek out opposing views from others. This is easy to do in the modern world, with so much information available. In the information age, everybody can have an opinion, and voice it. This can be a dangerous rabbit hole. There is a lot of contradictory information available, leading to confusion.
Consider the example of weight loss. Researching will find so much contradictory information. An expert might suggest eating a high-fat diet is ideal, while another says low-fat is better. Some may say eating a lot of fruit is great, while others disagree saying less or even none is good. There are many different opinions available. They aren’t exactly right or wrong, multiple paths lead to weight loss. Learning what works for us, is the hard part. Following a suitable path by understanding different views can lead to great results. Trial and error is often involved to find the best way forward. This, however, involves another consideration of being able to see through sabotaging perspectives.
Sabotaging perspective.
On occasion, advice given to us might have a hidden agenda, of holding us back. As an example, Sarah has gone on a diet and exercise plan. She has stuck with it for a few months, dropped a lot of weight, and feels great about her achievement. She knows she is still overweight and will get to her ideal weight in a few more months.
Her best friend Mary isn’t being supportive; her point of view is different. They used to spend a lot of time together eating, drinking and watching TV. Now Sarah eats only healthy foods, drinks much less, and goes for a run or to the gym, instead of watching TV. Mary feels they are growing apart and wants to get things back to normal. Trying to rein her friend in, she tells Sarah she is too thin, looked better bigger, or is overdoing it. None of which is true for Sarah.
From Mary’s point of view, there are two options, either Sarah changes to be more like me again, or I change to be more like her. Change is difficult for everybody. The easiest option for Mary is for her friend to change back to how she was, even if it’s not in Sarah’s best interest. Which leads us into another consideration. Working out if the person we are listening too is a good example.
Good example.
We have a lot of background knowledge of those close to us. Their traits such as experience, honesty, and helpfulness are already known. We are much more likely to listen to somebody we respect. On the other hand, the experts available around the world, we don’t know much about. We can find out information about them, but we don’t know them personally. They may be sharing something to advance their agenda, or genuinely trying to help others. Some people may believe they are subject matter experts when they aren’t. Taking a closer look at the information source, to check if they are a good example, is very important.
For example, if we want to improve our finances, looking for someone financially successful, is a good place to start. They know what to do, have acted upon it, and have the results to prove it. They have both the knowledge and experience of generating wealth. Many people know how to get wealthy, by saving, investing, etc. but are unable to achieve it. Doing it is the hard part. We need advice from somebody who has both the knowledge and experience, to help us on our way. If we are going to follow their example, we need to check if it is still ideal. They may have been lucky and been at the right place at the right time.
Lucky timing.
It’s easy to find advice from somebody, letting us know how they become successful. We need to consider if the same prospect is still available to us. Often early pioneers are more successful, than when everybody starts doing it. For example, we might get advice that investing in stocks, is the easiest way to get rich. They invested in stocks whose prices rose tenfold in five years, they made a fortune. Us getting the same rapid growth from identical stocks are significantly reduced. Timing is crucial, highly prosperous breaks are typically only available for a short period. Investigating whether the opportunity still exists is very important.
Information interpretation age.
The bottom line, fully inspecting advice, and applying many filters, is vital to decide its relevance for us. Considering the information source, and other views are also important. The great news is that it is easier than ever to dig deeper. Info is plentiful and available from many sources. We are moving beyond the information age, into an age where interpretation, is much more vital, than the information itself.
