Data, information and decisions
Data is everywhere, but turning it into information isn’t free.
It takes focus, effort, consultation and time.
More information is only useful if it helps you make a decision. Knowing the temperature on Saturn isn’t useful. Knowing it to even more accuracy is less useful. That’s because we’re not making any decisions that involve the temperature on another planet.
We’re surrounded by data that our spreadsheets or networks or cohorts seem to want us to be aware of. How many people clicked yesterday, or what someone wrote in a comment, what a backlist book sold or the foot traffic in that store vs. this store.
But if you’re not going to use the data to make a decision, don’t spend the time to expose yourself to it. It’s resistance at work.
If you can’t do anything with the data, it’s never going to be information.