Information is not wisdom
You do n
ot need to store, stockpile or even keep a lot of information around. (Unless you want to wallpaper the house or insulate your garage!)
If you can’t use the information today or it’s not integral to your most important project, you can chuck it in the garbage.
And if it’s hard for you to chuck it, maybe it’s smarter not to collect it!
Information is like a city bus. If you’re not ready for this one, there’s another one you can catch later.
Try trusting that more information than you really need will always be available. You know that it will be!
Too much information makes it difficult to
- choose a path,
- make a decision,
- move on.
If more information is not enough then what about knowledge?
Knowledge provides a roadmap to address situations and contextual challenges. But are you solving the right problems for the right reasons?
So it is that…
- Information is the “what,”
- knowledge is the “how,” and
- wisdom is the “Why” of what we do.
As Albert Einstein told us…
“Information is not knowledge.”
And Sandra Carey reminds us that we should…
“Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living. The other helps you make a life.”
2 Comments
Wow! You sure touched a nerve with me. A lot of the books I have are info books, containing ideas I “might” need to refer to in the future. Also, there are all those articles I cut out and tuck away somewhere. Since I do need to downsize I think I will focus on what I really need. Maybe then I can get wisdom. Merci beaucoup!!!
Mary Kay, I too have accumulated articles and books. After all, they have lots of good info and ideas in them. The problem is I collect them faster than I use them. And, I still have procrastination issues with sorting and deleting them! Oh well…something to do on a rainy day!