Be Careful With The Information You Consume. Why It's Important To Control Your Information Environment And What To Do About It?
With the deeper penetration of smartphones and the internet in our daily lives, it can sometimes be overwhelming and challenging to decide what kind of information to consume. You are constantly bombarded with all types of information while using the internet. Everyone is trying to push their own views, ideas and opinions in order to build social clout and in pursuit of influencing maximum people.
Prior to the concept of social media our main sources of information were books, newspapers, television and for a few people, the internet. Recent technological developments have made it a lot easier for politicians, media houses and well know individuals to spread their ideas and personal agendas to even more people. The massive spread of misinformation and well-crafted opinions have made many people vulnerable to manipulation which is evident from the power shift happening all over the world because of the use of social media and other information sources on the internet.
So, how can one choose what kind of information to consume and what to discard?
What Do We Know About The Information?
Information can come from various sources. Starting from early childhood we start to learn from the information we receive from our parents, people around us, family members, and the outside environment. We consume all kinds of information through our senses - smell, touch, eyes, ear etc. Most of the information can’t be manipulated for example you can always identify a cow, no matter what people tell you later in life but it’s a lot easier to manipulate your perception about people or the world.
All kinds of information that mostly shape our lives carry certain degrees of biasedness, for example, a book written by a historian about something will carry his touch of personal ideas or thoughts. When a piece of information passes from one source to another, it loses its originality and tends to become more biased before reaching its final receiver. You can see this trend when people talk about their cultural past.
In simple terms, you are the resultant sum of all the information you have consumed till now from people you have met, all the books you have read, all the friends you ever made, all the shows you have watched, and all the environments you have been part of.
Why It’s Important To Control Your Information Environment And What To Do About It?
Earlier it was a difficult and costly affair to spread misinformation but with the rise of the internet, it’s not only easier but cheaper (almost negligible) as well. Today we are more vulnerable to manipulation than at any other point in history. This is the reason why we need to be more careful with the kind of information we consume.
No doubt all kinds of information carry a certain degree of biasedness but It's important to establish an unbiased information environment around us to make rational decisions and to see the bigger picture.
If you train your brain on adulterated information, you will behave and act accordingly. Garbage in, garbage out. Carefully choose the kind of information you consume. Here are a few things you can do:
Choose the right people to follow: Try to follow the rational people (Both in the offline and online world) who don't have personal agendas but to help you. Validate their ideas, thoughts and statements carefully.
Choose the right information source: All kinds of information carry a certain degree of biasedness. Learning how to spot such information takes time and can be done with the help of validating the information from multiple sources. Most of the time, look for opposing views. Try to analyse. Don’t allow a piece of information to block your thought process.
Everything creates information biasedness: The kind of people you follow, the kind of video you watch, the kind of tweets, books or news you read, and the kind of people you surround yourself with. Everything influences your information environment. You must choose carefully.
More the better but with the solid verified ground: It's a lot easier to spread misinformation through a simple text than an article. It's rather easier through an article than a 2 hours long video, it's rather easier through a video than a book. Less information should be a big NO! huge information reduces the possibility given you verify. You need to be very rational here because you might be watching 2 hours long Nazi propaganda video or reading a book about the importance of slavery. So, decide before you even start.
All information carries personal agendas, sometimes it's to mislead people sometimes it's to help people. Being rational before choosing the kind of information to consume is the key to shaping your information environment. Choose your friends carefully, choose your environment carefully, be willing to learn and unlearn things, be open-minded, read books that help you become more informed, and consume what is necessary for your well-being. Don’t allow yourself to act under the influence of others. Carry original thoughts and make rational decisions.
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