How to get reliable information.
There are many ways you can acquire unreliable information, but here are four ways to get reliable information:
- Sense perception - Your own eyes and ears.
- Logical conclusions derived from sensory evidence.
- Intuition based upon past experience.
- Knowledge gained from experts in their field.
1. Sense perception - Your own eyes and ears.
Your most immediate source of information is your primary senses. Nature endowed you with five senses: sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. You gain first-hand, factual information by opening your eyes and ears and paying attention to what is going on around you.
The key phrase here is: pay attention!
2. Rational / logical conclusions based upon the evidence of the senses.
Your sense organs are limited in their number and scope. But human reason can extend your knowledge far beyond the immediately perceivable world, by thinking logically and coming to conclusions built upon the primary evidence provided by the senses. In this way, scientists uncover the secrets of the universe on both the subatomic and cosmic dimensions. They use logic to unravel the mysteries of scale.
Key advice: learn to think logically.
3. Intuition based upon past experience.
As you age, your brain stores an enormous amount of information. Most of your knowledge is stored as subconscious memories. On occasion, when you are struggling to answer a question, your brain will access your subconscious memory, and provide you with an INTUITION. It may seem as if it comes from an outside source, but is, in fact, your subconscious mind trying to tell you something. You should take your intuitions seriously, but you should not consider them to be infallible.
Key advice: listen to your intuition.
4. Knowledge gained from experts in their field.
In today's complex societies, you rely on other people's expertise and knowledge. You can and should gain knowledge from experts in all fields.
But be sure that the "expert" from whom you are taking advice really is an expert, and not a YouTube guru. There are many people purporting to be experts when in fact they are untrustworthy. In addition, remember that most experts are experts in only ONE field. So, for instance, you should NOT take marital advice from Albert Einstein, even though he has a Nobel prize in physics!
Key advice: choose your experts carefully!
Sources of information you cannot trust.
1. Majority opinion. The majority opinion is NOT a source of knowledge. Even though a lot of people say something, does not mean it is true.
2. Knowledge gained from non experts. There are many YouTube experts, you should avoid.
3. Fake news and dubious statistics. Many mainstream news organisations are acting as "pressure groups", with their own political and ideological agendas. Many news outlets have abandoned their obligations to provide an objective report, and instead put their own spin on events. They like to call it "analysis" but in reality, it is "spin". Beware of Media Spin Doctors, they are deceivers.
reliable information
In everyday life and work, reliable information is any fact or view you can trust. It comes from credible sources, is backed by clear proof, matches other trusted data, and is free from spin. When one of these four points is missing, the information stops being reliable and should be questioned.
CG4D Definition
Context: Personal effectiveness
Genus: Information
- Originates from credible, expert or first-hand sources
- Supported by verifiable evidence
- Remains consistent when cross-checked with other trusted data
- Presented without distortion, bias or hidden agenda
Article Summary
To uncover truth in a noisy world, open your eyes, think with clear logic, trust seasoned intuition and seek proven experts-then cross-check them all before you believe a claim.