Contradictory Information

There's a lot of information out there. As a result, there is a lot of contradictory information out there. To steal a phrase from Nate Silver, how do you distinguish between the Signal and the Noise?

I was attending an educational conference, recently, when this thought first crept into my head. Then, while listening to a couple of podcasts, in the days that followed, that thought was only solidified.

Our minds are fed with so much information. We read things, we listen to things, we experience things. And those things are individualized, they are different for all of us. So how do you know what to believe? How do you know who is right?

I'm not always sure what's right and/or who is right. I know that I'm not always right. But I know what I value, and I know what I think. And I'd like to think that my values and thoughts continue to evolve over time alongside my learning and my experiences.

It's like Maya Angelou said,

"When you know better...You do better."

We don't have to be lock-step with our beliefs and/or thoughts; in fact, I wouldn't expect it. But I hope you'll keep an open mind and be considerate of all beliefs and thoughts. Let's stop thinking about things as either right or wrong, and instead just accept them for what they are; nothing more, nothing less. Let's ask more questions, and make less judgments. Let's be confident and strong enough to engage in healthy debate, and really listen to the other side. Let's assume positive intent.

So maybe we shouldn't perceive any of this to be contradictory information that's being presented to us. Maybe it's just a continuum of ideas, all based off of our own, individual experiences. None of which are right or wrong, depending on our individual circumstances and experiences.

This post has stalled as a draft for a couple of weeks. I was unable to find the right words for how I wanted it to conclude. But this morning, while consuming more information, someone else spoke the thoughts that had been giving me writer's block. I found what I'd been searching for on Don Wettrick's StartEdUp podcast; thanks for sharing!

"No matter what you do in life, you should be a life long learner. I pride myself on learning and challenging myself to either read books, go to conferences, go on podcasts, listen to podcasts. Life is about evolving, and I reserve the right to change my opinion if I find out more information." - Gary Brackett, former Super Bowl Champion