Knowledge Is Power

  We have entered the Information Age. And with the Information Age (Also known as the digital age, computer age, etc) we have the internet; a place where there is no filter (at least here in the United States of America) and people are capable of posting anything they desire to the world wide web.

   Today we are talking about authentic information. Knowledge is power, folks. So what does that mean when we load our brains with the wrong information? Well, it is kind of like eating a donut. It tastes really good - pure pleasure all the way down. It might rumble around in your belly afterward (that much sugar always does for me) and that's that. But there is no nutritional value in that donut, and if you were to consume donuts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, chances are that you will feel terrible by the next morning.. Some people don't feel terrible, and they continue doing it anyway, only to one day eventually ask themselves (or a doctor), "Why do I feel weird?" And that is why we (or some of us try to) eat healthy food.

   Information has the same principles as nutrition. Healthy food and eating a balanced diet provide the body with the nutrition we need to grow, develop, and maintain function. If we don't provide our bodies with the right minerals and vitamins, chemicals, and molecular building blocks, then we don't grow, develop, or maintain well. And if we don't maintain our health, then our organs will quickly begin to fail in their function. Now, let's apply the same principle to information. 

   Information, just like food, is a resource we need from birth. Voice and language come with listening. We learn to put together sentences from our parents or those who raise us from infancy. Educational systems are built and the curriculum is designed to provide developing children and youth with factual and legitimate information to help them understand and then succeed in the challenges they may face in the world. We download as much information as we can into our brains and then, when the time is right, are released into the wild to provide service and function in our own unique ways (i.e., invent cool stuff, save people, protect the environment, offer other goods, etc). But what happens when you throw the wrong data into a system? It malfunctions. Not only internally but externally as well.

So, let's say the barista at the coffee shop did not complete their education and never finished learning the math principles of addition and subtraction (and they were without a calculator). At the end of the day, the shop manager would begin to notice that the register would be over/under what the reported amount should be. In the short term, it may not seem like a big deal. But in the long run, these dollars can add up to greatly impacting the bottom line of that business. And if that business goes under by way of some basic budget miscalculations, then multiple employees become unemployed. 

This is obviously an exaggerated example. But it shows how a malfunction in one system can cause dysfunction in a great variety of systems around it. 

This is the intersection of nutrition and information. With this new age of technology and the internet, who are our teachers? Who will guide us? How do we know what to believe and what not to believe? I think many of us have or currently do feel lost in this regard.

   That, my friends, is why this blog exists. I have spent a decade researching and learning about the materials I work with. From websites to newspapers and magazines, I have stumbled upon amazing amounts of misleading and/or inaccurate information. When you come to this blog and website, know that I am providing you with the best information I have obtained. And I will have my work cited and sources to prove it.