Uninformation (1)

Information consists of data which establish whether or not an assertion is false. Not all data do this. One of the reasons we have difficulty becoming and staying informed is that we sometimes accept as informative things which really aren’t, or least aren’t necessarily. This is the first in a series of posts in which we’ll look at a few things which are not information.

1. Information is not synonymous with facts

People often confuse information with facts. Someone who knows a lot of facts is considered to be well informed. A fact is only informative, though, if it helps you settle a question you need to know the answer to. If someone is on trial for armed robbery, the Crown does not submit evidence that the defendant is a skilled bridge player, true as that evidence may be.

Here's a fact: Churchill, Manitoba, is named for John Churchill, first governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. That=s a fact. Despite being a fact, though, it doesn't help me answer the question “Where do I find the men’s shirts?” whenever I drop in to one of the Bay’s branches. So for me that datum is not informative, factual though it be.

Furthermore, there are plenty of items of information that are not factual. The idea of intelligence, for example, cannot be said to be a fact, since there is widespread disagreement about just what intelligence is. However, the concept of intelligence is informative because in speculating about it we discover useful things. We have even discovered some of the shortcomings of the idea of intelligence.

Information is always derived from facts, and it always helps to predict facts. However, it need not be factual itself, and something which is factual need not be informative. As someone who has spent his life filling his memory with facts whose relevance to my life is highly questionable (see note about John Churchill above), I realize that collecting trivia can be enjoyable. Until they tell you something useful, though, trivia are just trivial.

Next: The logical or reasonable is not necessarily informative

Actual Analysis
Uninformation (1) © 2011, John FitzGerald