The moment an unknown fact passes through awareness, it becomes data, not information. This distinction is important. ==Data does not have to be processed, whereas information does.==
The utility of data lies in ==our ability to react to it.== If we have either the ==intellectual or emotional capacity== to process it, only then does it becomes information.
Whenever we point to “information abundance,” what we are really saying is that we have ==“endless opportunities to react to data.”==
This whole process of ==previously unknown facts eventually shaping one’s perspective== is what I call the information lifecycle.
The first filter is ==awareness.== This is governed by ==curiosity.==
There are ==shades== to curiousity, from its purest form to its most restrictive.
Whatever passes through becomes data, but in order for that to be processed as information, it must pass through the ==filter of reactivity.==
What allows one to adjust the filter of reactivity is the ==strength of their capabilities.== Data becomes information only when you have the cognitive capacity to interpret it as such.
Interpreting information has less to do with curiosity, and more to do with ==diligence.== Curiosity was the force that brought me to the book, but diligence is what will make that book a useful source of
knowledge.
Once that information is processed, we then have the option to incorporate it into our worldview, or discard it altogether. This is decided by the final bottleneck: ==the filter of identity.==
Identity is the collection of beliefs, ideas, and truths you hold to position yourself within the world. No matter how independent you think you are, identity is ==always constructed in relationship to something else that exists alongside you.==
Identities organize the familiar, but divide the unfamiliar. ==The more we love the idea of “us,” the more we hate the idea of “them.”==
The only way we could break away from this (balancing inclusivity and exclusivity) is to ==free ourselves from the notion of identity as much as possible.== Krishnamurti calls this
“freedom from conditioning,” where we are able to ==let go of all the societal influences== that have shaped and categorized us into certain roles.
The less we need to rely on our identities to make sense of information, ==the more we can learn about the world, and uncover our true place within it.==
Without cultivating curiosity, the awareness filter remains closed to any facts in the first place.
Without updating our capabilities, we can’t react to whatever data we discover.
And without letting go of identity, no amount of information will ever shift our perspective.
