Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom

Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom

We often see the first three words in common use these days with an air of awe, modernity and sophistication about them. We understand them with specific meaning and definitions. They truly reflect the times we live in, the era of Information Technology.  Rarely do we see the last word among the four - either in use or practice!

I will define the words as I understand them, in my own way and then share some of my thoughts.

Data: Raw facts, unprocessed bits of letters and numbers usually. It is the basic raw material that we work with and it cannot be broken down further.

Information: Data organised in a way that it is useful or beneficial, revealing of something that can be of value and even sold for money. Data can be processed to yield information.

Knowledge:  This is also sometimes used synonymously with 'technology'.  It is also the ability to create or develop technology.  Gaining Knowledge is acquiring the knowhow for creating something useful from raw materials in nature. Whether it is solving a tough math problem, creating a plastic from the crude oil, food through agriculture, a beautiful painting, a machine that can take you to the moon or the ability to develop new models or theories of the universe - ability to do any of the countless wondrous things that mankind has developed is knowledge! It is truly what can be called Intellectual Property. A lot of knowledge is passed down as information for someone to use.

It often takes years of study and effort to acquire knowledge, whereas information can just be looked up or heard from a reference source. Information can be processed to yield knowledge, but it still requires something extra to connect the dots or create a new thought to develop knowledge over and above information. Knowledge tells us which information is relevant to our goals and which is not.

We are all in thrall of the literally billions of pieces of information and knowledge that enable us to do seemingly miraculous things. Knowledge gives individuals and nations great power and can lead to prosperity. It is considered more worthy of respect and valuable than mere information that anyone can use for their benefit.

Examples:

Data:

“Route 285”,

“$170,000”,

“Li”,

“12.30pm”

Information: 

“Bus on Route 285 leaves at 12.30pm”,

“Mr. Li earned $170,000 last financial year.”

Knowledge:

“How to design a bus?”

“How to extract kerosene from crude oil”

“How to solve a cubic equation?”

“How to make a sword?”

Now we come to the last word - Wisdom! What is it?

In my opinion, it is the highest form and product of human intellectual development. It does presume some existing knowledge, information and data, but something beyond and besides these. Wisdom can be gleaned from a lot of knowledge, information and data. But it requires something even more. It is possible to have less knowledge and yet some wisdom. In my opinion, wisdom is the most valuable of the lot. It has value only when it is used, not simply known. And wisdom has something unique in relation to knowledge

Data and Information are what I consider the lower end of the spectrum - one does not have to be too smart or clever to acquire or use those. One can relatively easily generate new amounts of data and information.

Knowledge and Wisdom however are a level above. They both require passion, inspiration and some persistent effort and skill to create. Wisdom however needs one thing over and above that to acquire - a good attitude and a conscience! It is often said in the culture of my upbringing that wisdom is ultimately a gift from God, all others you can acquire from your own effort, but that wisdom is given only a few chosen ones, once they make themselves ready.

There is an old, old folk tale in India to illustrate the difference between Knowledge and Wisdom. I will recount it here in my own way and words (all embellishments, errors and omissions are mine, and mine alone!)

There were four young men, who were friends from the same village. Three of them, who were from well-to-do families went to study in a nearby town with famous teachers - 'Guru's as they were called in those days. They served as apprentices for many years before they returned with valuable specialised knowledge, not unlike students these days from universities. They were almost done with their training and were going to visit home for their holidays during the festival season.

Their fourth friend was from a poor family which could not afford to send him to acquire lucrative specialised knowledge and had resigned to a simple life, taking care of his parents and keeping up the poor family home. He was happy in his own way. He tried to learn what he could from the people in the village.

It was a long trip, a couple days of walk through the forests between the town and the village for the three boys returning for the holidays. They followed a path in the jungle through which people regularly travelled. There were shady trees, some wells and sometimes people left pots of water or even some food for travellers to use, along the way. Wild animals too frequented the path in the jungle and people usually knew how to keep safe. By prior arrangement, the fourth friend usually made a trip to greet his friends on the way back and help them by meeting them half-way, in the jungle with supplies of food and drink and with news from their home village.

So, the fourth young man from the village went carrying food, some delicacies, water and buttermilk to drink and some interesting news from the village to greet his returning scholarly friends. He was happy for them and proud to be counted among their group as a friend. He hoped they would return and live in the village and make things better for the other villagers using their newly acquired wonderful knowledge.

So, the four boys met up about half way on the path to the village. It was dusk. They were tired but happy to see the fourth friend. They had a lovely meal together eating all the things the fourth friend from the village had brought. They all greeted each other happily, talking a lot, sharing their experiences. They stayed up well into the night before sleeping under a tree with a fire burning nearby to keep the wild animals of prey away.

The next morning, they all set out, walking slowly and talking. The uneducated boy was a bit disappointed as he heard the plans each of his friends had for the future. They wanted to go over to the King's court or to a rich minister and provide their services in return for a good life and wealth. But however, he was happy for them, since they would be happy and looked forward to such a life.

As they walked on the path, looking around on either side, suddenly they stopped as something caught their interest in a clearing nearby. It was a pile of bones. The fourth boy had seen it coming up but just ignored it and moved on. But now the three educated friends had seen the pile. They were excited - one of them seemed particularly keen.

"What is it? What creature is it?" they asked the friend from the village.

"I don’t know!" he replied.

Now, each boy had acquired some special knowledge and was not supposed to disclose too much about it, but they were excited and felt comfortable among friends.

One of them could not resist it and wanted to show-off what he could do with his knowledge.

He said, "Just watch! What I can do! I can find out which creature it was."

He heaped the bones, walked around them, sprinkled a strange powder over them from a little packet he carried with him and said a magical phrase and suddenly the bones rearranged themselves as they would have been in a living creature. Everyone was wonderstruck as they could see the shape of a lion!

The uneducated boy applauded the friend who had done this and looked at him admiringly. However he looked a bit scared. The other two friends looked on, less impressed. There was a competitive streak that ran through all of them.

The second educated young man said quietly, “Well done! Let's see if I too can do something with what I have learned." He picked up some of the dirt around the bones and piled it up over the skeleton. He too sprinkled some strange looking powder onto the dirt and bones and uttered a complicated spell. Suddenly the dirt became flesh and skin around the bones and there was a body of a full grown lion around them! It was a giant male with a big mane.

The uneducated boy was in shock! He looked awed and looked at the friend who had done this with wide eyes and jaws dropped down. The second boy too felt good. They all went around and touched the body of the lion. It felt real.

The third educated boy could not hold himself back any longer. He said, “Oh, yes, you two have done OK, but I can do one better! I can bring this to life!"

"Really?" said the other two, seemingly impressed.

The uneducated boy said, “Hey, please don’t do that! I am scared."

The three educated boys laughed at him.

He pleaded once more and they kept on teasing him, feeling powerful and superior.

Finally, he said, “OK, before you go ahead, just give me a minute."

They did, and he climbed high on to a tree nearby.

The three educated boys gathered around the lion's body. The third boy climbed on to it and sat astride it. He took out a bit of holy water from what he was carrying. Said a magical 'mantra' and suddenly, with a roar, the lion's body came to life!

With one big, hungry roar and leap, it caught one of the boys in front of it and crushed him to death with just one swipe of the paw. The second one ran towards the tree where his friend was, but the lion caught him by the time he had climbed the lowest branch. He too fell and died a quick death while the third boy clung on for dear life as he held on to the mane and rode the lion. The annoyed lion gave a shrug and he fell to the ground. Very soon he too was dead.

The hungry lion ate the remains and left, sated.

As soon as he could, the uneducated boy jumped off the tree and ran home to his village to tell everyone what happened. They all nodded their heads sadly.

As the story illustrates, those three boys had acquired a lot of knowledge but not one important thing – the wisdom to go with the knowledge. The uneducated boy had acquired that!

One of the characteristics of wisdom is, knowing when NOT to use a specific knowledge.

Knowledge breeds arrogance and pride, whereas wisdom brings out humility! Data, Information and Knowledge are based on specific details outside ourselves. Wisdom is based on values and principles within us. Hence, wisdom can sometimes be different for different people, while knowledge, information and data remain the same!

When people talk flatteringly about Indians in Information Technology, I tell them to keep in mind that it is only Information technology, some information and knowledge. It is not Knowledge Technology or Wisdom!


Photos credit and Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2014

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