Essential #2 - The Age of Insights

 The “Information Age” is over. I submit that we are now in the “Age of Insights.” Never has the world been flooded with so much information. Read the opening paragraph from a recent Forbes article:

“The amount of data we produce every day is truly mind-boggling. There are 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day at our current pace, but that pace is only accelerating with the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT). Over the last two years alone 90 percent of the data in the world was generated.”

A quintilla-what? How do we make sense of it all? And more importantly, how can we harness this information to improve our lives?

I believe the answer lies in using one of our most critical thinking skills:

Discernment (di-sûrn‘ment) n. Keenness of insight and judgment.

We obviously can’t buy a book on Amazon and learn discernment over the weekend. It’s an ever-evolving process… 

Let’s attempt to discern the difference between Principles and Techniques:

A principle is something that is universally true. It transcends across time and circumstances. It will be just as true today, as it will be 20 years from now. For example, the "Rule of 72.” To determine how long it will take your money to double, divide the interest rate into 72. An account earning 6% interest will double in twelve years (72/6 = 12). 

A technique is like a “trick” you use to attempt something very specific. For example, like buying a hot growth stock to chase fast profits.

Now, getting lucky once in a while is great fun, but I’m certainly not betting my family’s financial future on it, and I don’t recommend you do either. 

Stock photo of a data center