What matters is how we use them

What is the relationship between data, information, knowledge and wisdom? And what part does this play in human development and the expansion of consciousness? In his 1950 groundbreaking book, The Human Use Of Human Beings, mathematician Norbert Weiner defined “message” as “A sequence of events in time which… strives to hold back nature’s tendency toward disorder by adjusting its parts to various purposive ends.”

Simply put, information, exchanged as messages between human beings and between machines, retards entropy by adjusting their (and its) parts to accomplish purposeful objectives. His book was one of the first to study “message transmission among people and machines.” And it initiated the science of Cybernetics, a term that isn’t used much today. “Information Theory” is the current iteration of the idea that there’s more to information than meets the eye. And artificial intelligence is the latest example.

For better and worse, we’re awash in information and rightly concerned about the consequences of AI, which operates by gathering, processing, and manipulating information. On the positive side, information can and has saved lives. For instance, had it not been for the sharing of information between the Apollo 13 astronauts and ground control operations in Houston—aptly portrayed in the Apollo 13 movie starring Tom Hanks—the crew would surely have died. On the negative side, fake news, conspiracy theories, and hacking are posing a threat to democracy.

Data and Information

Information derives in part from “data,” which consists of numbers, characters, charts, or verbal expressions. Data is concrete and inert, whereas information is more abstract and active. Data exists on a page or screen or is talked about—until someone considers it, at which point it generates information, which is a product of mind. I’ve collected several definitions of “information,” but the one I like best was articulated by anthropologist, Gregory Bateson. He said, “Information is a difference that makes a difference.” Said another way, information is data that means something to someone.

For instance, hearing the distance between Mercury and Venus when they align with the Earth and sun would be data to me. To an astronomer or student of planetary motion however, that’s information.  What may be a curiosity to many—if they regard the data at all—may be a contribution to someone’s work, heighten their appreciation or contribute to understanding. This may seem obvious, but the insight that it raises is significant—the value of any bit of information is the extent to which it contributes to someone’s knowledge. It can be used. Further, just as data can generate information, it in turn contributes to knowledge and understanding—consciousness directed toward purposeful ends.

Knowledge

According to the dictionary, “knowledge is a familiarity, awareness or understanding of someone or something… It can refer to a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.” And here, the value of knowledge is relative to the knower. In complex societies, particularly in the areas of government, business and education, people have been partly, sometimes largely, evaluated for employment based upon the extent of their knowledge. But IQ and other tests of intelligence have been shown to be narrow, often culturally biased. And given the advances in computer software, particularly artificial intelligence, knowledge is playing a diminishing role as a predictor of competency. This is understandable considering individual uniqueness. One “size” of education will never fit all people. Some place a higher value than others on gaining knowledge, particularly in the context of formal—and higher—education. But not everyone wants or needs to go to college.

When my wife was a child, her father drove her through the Bowery in Chicago, pointing out homeless people. He told her that many of them were intelligent, had high IQ’s, even academic degrees but for a variety of reasons they were not doing anything constructive. “It’s not what you know,” he said. “What matters is what you do with what you.”

I recently heard about someone not wanting to adopt a suggestion given by a knowledgeable, experienced, and highly ethical person, simply because he didn’t have a doctoral degree. Having spent over twenty-five years teaching in higher education, I have known students whose college education meant very little. Some were there to merely satisfy their parents, others to make friends, party, find a spouse, or create a network that could lead to a high-paying job. One student, in his fifth year as an undergraduate, confided to me that he purposefully flunked my course because he was having so much fun. He didn’t want to graduate. I suspected his parents were footing the bill.

At the other end of the spectrum, I had students who went well beyond the course requirements to feed their passion for learning and creative expression. Speaking personally, if I can gain some knowledge, develop an insight, or adopt a suggestion that would feed my interests or improve my life, I wouldn’t care if the information came from a child. Actually, it occasionally had.

Wisdom

So, what part do information and knowledge play relative to the expansion of consciousness and the development of wisdom? Over the archway of the administration building at the University of Cincinnati, carved in stone, is a quote from the King James Bible. It reads, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom.”

That’s remarkable considering that the perceived function of a university is to impart knowledge and encourage learning. Wisdom seems not so much to be valued in public education—at any level. The proliferation of state, career and community colleges signals a sea-change in the public’s interest in higher education—toward valuing “training” over personal development, service to others, and meaningful contribution, qualities that come from exposure to literature, history, the social sciences and humanities, all of which integrate mind and heart and foster critical thinking.

This is an observation, not a criticism. Knowledge and skill development are necessary values for earning a living, getting things done and realizing our potentials, but the foundation of knowledge is the intellect, the brain-mind system, which is finite and limited, subject to outside influences, rationalization, and bias, always subject to revision. Institutionalized or not, the ideal education is one that enriches the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), working with the student’s uniqueness and helping them realize their potential.

Wisdom can neither be taught nor acquired through directed effort, so it’s understandable that it’s not taught in schools. As a property of life experience and inner inquiry, it’s accessed. When we die, I believe the information and knowledge we’ve accumulated in life is gone. But, for those who like me, believe in an afterlife and reincarnation, the wisdom gained of experience is carried forward. The question is sometimes asked: “What do you know for sure?” In Eastern spiritual traditions the only thing we can say with complete certainty is “I exist. I am.” Because the mind is finite, every thought or belief, given time, will be altered. Change has proven to be a cosmic constant.

For me, the source of wisdom is the animating spirit within, the soul, an aspect of which I believe is eternal, all knowing and fully one with the cosmos, individuated here for the purpose of coming to realize and experience absolute reality. Because human beings are innately curious about this Great Mystery, we draw upon the knowledge and wisdom of others to construct a perspective that’s at least satisfying and workable for the moment. It’s our “worldview.” When it’s meaningful and constructive, we can adapt to change because it grounds and directs us. When it’s not, we can become lost, even violent when under pressure.

Information Access

In two places, the New Testament (Matthew 10:30 and Luke 12:7) authors say that “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Sanskrit and Indian cultures refer to “Akasha” as an all-encompassing medium, a cosmic information library where every thought, word, and deed of every person who ever lived is recorded and available to be downloaded. The ancient Rishis claimed to be able to connect to this “subtle energy field” through disciplined living and yoga.

According to Hindu Yogi Swami Vivekananda, “Everything that has form, everything that is the result of combination, is evolved out of this Akasha.” More recently, whole systems theorist Ervin Laszlo, writing in Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything, put forward a perspective that draws on physics, systems science and quantum phenomena to describe “The presence of in-formation throughout the cosmos, carried and conveyed by the universal in-formation field we have named the Akashic field.”

In the experiences of intuition, insight, and inspiration we sense the existence of this fundamental field of consciousness. It feels like a download of some significant information, creative idea or truth, and it seems to have come from outside, above and beyond the thinking mind. Scientists, inventors, artists and performers speak of it often. What I’ve noticed, is that wisdom doesn’t seem to show up until it’s needed or called out in a meaningful conversation. That’s what I mean when I say wisdom is “accessed.” It’s there, ever present and available, but it requires catalyzing thoughts to trigger it.

Like a radio, when the mind “tunes” (turns) to a frequency that’s soul-enriching, it spontaneously triggers an inspirational download from this subtle energy field—Akashic Record (Hindu & Christian literature), noosphere (Teilhard de Chardin) or collective unconscious (Carl Jung)—whatever term we prefer. As Linda’s father observed, we are all endowed with the capacity to receive and process information, even wisdom. What matters is what we do with it.

The first law of the Akashic quantum universe is universal interconnection among all things, and the second law is the conservation of the information governing the interconnected things. Now we add the third law: the law that accounts for the fact that the systems that emerge and evolve in the universe are not random aggregates of their elements, but structured integrations of them. This is the Law of Coherence… Coherence means a form of organization in a complex system where every one of its parts is effectively linked with every other part. Internal coherence spells viability and health in the system; external coherence indicates adaptation between the system and the world around it. Both are needed if the system is to persist and flourish.

Ervin Laszlo, Systems scientist

Author, The Intelligence of the Cosmos: New Answers from the Frontiers of Science.

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