Information is never equal that different pieces of information have different priorities. Previously I argued that people are more likely to be influenced by negative information than positive information, as people are risk averse, meaning they care more about potential costs than potential gains.
Information is not equal in many other ways. Firstly, people trust the information that is first delivered to them, the later information needs much more convincing argument and evidence to overturn the impression made by the earlier information. However, the first arrived information usually tends to be less accurate than the later arrived information, as taking more time can help to collect more data and carry out more detailed and accurate data process. Therefore, we are more likely to be misled by the wrong pieces of information that we choose by ourselves despite correct information may also be available to us.
Secondly, complicated information is less accepted than easy and short information, though the more complicated information is more likely to be accurate and closer to the truth, as reality is never simple. In addition, complicated information is not only rejected because of our time constraint, but also because of our knowledge constraint. Often our abilities could limit the impacts of receiving reliable information. Thirdly, information sometimes is confused with opinions. Sometimes, because some people are powerful or credible, their opinions are taken as information or facts. For example, Trump tweeted that he believed the F35 price was too high, many people took it as a fact that the President would bring down the price. Although it came true at the end, it was not a fact until Trump took the action and brought down the price. Sometimes some opinions may not come true at the end.
Overall, even if we were provided with all available information (which is not realistic), we would not be able to choose correct information and make right decisions because of our human imperfection.
No comments:
Post a Comment