5 Steps To Mental Freedom In The Information Age

Information has the power to shape the hearts and minds of those around us. This is why it is critical that we always have the right information. We should always measure what comes out of institutions such as the media bodies, government agencies, corporations, educational institutions, non governmental organizations, research institutions, religious organizations and faith based organizations because all these claim to be the purveyors of truth. Knowing what wisdom is difficult because many claim to have the answer but by the levels of confusion in the world this shows that their assertions are far from the truth. The problem is huge and the solution might seem to be nave and laughable but in order to change the world we have to try. If it does not work we will be better off because we would have tried. There is no increase of wisdom but ust information and knowledge! some might ask are these things not the same Information literacy is the key to solving human conflicts. "nce people get to understand that what they consider to be information might be nothing more than an arbitrary collection of data.

#ome of us might think we are knowledgeable about events around us when all we have is information. "ur e$perts might think that they are wise %wisdom& and able to discern situations and therefore come up with solutions when all they have is knowledge. 'veryday we are flooded with narratives from all over the world but this does not mean we are at the mercy of the (flood). *elping #tories is about cultivating wisdom. Wisdom is an optimum because it leads to the understanding of people. #haring knowledge is a good form of mentoring because as we appraise the shared knowledge, we come to a greater depth of human nature, a combination of what is called street smarts and different bodies of professional knowledge that is already available on the internet, libraries, national archives, research bodies and think tanks. We become aware of human motivations and why certain narratives are structured differently from others. Wisdom means that we are able to connect the dots using different bodies of knowledge and this means making decisions concerning events outside what one might consider their area of e$pertise. In this age we can chose to be between a rock and a hard place or to be wise.

In the former we are dependant on knowledge e$perts whose assessments might or might not be reliable depending on their motivations and since we are not knowledge e$perts we do not really know whether we are being told the truth or otherwise. #o we do not have any way of managing information and making the correct conclusions. The getting of wisdom is like building a house. +ou need the right tools and materials and a good location. +ou begin with the plans, lay the foundation etc. it is so with wisdom! it begins with data becomes information then knowledge and then finally through the knowledge we can arrive at wisdom.

THE INFORMATION LEVIATHAN

The art of finding the truth can be done in five steps whilst these are not easy they are nonetheless essential if you are to e$perience the payoff of mental freedom, and escaping feeling powerless something I assure you are not. We are all actors in the world stage, but we have been preconditioned to act like we are sub ects. In order to become (conscious) actors we need to throw of the matri$ that has been created by the information saturated world. These are essential skills in deciphering information that is floating in the World Wide Web! some of which gain unnecessary access to our live and some of which is shallow and removed from reality. ,ut in order to know the difference between reality and fiction you need the right tools and these are the tools to help you out. They are not mystical or some ancient secret but they provide us with the opportunity from moving from! -ata.Information. knowledge.Wisdom If we are information savvy, that is skilled in generating, coordinating, and sharing knowledge so as to make intelligent choices with the assistance of the information at our disposal. This is what will make us savvy.

/astering the Information 0eviathan creates a multiple of opportunities for citizens around the world to learn from one another, instead of holding suspicions based on stereotypes which are by and large not representative of the people they supposedly portray. When we have mastered the art of effectively coordinating and synthesizing different information streams it gives us the foresight as citizens of the world to be wiser and to make changes that are a benefit to everyone.
THE NOT SO SECRET TOOLS OF INFORMATION LITERACY THE FIVE STEP GUIDE TO MENTAL FREEDOM AND TRUTH

DEFINE THE INFORMATION PROBLEM SEARCH FOR INFORMATION SCAN INFORMATION FOR RELEVANCE PROCESS INFORMATION PRESENTATION

Definition1outlining, clarity, meaning Research1investigate, look into, seek Relevance1applicability, significance Comprehension1understanding, command, conception, grasp Presentation1 managing content, giving structure, elaboration

#tep 2 DEFINITION That is to clearly and concisely outline the problem! in our case it is the debate between 3lobal warming apologetics and 3lobal cooling disciples. The problem being that both sides claim they have compelling evidence for their stance, but this leaves all of us in a loop because we are not sure who is telling the truth #tep 4 RE
EARCH

This involves looking for all the data! relevance is not crucial at this stage what is important is that the data should be about global warming and cooling. This is where we use different sources such as the internet, research libraries, books etc. at the same time the data can be accurate or inaccurate. The getting of wisdom is not easy or magical but it is practical and when one attains it, it can be more valuable than gold because it can give you access to the gold that you are searching for. 3old can be a metaphor for economic prosperity, spiritual contentment, political stability or societal utopia! depending on what you are searching for.

#tep 5

CAN INFORMATION

6rom data we glean the relevant information so that we can ac7uire knowledge. We master the information according to its significance. This is where manipulation and se$ing up of data occurs so as to support certain agendas. The 3lobal warming and cooling advocates can have the same sets of data but they will create different information and arrive at different knowledge. The important thing about data is to handle it with care an to present it truthfully but in our world were there are competing needs and motivations there is always a price for information manipulation and a willing bevy of e$perts who can be paid to present the information as knowledge.

#tep 8 PROCE

INFORMATION

The important thing is that when we get to knowledge we do the following five literacy tools9
COMPREHEN ION! APPLICATION! ANAL" I ! "NTHE I ! EVAL#ATION$

In the following e$ample we have two competing bodies of knowledge but at the end of the day there is a lot of confusion as to who is correct and who is wrong but when this method is followed the truth will eventually out. Comprehension9 understanding of the thesis and anti thesis
E.g. Global warming vs. Global cooling

Application9 conte$t, motivations, cultural edges

Bio fuels, alternative sources of energy research, oil boom

Anal%sis9 Thorough scrutiny of the ideas

Environmental concerns

%nthesis9 combining the relevant pieces of information

The environment is in danger because we are not acting as wise stewards. We are careless with the resources we have and we have failed to distribute them efficiently

Eval&ation9 assessing the value of the information in relation to the problem and using it appropriately to make a wise decision.
Environmental management is critical to creating a stable and prosperous world. All nations should not just pay lip service to environmental problems but through education and financial means people should be encouraged to act in positive ways so as to benefit creatively from the environment.

In the above e$ample the truth is that we have an environmental problem and we need to solve it. The 3lobal warming or :ooling agendas are not as compelling as the fact that as humans we have to take responsibility for the way we manage waste and we need to find cleaner sources of energy which will be cheaply available to everyone so that they can contribute to making the world a better place.

This is not a secret its something that is always within our grasp, the only secret is that it;s so simple most people are not aware of it and some people use this naturally without knowing what they are doing. #tep < PRE
ENTATION

The final step is the wisdom step when we present the information and provide the solution. If you apply these processes to all the narratives that have been discussed throughout this book you will find that the truth is often stranger than fiction. This is why the voice of the ordinary person matters as much as the (e$pert opinion). *elping #tories is therefore an invitation to you to tell your story and to help others come to grips with their problems by providing solutions from ground zero or where the action occurs, that is in the lives of everyday people. =nd then we get to the principal thing and that is wisdom. In order to get there we need the stories of ordinary people to add to the body of knowledge so that we can make sober evaluations that will lead us to wise solutions.

This is what *elping #tories is about! it;s about involving the voice of ordinary people so that they can become conscious players in the world around them. We are already players but most of the time we act like sub ects. The decisions we make everyday have conse7uences and these affect other people, as they react to our choices and they make their own choices in relation to the choices we have made! so if we did a cumulative analysis of the decision we realize that eventually they have a global effect, this is the power we all have, none of us is as voiceless as we are made to believe. This is the hour when our generation has the golden opportunity to pull us back from the precipice. >eople to people diplomacy that encompasses information literacy is the solution. This must be an anti clima$ to a lot of people who might have wanted to hear about some mystical way of bringing humans together, there is none, human interaction as much as it has caused problems is still the solution but how we interact is important. >eople to people are not ust about hooking up on social media but it is about using the internet to help each other understand where we are coming from.

To tell the story from real people %not that policy makers are not people but often their roles are too rigid and imposed by agendas that might have nothing to do with people on the ground& yes it will take time to move from this hopelessness that has been building up since ancient times but we can begin. *aving a conversation between an Ira7i and an =merican can go a long way in transforming most of the fears that e$ist. This is because people who are wise seek connections with other people in the know so that they can leverage the golden opportunity of the information age.

:onclusion = conversation between people of different religions will mean that when that faith can no longer be ustified as a basis for conflict because most conflict are driven by resources and ideologies are ust appendages to add more flesh to the conflict. In =frica conflicts of tribal are not ancient and absolute, I think this is the problem with the world we do not try to understand each other;s point of view, we rely on stereotypes to ustify ourselves and if we bomb each other to some heaven then all the better. We as citizens of the world can do better than being reductionist. =merican media, policy makers and other institutions will see things differently from ,ritish, =ustralian, Indonesian, #udanese or #outh =frican institutions. In order to get the fuller picture you have to pull these strings together and you will have your wisdom. ,ut hey you what about the time it takes to synthesize these ideas.

There is no time after all I have to take care of work family school and have fun as well. ,ut those who are inclined to try will find that when all is said and done we are all human beings. It is a given that in every society there will be bad apples who have their own agendas but our call is to say those bad apples should not become the representative mouthpieces of entire societies. We should always remember that there is no narrative that is innocent or without purpose. If we have time to do some time wasting activities then we will have time to e$perience the wealth of people to people diplomacy through various media platforms that are offered by the media. The world will stand united against activities that spread terror in all its forms. The voice of the many matters ust as much as the voice of the few.