Accurate Information

Accurate Information (What)

Accurate information is information that presents an accurate and fair view of reality; it describes things as they are; it presents an Accurate View of Reality (AVR).

Analysis (Breakdown of Main Ideas)

Information

Information refers to the set of {facts, opinions, concepts, theories, methods, and so on} about a topic.

Accurate View of Reality (AVR)

This refers to beliefs about the world that best align with the way things are because these beliefs are grounded in evidence, reasoning, and things that can be observed. The skill sets to get AVRs and the associated AVRs are super useful.

Inaccurate Information

Information that contains errors, distortions, or falsehoods, whether intentional or unintentional.

Probability

Accurate information should be understood through the lens of probability. It represents the highest probability of being true based on current evidence, not absolute certainty. Accuracy means being open to revision—ready to be updated when better evidence or reasoning becomes available.

Either/Or Fallacy (Watch Out 😊)

The either/or fallacy occurs when someone presents only two options—A or B—as the only possible choices, when in reality, other alternatives exist or the situation is more complex (e.g., a continuum of possibilities). Information from a source should not be thought of as either accurate or inaccurate. Instead, this information should be rated on a continuum that spans from wholly inaccurate to highly accurate.

The Information Accuracy Continuum

Information accuracy exists on a continuum because information can range from completely true to entirely false, with many shades in between, including partial truths, outdated facts, misleading presentations, and uncertain or unverifiable claims. Much of the time inaccurate information has significant amounts of truth because this makes it more persuasive.

Examples of Accurate Information

  1. Accurate information about fixing a leaky faucet equips you with what you need to best fix the faucet.

  2. Accurate information about travel to the Bahamas equips you with what you need to maximize the quality of your vacation.

  3. Accurate information about a market equips a company to make the best decisions about their marketing strategy.

  4. Accurate information about a vaccine allows us to make the decisions that maximize the health and well-being of ourselves, our loved ones, our friends, and others.

  5. Accurate information about a current event gives the best available information about this event: what? who? when? where? and so on.

Rationale

Having the skills to get accurate information is worthwhile for several reasons.

  1. Optimize your well-being, problem-solving, learning, decision making, and so on.

  2. Avoid communicating misinformation to your friends, family, loved ones, colleagues, and others.

  3. Avoid being manipulated, conned, deceived, and so forth.

Getting Accurate Information (How To)

Framework

Here is the 5-part framework. I’ll break this down and explain this in other pages.