Data Quote by Jeffrey A. Lockwood
““The modern world is drowning in information. We have more data than we can possibly use regarding nearly every picayune matter of society, economics, and politics. Science has contributed to this tsunami of facts and figures, but Riley's reports demonstrated that the tidal wave of minutiae is hardly unique to our time. In every age the challenge has been to move from information to knowledge. And the value of experts lies in their capacity to extract meaning from the reams of facts. Rather than being swamped by raw data, the connoisseur, craftsman, engineer, clinician, or scientist is selectively and self-consciously blind. Knowing what to ignore, recognizing what is extraneous, is the key to deriving pattern, form, and insight.””
About This Quote
Inundated with data, expertise lies in selective attention—ignoring noise to extract meaningful patterns and knowledge.
In simple terms: Experts filter out irrelevant data to find insight.
Key Takeaway
Practice selective focus to gain insight.
Themes
information overload
expertise
knowledge extraction
Mood
analytical
thoughtful
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- research analysis
- policy making
- clinical diagnosis
Key Concepts
selective attention
critical thinking
pattern recognition
Questions to Reflect On
- What criteria guide your filtering?
- How do you stay open to novel information?
A Different Perspective
Filtering may miss unexpected signals.
![“[Brazil] went to the UN and said, "We need new standards for this." We need to take a look at what they're calling "data sovereignty."” quote by Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/af7/edward-snowden-555_brazil_brazil-went-to-the-un-and-said-we-need-n_14906.jpg)
